Top-seeded Marquette (40-3) advances to the semifinals of the State Boys Volleyball Tournament with a 25-18, 25-17, 25-17 victory over Kenosha Indian Trail (28-12) in the quarterfinals Friday at Wisconsin Lutheran College in Milwaukee.
The Hilltoppers were in control throughout the match. Except for a brief stretch in the beginning of the third set, they were ahead the entire way. Evan Dorschner led the Hilltoppers offensively with 12 kills and a .308 kill percentage. Liam Schroeder and Nick Rondonelli combined to add 14 kills with a .444 hitting percentage. Luke Borowski distributed 20 assists to lead all setters in the match, and Ben Foley led the team with 10 digs.
The Hawks struggled on the offensive attack, posting a -.043 hitting percentage. Three Hawks recorded four kills to lead the team. Nick Stachura led the squad with 12 assists. Turner Fuhrer had a game-high 11 digs, and Blake Schwandt had five blocks for the Hawks.
Marquette continues on its quest for a ninth championship, while Kenosha Indian Trail is eliminated from its second State Tournament appearance.
Wauwatosa East (26-9) defeated Arrowhead (23-12) in its State quarterfinal with a 25-23, 21-25, 25-23, 25-22 to advance to the semifinals.
With the match tied at 1-1, the Red Raiders grabbed the momentum in the third set. Trailing 19-16, Wauwatosa East scored eight of the next 10 points, including a five-point run, to take a 24-21 lead and go on to win the third set.
Three players notched double figures in kills for the Red Raiders. Aaron Plaisted had a team-high 15 kills, and Ben Miller and Eric Winter added 11 and 10 kills, respectively. Joe Marx dished out 38 assists. The Warhawks were led by Evan Waltz with a game-high 16 kills. Zach Nielsen contributed 15 kills and Tanner Williams added 10. Tyler Haessly led all setters with 43 assists in the match.
Arrowhead had a slight edge in attacking, compiling a .240 hitting percentage compared to .227 for the Red Raiders. However, the Warhawks committed 16 serve errors to negate any advantage they had in hitting efficiency.
Wauwatosa East advances beyond the quarterfinals for the first time since 2010, and Arrowhead ends its season in its sixth tourney appearance.
Catholic Memorial (23-9) moved into the semifinals following a 25-23, 25-27, 25-17, 25-20 win over Middleton (30-10) in the quarterfinals Friday evening.
The Crusaders took control of the match by winning the third set, aided by two separate four-point runs. In the deciding fourth set, Catholic Memorial erased a 10-8 deficit by scoring 10 of the next 12 points to proceed to close out the Cardinals.
Ryan Brown collected a game-high 17 kills, and Zach Engsberg and Dom Coello added 12 and 10 kills, respectively, for the Crusaders. Ben Peschl dished out a match-high 49 assists, and Josh Gableman recorded a team-high 10 digs. Engsberg also led the Crusaders defensively at the net with seven blocks.
Eagan Peters-Michaud and Brian Vergenz both had 12 kills, and Andrew Lepage handed out 33 assists to lead the Cardinals offense. Thomas Robson and Jack Herder led the defense with 12 digs and seven blocks, respectively.
Catholic Memorial is still in contention for its third State title, while Middleton ends the its season at the State Tournament for the ninth time.
New Berlin Eisenhower/West (25-11) ousted defending champion Kaukauna (35-8) from title contention with a 25-21, 25-18, 25-23 win in Friday night’s quarterfinals.
The United hit .308 for the match while limiting the Galloping Ghosts to a .189 hitting percentage. Zach Just and Kyle Kraninge