Burlington (35-10) won the Division 1 girls volleyball championship by outlasting River Falls in the final Saturday evening at the Resch Center in Green Bay.
After winning the first two sets of the match, the Demons needed a fifth and deciding set to put away the Wildcats by the game scores of 25-20, 25-15, 22-25, 17-25, 15-13.
Abby Koenen was impressive on the attack for the Demons. She recorded a match-high 26 kills with a .367 hitting percentage. Brooklyn VandeHei also contributed double figures in kills with 10. Kaley Blake distributed 51 assists, and Maddie Berezowitz served a match-high five of the Demons’ 11 service aces. Defensively, Samantha Naber recorded a team-high 16 digs.
Three Wildcats posted double figures in kills, led by Marissa Stockman with 19 and a .536 hitting percentage. Halle Olson and Emlly Banitt added 18 and 13 kills, respectively. Izzy Barr delivered 54 assists to guide the offense. On defense, Banitt was one of four players with double figures with a game-high 20.
Burlington captures its third State crown in its ninth appearance after finishing runner-up last season. The Demons’ previous two titles came back-to-back in 2011-12. River Falls (43-1) finishes runner-up its second State Tournament experience.
Division 2
Lakeside Lutheran (39-5) won the first State title in its program’s history, staging an epic comeback to defeat Luxemburg-Casco in the Division 2 State championship match Saturday at the Resch Center in Green Bay, Wis.
After dropping the first two sets of the match, the Warriors battle back to win the match by scores of 19-25, 13-25, 25-22, 25-23, 15-10.
Amber Rowoldt had a record-setting performance to lead Warriors. She set a Division 2 record with 29 kills in the five sets. She also set the Division 2 tournament record with 48 kills. Sophia Collins also chipped in with 15 kills. Ellie Westrate led the team in assists with 43 to go with 10 digs on defense. Kaitlyn Gehler led the team in digs and service aces with 27 and five, respectively, and Kelsey Birschbach provided solid defense at the net with six block assists.
Luxemburg-Casco (41-9) had a trio of attackers recording double figures in kills. Cassie Schiltz led the way with 16, followed by Alexis Dorner with 13 and Peyton VandenBush with 12. Megan Cannon led all setters in the match with 49 assists. On defense, Molly Wotruba led the Spartans’ with 27 digs, and VandenBush and Holly Baierl each had team-leading six block assists.
The Warriors’ championship comes in their third State Tournament appearance, and the Spartans finish runner-up in their first-ever State experience.
Division 3
Lake Country Lutheran (45-5) captured the Division 3 State girls volleyball title with a 23-25, 25-12, 25-17, 25-19 victory over Regis Saturday at the Resch Center in Green Bay, Wis.
Brooke Anderson paced the Lightning offense with 26 kills and a gaudy .451 hitting percentage. Jennifer O’Keefe was also effective on the attack with 18 kills and a .433 hitting percentage. Lake Country Lutheran, as a team, posted a .298 attack percentage. helped by the setting efforts of Molly Howe and Sophia-Grace Schmidt with 25 and 20 assists, respectively. Andersen also recorded five of the Lightning’s 14 service aces in the match, which set a Division 3 State Tournament team record for a four-set match.
The Ramblers were held to a .138 hitting percentage. Sam Bergum led a balanced attack with eight kills, and Teryn Karlstad chipped in with seven. Grace Gilles handed out a team-high 22 assists, and Alayna Deignan served four aces and collected a team-high 11 digs.
Regis (26-7) finishes the season as runner-up for the third time in its seventh State appearance. It’s the first State championship for the Lightning, who were making their second appearance at State.
Division 4
They are celebrating in the community of Clayton (32-2) following the Bears’ win in the championship game in Division 4 Saturday morning at the Resch Center in Green Bay, Wis.
They defeated Lourdes Academy 25-15, 25-20, 25-27, 25-22 to win the program’s third championship after placing runner-up a year ago.
Alison Leslie and Selena Levendoski were the leading attackers for the Bears. They knocked down 22 and 21 kills, respectively. Marissa Gilbertson set the Division 4 State Tournament record for assists in a four-set match with 54 after setting the record for a five-game match Friday. She also shattered the Division 4 mark for the most assists in the tournament with 111. On the defensive of the net, Levendowski led four Bears in double figures with 19 digs.
The Knights were held to a .159 attack percentage in the match. Rachel Aasby led the team with 21 kills, and Claire Chier and Raechel Russo each added 13. Morgan Thiel headed the defensive effort with a game-high 24 digs.
Lourdes Academy (36-10) advanced to the title match for the first time in Knights’ three State Tournament appearances. The Bears’ have now appeared in nine State Tournaments with the other two State championships coming in 1990 and 1996.