In a battle for sole possession of second place in the Six Rivers West conference standings, visiting Shullsburg swept the host Timberwolves in three straight sets last Tuesday night by scores of 25-19, 25-22 and 26-24.

With the win, Shullsburg improved to 5-1 in league play, while River Ridge fell to 5-2, both behind unbeaten Highland (6-0).

“Even though we were swept in three sets, it was a very exciting match with lots of good hitting and digging throughout the match,” said coach Langmeier. “We did a nice job at the serving line, missing only five serves all night as a team.”

“We had a few more hitting errors than they did, and that was a factor in our loss,” Langmeier added. “Both teams did a nice job of hustling and digging up balls.”

Leading the Timberwolves with nine kills was junior Ava Nies, followed by seniors Erin Adrian and Mallory Crubel with six each.

Crubel also dished out a team-high 11 assists in the loss to go along with 14 digs, while Adrian also had a team-high three blocks and one service ace.

Picking up a team-high 15 digs was senior Alaina Clark, who also had one service ace, while freshman Braelyn Schneider chipped in 13 digs, two assists, two blocks and one service ace.