Wildcats Volleyball Had Busy Week

It was brought to our attention by an eagle-eyed reader that the scores that were provided to us from the Belleville vs Cambridge game, which was reported on last week, were incorrect. The Wildcats, in fact, beat the Bluejays, losing only one set 25-27. They won the next three sets, 25-15, 25-20 and 25-15.
The volleyball team played at the Richland Center Invite on September 2nd.
<strong>Belleville vs Platteville - 23-25, 25-27</strong>
Leading the team in kills were Rachael Heittola with 10 and Erin Kittleson with three. Heittola led the team with three blocks while Rylee Hubbard had one block. Sydney Gentilli had three aces while Jade Halvensleben had one. Leading the team in assists was Abby Winterburn, with seven, while Samantha Trainor had six. Sydney Gentilli and Jade Halvensleben both had eight digs.
<strong>Belleville vs Wisconsin Dells – 25-18, 25-16</strong>
Leading the team in kills was Jade Halvensleben with eight, while Rachael Heittola had seven. Halvensleben and Jenna Shrader had one block each. Samantha Trainor, Abby Winterburn, Sydney Gentilli and Jade Halvensleben all had one ace apiece. Leading with nine assists was Samantha Trainor, while Abby Winterburn had six. Sydney Gentilli led the team with 11 digs, while Samantha Trainor had four.
<strong>Belleville vs Belmont – 25-21, 25-15</strong>
Rachael Heittola had nine kills, one block and one ace. Erin Kittleson had three kills and one block. Jade Halvensleben had three kiss and two blocks. Samantha Trainor had three blocks and 11 assists. Abby Winterburn had one ace and five assists. Sydney Gentilli had four digs.
<strong>Belleville vs Catholic Central – 14-25, 19-25</strong>
Rachael Heittola had four kills and one block. Jade Halvensleben had three kills and two blocks. Samantha Trainor had one ace and four assists. Jenna Shrader had one block, while Sydney Gentilli had 10 digs.
“Belleville played a very strong game against Platteville to start the day. Platteville ended up winning the tournament, and I was extremely happy with the competition during that game,” said Coach Kelsey Schmit. “We are working on maintaining a high level of play against teams that may not play at the same level we are use to, and this is what we struggled with through the rest of the day. We ended in the silver bracket but didn’t place in the top 6. It was a good day for learning and adjusting.”
On September 9th, the team traveled to compete in the Brodhead Invite.
<strong>Belleville vs Albany – 25-20, 25-17</strong>
Rachael Heittola led the team with nine kills and one block. Jade Halvensleben had eight kills. Samantha Trainor had one block, two aces, 15 assists and five digs. Sydney Gentilli had one ace and six digs. Abby Winterburn had five digs.
<strong>Belleville vs Brodhead – 25-22, 12-25 (split, no third game played)</strong>
Jade Halvensleben led the team with five kills, while Rachael Heittola had four. Heittola also had one block. Sydney Gentilli had two aces and seven digs and Samantha Trainor had five assists.
<strong>Belleville vs Evansville – 20-25, 24-26</strong>
Kill leaders were Jade Halvensleben and Jenna Shrader with four apiece. Halvensleben and Shrader also had two blocks each. Rachael Heittola had four blocks while Elli Gentilli had one ace, Samantha Trainor had eight assists and Sydney Gentilli had six digs.
<strong>Belleville vs Monroe – 25-14, 25-15</strong>
Jade Halvensleben led the team in kills with four, in blocks with two and in aces with two. Rachael Heittola had four kills and two blocks. Samantha Trainor had 10 assists while Sophia Grady had four, and Sydney Gentilli had eight digs.
<strong>Belleville vs Argyle – 25-19, 23-25, 15-11</strong>
Kill leaders were Jade Halvensleben and Rachael Heittola with seven each. Block leaders were Rachael Heittola with three and Jenna Shrader with two. Ace leaders were Sydney Gentilli with four and Rachael Heittola with three. Leading in assists were Samantha Trainor with 12 and Sophia Grady with 11. The dig leader was Sydney Gentilli, with 11.
“Belleville finished this tournament winning the silver bracket. There were ups and downs throughout the day. We changed some positions and rearranged players but the girls took on the changes to finish the day strong,” said Coach Schmit. “It was a great day for volleyball!”
Earlier, Belleville played Marshall on September 5th and won, 3-2, and they played Wisconsin Heights on September 7th, winning 3-1. No further information was provided at press time.
The Wildcats hosted New Glarus on September 12th and will play at Waterloo on September 14th and at the Iowa-Grant Invitational on September 16th.