Marquette (44-4) proved itself deserving of the top seed by winning the State Boys Volleyball Tournament championship with a 25-19, 25-16, 25-20 victory over third-seeded Kaukauna in the final match Saturday evening at the REX Center in Milwaukee, Wis.
The Hilltoppers capitalized on the same balanced attack they displayed throughout the State Tournament with five players recording six or more kills for a .307 team attack percentage. Aidan Frazier and Liam Schroeder led the team with eight kills apiece. Adam Schulte and David Kopriva each had seven kills, and Jack Reilly had six. Conor Ward led all setters with 30 assists in the match. Defensively, Schroeder had a match-leading four blocks, and Ben Foley and Ward led the team in digs with 14 and 12, respectively.
Kaukauna (29-7) was led offensively by Austyn Bella with 15 kills and Jacob Klapperich with 27 assists. The Galloping Ghosts were challenged in the attack as evident by their .098 hitting percentage in the match. Daniel Hiroskey and Ben Brochtrup both recorded double figures in digs with 12 and 10, respectively.
The Hilltoppers win their ninth State championship in 16 appearances in the tournament. The title total ties them with Kaukauna for the most number of championships. The Galloping Ghosts finish runner-up for the fifth time in their membership-leading 22 tournament appearances.
SEMIFINALS
Top-seeded Marquette (43-4) cruised into the final of the 2017 State Boys Volleyball Tournament with a 25-22, 25-13, 25-20 sweep over Brookfield East in the quarterfinals Saturday morning at the REX Center in Milwaukee.
The Hilltoppers utilized a balanced attack to record a .319 hitting percentage for the match. Conor Ward assisted on 37 of their 42 kills. Jack Reilly led the team with 10 kills, and David Kopriva and Liam Schroeder chipped in with nine and eight kills, respectively. Jack Blair had a match-high three serve aces to contribute to the scoring. Schroeder led the Hilltopper’s defensive effort with nine block assists, which set a State Tournament record for a three-set match. Ben Foley added a match-high eight digs.
The Spartans were led on their attack by Christopher Freedy with nine kills, and Danny Butler added eight kills. As a team, the Spartans struggled to a .053 hitting percentage in the match. Andrew Van Ert led the team in assists with 17, and Butler led the defense with seven digs.
Marquette advances to the final in pursuit of its ninth State championship, while Brookfield East (27-12) ends the season with its fourth State appearance.
Third-seeded Kaukauna (29-6) recovered in time to avoid elimination with a 25-23, 25-14, 18-25, 18-25, 15-8 win over second-seeded Germantown in the semifinals Saturday afternoon.
After winning the first two sets of the match, the Galloping Ghosts slumped with a -.035 hitting percentage in the following two sets to allow the Warhawks to tie the match. Kaukauna recovered to hit a blistering .467 in the deciding set.
Austyn Bella led the Galloping Ghosts with 16 kills, and Ben Brochtrup added 13. Jacob Klapperich assisted on 36 of the team’s 43 kills in the match. Brochtrup and Daniel Hiroskey also contributed with three serve aces. Hiroskey and Brochtrup led the defense with a match-high 18 digs and six blocks, respectively.
The Warhawks dug themselves a two-set hole with a .047 hitting percentage over the first two sets. Bryce Behrendt led the team in kills with 19, and Luke Taylor added 10. Anthony Swoboda dished out a match-high 38 assists. Defensively, Taylor had eight block assists and Swoboda recorded 14 digs for the Warhawks.
Kaukauna advances to the final attempting to win its second title in the past three seasons and its 10th overall. Germantown (36-8) is eliminated from its fifth State appearance.
QUARTERFINALS RECAP
The quarterfinals of the 2017 State Boys Volleyball Tournament produced four teams remaining in contention for the State title Friday at the REX Center at Wisconsin Lutheran College in Milwaukee.
Last year’s runner-up Marquette (42-4) showed why it was issued the tournament’s top seed with a three-set sweep over Racine Horlick 25-13, 25-17, 25-15 to win its quarterfinal.
The Hilltoppers recorded a .274 hitting percentage and held the Rebels to a -.026 percentage. Aidan Frazier led the balanced Marquette attack with eight kills and a .471 hitting percentage. Liam Schroeder added seven kills with a .500 percentage, and Adam Schulte chipped in with six kills. Conor Ward dished out a match-high 25 assists. Ben Foley and David Kopriva led the Hilltoppers on defense with eight digs and five block assists, respectively.
Horlick (26-11) was paced on offense by Kyle Semrad with a match-high nine kills, and Eric Barrientez assisted on 16 of the team’s 19 kills in the match. Barrientez also led the Rebels’ defensive effort as well with five digs and two block assists.
Marquette advances to play Brookfield East in the semifinals at 10 a.m. Saturday.
Brookfield East (27-11) advances to play Marquette in the semifinals following a 25-17, 25-21, 25-17 victory over Muskego in the quarterfinals.
The three-set sweep was fueled by Danny Butler and Christopher Freedy, who recorded double-figures in kills for the Spartans with 11 and 10, respectively. Andrew Van Ert doled out 23 assists, and Ryan Reilly dished out 12. Defensively, Van Ert led the team with seven digs, and Alexander Freedy and Christopher Freedy each had four block assists.
Muskego (18-13) was held to a .076 attack percentage for the match. Mitch Geiger had the most success on the attack for the Warriors with a game-high 13 kills. Blake Schultz distributed a match-high 28 assists and led the team defensively with seven digs.
The Spartans advance to the semifinals in their fourth State appearance and for the third time in the last five seasons. The Warriors end their season at State for the third time.
Kaukauna (34-6) advances to the semifinals for the second time in three seasons with a 25-22, 25-16, 25-10 triumph over Middleton in the quarterfinals.
Both Austyn Bella and Ben Brochtrup put down 13 kills for a combined attack percentage of .315 to lead the Galloping Ghosts, which hit .287 for the match. Jacob Klapperich handed out 30 assists and led the team with four block assists, and Daniel Hiroskey recorded a match-high 18 digs.
Casey McKean was the only Cardinal in double-figures with 10 kills, and Andrew Lepage had a match-high 32 assists. On defense, Thomas Robson tallied 13 digs.
Kaukauna continues its pursuit of a 10th State championship by advancing to the semifinals Saturday against Germantown. Middleton completes its season with its 10th tournament appearance.
Germantown (36-7), the second seed, won its quarterfinal match-up over Kettle Moraine by scores of 25-20, 21-25, 25-23, 25-18 to advance to semifinals against Kaukauna.
Carter Schmidt led all attackers with 17 kills for the Warhawks. Luke Taylor and Bryce Behrendt contributed double figures in kills as well with 13 and 12, respectively. Anthony Swoboda dished out a match-high 39 assists. Jack Leininger had 16 digs, and Taylor and Schmidt each had four block assists to pace the defense statistically.
The Lasers were led in kills by Joe Freeman with eight, but they managed just a .069 attack percentage in the match. Aaron Smet assisted on 26 of the team’s 31 kills. Aaron Johnson had a match-high 19 digs, and Caleb Freiburger led all defenders at the net with six block assists.
Germantown advances to the semifinals for the first time since 2013 when the Warhawks finished runner-up. Kettle Moraine ends its season with the Lasers’ fifth State appearance.