Catholic Memorial Comes Back to Win Boys Volleyball Title
Posted: 11/12/2016
Catholic Memorial (25-9) stunned Marquette (42-3) by coming back from a two-set deficit to win the State Boys Volleyball Tournament final Saturday evening at Wisconsin Lutheran College in Milwaukee.
The 17-25, 21-25, 25-23, 25-23,15-10 decision earned the Crusaders’ their third State title and their first since 2010.
Catholic Memorial staved off defeat after dropping the first two sets with a victory in the third set and then rallying to tie the match by scoring the last two points to break a 23-23 tie in the fourth set. The Crusaders jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the deciding fifth game, but the Hilltoppers clawed back to take a 10-9 lead. Catholic Memorial completed the comeback by scoring the final six points of the match with a pair a kills and a variety of four Marquette errors.
Zach Engsberg led all attackers with 17 kills for a highly efficient .577 hitting percentage. Ryan Brown and Joe Heyrman also tallied double-digits in kills with 14 and 10, respectively. Ben Peschl dished out 46 assists, and Josh Gableman led the team with 10 digs.
Marquette also had three players post double-digits in kills. Will Steinhafel led the way with 13, and Evan Dorschner and Liam Schroeder each had 11. Conor Ward distributed 46 assists to direct the offense. Dorschner led the team with 10 digs, and Schroeder was credited with a match-high seven blocks.
The match featured 43 ties and 14 lead changes. It’s the second time in three years that the champion has battled back from a two-set deficit to the championship. Marquette came back to beat New Berlin Eisenhower/West in the 2014 championship match.
Catholic Memorial’s third title comes in its 11th State Tournament appearance. Marquette finishes runner-up in its 15th appearance.