Kaukauna (39-3) defeated two-time defending champion Marquette (14-11) in the quarterfinals Friday to advance to the semifinals of the State Boys Volleyball Tournament at Wisconsin Lutheran College in Milwaukee, Wis.
The Galloping Ghosts overcame a significant deficit to win the first set and go on to defeat the Hilltoppers 26-24, 25-22, 25-11, 26-24.
Dalton Erdman collected a game-high 20 kills for Kaukauna, and Sam Neuber contributed 18 kills to fuel the Kaukauna offense. Cooper Diedrich dished out 36 assists. The Galloping Ghosts were solid defensively with 12 blocks and 56 digs in the match. The Hilltoppers were led by Stephen Roenitz with 14 kills. Evan Dorschner and Liam Schroeder chipped in with 12 and 10 kills, respectively. Conor Ward handed out a game-high 44 assists and Justin Magnus recorded a game-high 22 digs.
Brookfield East (19-8) came from behind to bounce Germantown (35-7) from title contention with a 17-25, 26-24, 19-25, 25-21, 15-6 triumph.
Matt Szews led the Spartans with a game-high 29 kills, and Nick Watry added 16 kills to fuel the offense. Watry also contributed with a team-high 26 assists and 15 digs. Max Keefe led three Warhawks in double-figures in kills with 24. Bryce Thomas added 11 and Jack Thompsen had 10. Logan Reindl compiled a game-high 49 assists.
Brookfield East advances to the semifinals for the first time, and Germantown was eliminated from its fourth State Tournament appearance.
In the afternoon session, last year’s runner-up New Berlin Eisenhower/West (29-5) advanced with a decisive 25-22, 25-12, 25-12 win over Middleton (23-11).
Matt Zeske had an impressive offensive performance, with a hitting percentage of .500 and a match-high 14 kills. Kyle Kraninger also had double-figures in kills with 10. Adam Campbell dealt out 26 assists, and Brian Voight recorded three service aces.
Middleton hung with the United for most of the first set, but could not recover from a late-first set rally by the United. Kevin McMahon and Blake Sprecher were the team leaders in kills with six apiece. However, the Cardinals inefficient hitting attack led to a -.095 hitting percentage.
Kettle Moraine (29-5) advanced to the semifinals with a 25-17, 25-11, 25-20 sweep over Kenosha Indian Trail (25-10), which was making its first-ever appearance in the State Tournament.
The Lasers’ balanced hitting attack was led by David Waltz with nine kills, and Nick Malak chipped in with seven kills. They also were formidable at the net defensively, making 12 blocks led by Alex Nelson with seven block assists and six from Nick Davies.
The Hawks could never get it going offensively. They struggled with a minus hitting percentage in the match. Jon Quinn posted seven kills to pace the Hawks.
Kettle Moraine advances to the semifinals for the second time with the previous time coming in 2012.