Teams in four divisions advanced to Saturday’s championship finals of the 2017 State Girls Volleyball Tournament at the Resch Center in Green Bay Friday.
Division 1
River Falls (42-0) stayed unbeaten in their quest for an undefeated season with a 26-24, 25-22, 22-25, 25-19 victory over Oconomowoc (31-10) in its semifinal.
Marissa Stockman and Halle Olson each had 17 kills to lead the Wildcats’ offense. Emily Banitt contributed 14 kills, and Izzy Barr dished out a game-high 48 assists. Sam Krueger had 27 digs, and Banitt added 22 digs to lead a stingy defense.
Katy Kluge led the Raccoons with 18 kills with Tayler Alden and Elle Shult each contributing 10 kills apiece. Alden also paced the team in assists with 37. Paige Jaeger added five assists to go with her team-leading 23 digs on defense.
River Falls will put its unblemished record on the line in the final against Burlington (34-10), last year’s runner-up. The Demons defeated Divine Savior Holy Angels 25-23, 16-25, 25-16, 25-16 for a return berth in the final.
Abby Koenen led the Demons’ offensive attack with 19 kills. Brooklyn VandeHei also recorded double figures in kills with 15. Kaley Blake tied a Division 1 State Tournament, four-set record for aces in a match with eight to go with her game-high 42 assists. Samantha Naber led the defense with 23 digs. The Demons also recorded nine blocks in the match.
The Dashers were led offensively by Haley Multerer and Remy Ziolkowski with 13 and 10 kills, respectively. Other team statistic leaders included Tess Murphy with 25 assists and Grace Novotny with 23 digs.
River Falls will face Burlington in the Division 1 championship match at the Resch Center Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
Division 2
Luxemburg-Casco (41-8) shook of a sluggish start to defeat Merrill 17-25, 25-10, 25-23, 25-20 in its Division 2 match-up.
The Spartans’ offense was led by Alexis Dorner with 21 kills and .472 attack percentage. Peyton VandenBush chipped in with 11 kills, and Megan Dorner distributed a game-high 44 assists. Molly Wotruba led the team in digs with 16, and Brianna Prevost had a game-high four service aces.
The Bluejays (32-8) were led on offense by Morgan Wardall with a team-high 15 kills. Defensively Kelsie Belfiori contributed with a game-high 20 digs.
Lakeside Lutheran (34-5) will advance to the final to play Luxemburg-Casco after knocking off three-time defending champion Catholic Memorial in three sets, 25-20, 25-19, 25-20.
The Warriors implemented a stifling defense to limit the defending champion’s offensive attack, holding the Crusaders to a .056 hitting percentage in the match. Kaitlyn Gehler had a game-high 25 digs to lead the defense. Offensively, the Warriors were led by Amber Rowoldt with a game-high 19 kills, and Ellie Westrate with 32 assists.
The Crusaders (30-22) leading hitter in the match was Tatum Brim with nine kills. Caroline Dragani and Emily Mirsberger shared the setting duties with 14 and 13 assists, respectively.
Luxemburg-Casco and Lakeside Lutheran will square off in the Division 2 championship game at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Resch Center.
Division 3
The Division 3 session featured a pair of five-set matches.
Lake Country Lutheran (44-5) battled back from a 2-1 deficit to stun Waterloo 25-11 22-25, 19-25, 25-17, 16-14. The Lightning also staged a comeback late in the fifth game to earn their place in the title tilt.
The Lightning were led by Brooke Anderson with 34 kills and a .435 hitting percentage. Andersen set an all-division record with nine services aces. For the game, the Lightning recorded 17 aces, which also set a five-game record in Division 3. Jennifer O’Keefe chipped in with 12 kills, and Sophia-Grace Schmidt led the team with 32 assists.
Waterloo (27-16) was led offensively by Brooke Mosher, who led the team with 20 kills, and Claire Mosher, who was credited with 24 assists.
Regis (26-6) trailed 2-0 in their match before posting a 23-25, 15-25, 25-14, 25-20, 19-17 triumph over Stratford.
The Ramblers stepped up the defense after the first to sets. Stratford (40-2) hit for a .352 percentage in the first two games, but was held to a .049 hitting clip in the final three sets. Regis featured a balanced hitting attack. Amber Darge, Teryn Karlstad and Sam Bergum each recorded double figures with 14, 12 and 12, respectively. Grace Gilles was the chief distributor of the ball with 46 assists. Defensively, Elle Matson led five players recording double figures in digs with 17.
Both Makayla Krall and Mazie Nagel knocked down 18 kills to lead the Tigers offense. Nagel and Olympia Garrigan paced the team’s defensive effort with 12 digs apiece.
Regis takes on Lake Country Lutheran in the Division 3 championship at the Resch Center at 11:30 a.m. Saturday.
Division 4
Last year’s Division 4 runner-up Clayton (31-2) defeated four-time defending champion Newman Catholic 25-18, 23-25, 25,21-20-25, 15-8 in a rematch of last season’s title match.
The Bears’ Selena Levendoski led all hitters with 27 kills, Alison Leslie and Jaedyn Bussewitz added 19 and 13 kills, respectively to lead the Clayton offense. Marissa Gilbertson dished out 59 assists, which is the second-most ever recorded in the State Tournament for a five-set match in Division 4. Kiana Fall and Kailey Ketz led the Bears on defense with 24 and 21 digs, respectively.
The Cardinals (29-12) were led on offense by Rylie Vaughn with 27 kills and Mackenzie Krach with 37 assists. Krach also recorded 20 digs to lead the Newman Catholic defense.
Clayton will play Lourdes Academy (36-9), which advances to the final after a 25-23, 25-20, 25-15 sweep of Benton. Rachel Aasby and Raechel Russo formed a powerful and efficient attacking duo, collecting 18 and 17 kills apiece for an impressive combined hitting percentage of .542. Claire Chier and Ellie Mackenzie split the setting duties to hand out 21 and 20 assists, respectively.
Benton (25-3) was led by Emma Lawrence with 18 kills, and Kelsie Goffinet handed out a game-high 28 assists.
Clayton and Lourdes Academy will play for the Division 4 title at 9 a.m. Saturday.