THE TOURNAMENT: The 55th Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Boys Volleyball Tournament will take place Friday and Saturday, Nov. 9-10, at Wisconsin Lutheran College in Milwaukee, Wis. Ticket prices for the tournament are $8 for adults per session and $1 for children 6-years old and under.
ON THE MOVE: This will be the final boys volleyball State tournament at Wisconsin Lutheran College in Milwaukee. Next year, the tournament moves to the Resch Center in Green Bay and will be held in conjunction with the girls State tournament on Nov. 7-9, 2019. The boys tournament has been held at the REX on the campus of Wisconsin Lutheran College since 2008
STATE TOURNAMENT INFORMATION: The single-elimination tournament features matches with a best-of-five-games format. Of the 58 schools that offer a boys volleyball program, eight remain to play for the single-division State title.
Quarterfinals - Friday, Nov. 9
Match-1: #1 Germantown (42-3) vs. Franklin (19-14) - 12:30 p.m.
Match-2: #4 Marquette (28-8) vs. Catholic Memorial (17-7) - 3 p.m.
Match-3: #2 Kimberly (33-2) vs. Brookfield East (18-12) - 5:30 p.m.
Match-4: #3 Middleton (35-5) vs. Kenosha Indian Trail (34-3) - 8 p.m.
Semifinals - Saturday, Nov. 10
Match-5: Winner of Match-1 vs. Winner of Match-2 - 10 a.m.
Match-6: Winner of Match-3 vs. Winner of Match-4 - 12:30 p.m.
Championship Match - Saturday, Nov. 10
Match-7: Championship Match - 6 p.m.
TOURNAMENT LIVE STREAM: The quarterfinals, semifinals and finals of the WIAA State Boys Volleyball Tournament will be streamed live on the WIAA.TV portal of the NFHS Network on a consumer subscription basis. To purchase a subscription to the live programming for only $9.95 per month, log-on to www.wiaa.tv or www.nfhsnetwork.com and click on the subscription image. Archived streams of the games will be available on demand on the NFHS Network 72 hours after the tournament without requirement of a subscription.
HISTORY OF THE TOURNAMENT: The tournament resumed in 2000 after an 18-year hiatus. The WIAA did not sponsor a championship tournament in boys volleyball from 1983 until 1999 because of the low participation. The initial boys tournament began in 1947 with Madison West winning the first State title. Waukesha, before the school split into multiple schools won nine championships, including five straight championships from 1957-61. Kaukauna and Marquette have also won nine State championships. Other multiple champions are Catholic Memorial, Wisconsin High School of Madison and West Allis Hale with three titles, and Antigo, Catholic Memorial, Madison Central and Whitefish Bay with two titles.
LAST YEAR: Top-seeded Marquette won its ninth State championship with a 25-19, 25-16, 25-20 victory over third-seeded Kaukauna in the title match. The Hilltoppers were led by a balanced hitting attack for a .307 hitting percentage. Aidan Frazier and Liam Schroeder each had eight kills, and David Kopriva and Adam Schulte added seven kills each with Jack Reilly chipping in with six.
ABOUT THE FIELD: Defending champion Marquette is seeded fourth. The Hilltoppers are back in the State Tournament for the 17th straight year, which accounts for the Hilltoppers overall total. They have won nine State titles, capturing the gold in 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2013, 2014 and again last season. In addition, they finished runner-up in 2010 and again in 2016. The Hilltoppers return to the tournament field this season following a 25-21, 25-8, 25-22 sweep over Whitefish Bay in the South Milwaukee Sectional final. They finished runner-up to top-seeded Germantown in the Greater Metro Conference this season. Germantown, the #1 seed, returns to the State Tournament for the second year in a row and for the sixth time overall. The Warhawks have played in one title game, finishing runner-up in 2013. They return to the tournament following their 25-12, 25-19, 30-28 victory over Nicolet in the sectional final played at Nicolet. The Warhawks are this season’s champion in the Greater Metro Conference. Second-seeded Kimberly will make its initial appearance in the State tournament. The Papermakers came back from a 2-1 deficit to outlast 2017 runner-up Kaukauna in five sets 30-28, 22-25, 19-25, 26-24, 15-12 in the sectional final hosted at Kimberly. They are the champions of the Fox Valley Association this year. Third-seeded Middleton returns to the tournament field for the sixth straight season and for the 11th time overall. The Cardinals’ furthest advance toward a title was to the semifinals in 2007 and 2008. This season, they advance to the quarterfinals with a hard-earned ousting of Kettle Moraine 25-16, 19-25, 21-25, 25-21, 15-8 in the sectional final held at Madison Memorial. They are the champions of the Big Eight Conference this season. Brookfield East makes its second consecutive State tournament appearance and its fifth overall. The Spartans’ first trip to State resulted in a loss in the quarterfinals in 2000 with the three most recent experiences ending in the semifinals. Their return to the tournament field this season comes virtue of a 25-22, 28-26, 25-17 sweep of Pius XI Catholic in the sectional final held at West Allis Hale. The Spartans placed third in the Greater Metro Conference this season behind State qualifiers Germantown and Marquette. Catholic Memorial qualifies for the 13th time and for the first time since winning their third championship in 2016. The Crusaders two State titles prior to that came in 2000 and 2010. In addition, they have finished runner-up four times (2003, 2004, 2006 and 2007). They return to the State bracket this season after defeating Mukwonago 25-20, 25-27, 25-22, 27-25 in the sectional final held at Waukesha South. The Crusaders finished runners-up in the Classic Eight Conference this fall behind champion Muskego. Kenosha Indian Trail is back in the tournament field for the third time and for the first time since back-to-back appearances in 2015 and 2016. Both those previous experiences resulted in losses in the quarterfinals. The Hawks earned their berth in the final eight this season with a 27-25, 25-21, 25-18 sweep of Racine St. Catherine’s/Racine Lutheran in the sectional final hosted by the Hawks. They are the champions of the Southeast Conference this year. Franklin’s only prior experience in the State tournament came in 2010 when the Sabers fell in the quarterfinals. They are the champions of the Westosha Sectional this year following their 25-22, 25-18, 25-19 sweep of Westosha Central in the final. The Sabers were runners-up to Kenosha Indian Trail in the Southeast Conference this season.
WIAA OFFICIAL VOLLEYBALL: Molten is the official ball of the WIAA State Boys and Girls Volleyball Tournament Series. To learn more about Molten products, access the website at www.moltenusa.com.
FOLLOW STATE MEET ON SOCIAL MEDIA: Receive updates of the State Boys Volleyball Tournament on the WIAA State Tournament Twitter account @wiaawistate with the hashtag #wiaabvb. Also like us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram at wiaawi, and add us on Snapchat at wiaawis.
NEED RESULTS?: Results of the State Boys Volleyball Tournament are available on the WIAA website at www.wiaawi.org by accessing the boys volleyball Tournament Information page.