Ellsworth volleyball upended in regional tournament

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Ellsworth Panthers

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Sixth-seeded Durand -- a team the Panthers had beaten twice earlier in the season -- upset No. 3 Ellsworth in the opening round of the WIAA Division 2 regional tournament Tuesday.

"That's the best I've seen them play," Ellsworth coach Margie Biel said of her team's conference foe. "They played an awesome match ... we did not have our best match."

The Panthers beat Durand at the Ellsworth invitational Sept. 7 and again last week -- Ellsworth topped Durand 3-2 on Oct. 12.

"I don't know what happened tonight," Ellsworth senior Allison Freier. "It's really hard to beat a team three times."

Ellsworth's power hitters, Kayla Christopherson and Claire Tingelhoff, led finished tops on the team in kills. Christopherson tallied 12 while Tingelhoff added 11. Both played their last high school game Tuesday.

"They knew what they were up against," Christopherson said. "We knew what we were up against, but they executed it a lot better than we did."

Jessy Tingelhoff led Ellsworth in assists with 26.

Ellsworth started the season 14-1 -- its best start since at least 2006 -- but leveled off as the season went on. The Panthers finished 16-6.

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