The Owen-Withee volleyball team season ended at the hands of a powerful Gilman team Saturday night in the WIAA Regional Championship game in Gilman.

The second-seeded Pirates advance to face top-seed Columbus Catholic in Marshfield Thursday night in the first game of WIAA Sectional play.

Third-seeded Owen-Withee advanced to the regional title match after sweeping sixth-seeded Cornell Thursday night – 25-13, 25-10, 25-19 – in front of a big home crowd.

The Pirates have had the Blackhawks’ number in recent matches, as Gilman has now defeated Owen-Withee five times in a row. Owen-Withee started the match hot and won the first set, but they struggled down the stretch and lost the last three. The match finished with set scores of 16-25, 25-16, 25-15, 25-15.

Kayleigh James led Gilman with 27 digs and has posted 15 or more in the last three matches.

Owen-Withee's defeat dropped their record down to 9-14. As for Gilman, the victory was the eighth in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 18-10.

Owen-Withee caps out its 2024 campaign with an 8-14 overall record. The Blackhawks had a 2-5 record in Eastern Cloverbelt Conference play.

The win boosts Gilman’s overall mark to 15-6, and the Pirates were 4-3 in the tough Eastern Cloverbelt.

The teams were well-represented on the All-Conference teams. Gilman had senior conference player of the year Abby Chaplinski on first team and seniors Kayleigh James and Claire Drier on second team. Owen-Withee was represented by junior Madi Mueller and senior Kendall Weiler earning honorable mention.