Saturday night the Mineral Point Volleyball team hosted #2 ranked Darlington Redbirds and claimed the regional title. The team worked all week for this exact moment.

Known for their hard work and die-heart dedication to this sport, the Darlington Redbirds are coached by their head coach Danielle Duerst, along with their assistant coaches Abby Haas, Ashley McCarville, Laura Sturtz, and Pam Ritchie.

The game against the Darlington Redbirds started off with the announcer Tina Mitchell naming off the starting playing for both Darlington and Mineral Point. Point’s starters were senior libero, Bre Goninen; seniors Malea Ashliman and Morgan Lee; juniors Eliza Ingwell and Raegan Galle; and sophomore Maddy Kabat.

Eliza Ingwell started the game off serving making it in and Darlington scored when sophomore Maddie Gratz had a kill. However, the Pointers beat the Redbirds in the first set 25-9, and the entire crowd went wild. Everyone stood on their feet and jumped up and down excited for the second set and the rest of the game. Maddy Kabat led the team with four kills tying it up with Malea Ashliman; Raegan Galle and Laci Lindsey with two; and Morgan Lee with one.

The players jumped onto the court lip lip-syncing the music in the gymnasium getting ready to play the next set. Maddy Kabat and Bre Goninen both pushed each other as they got excited for it to start. Bre had an amazing set in the back row with ten digs, followed by Malea Ashliman with six; and Ella Kroll with three. The Pointers unexpectedly lost the set five points short 20-25.

The team huddles were now getting intense with coaches Kari and Danielle trying to speak to their team over the noise to make sure they were up and ready for the game ahead of them. Maddy Kabat had an amazing set with four kills, Malea Ashliman added three, and Raegan Galle had two. Maddy Kabat also led the team with eight digs, followed by Bre Goninen with six, and Eliza Ingwell with three. Mineral Point fell short to the Redbirds with a score of 20-25.

The Pointers rallied again and won the fourth set 25-19 to tie against their opponents. Junior Laci Lindsey led the team with four kills, and Maddy Kabat and Malea Ashliman each had three. Bre Goninen led the team in digs with a total of six, followed by Malea Ashliman with two; and Ella Kroll and Maddy Kabat each added one.

The Pointers pushed each for the last set and beat Darlington 25-15. After the game, the bench ran to the center of the court hugging each other, as they formed a line to congratulate the Darlington Redbirds on a great season. The Pointers then got into a circle had their huddle and formed back into a line for the award ce
remony to claim the regional title plaque. The Pointers then ran to the plaque smiling and excited for the sectional game against the Cuba City Cubans on Thursday night at Mineral Point again. Congratulations Pointers!