By Jennifer Eisenbart
Editor
There’s just something about the Resch Center in Green Bay – and the state girls volleyball tournament.
Sometimes, the favorites win, and other times they fall short. There’s always great volleyball, though, and there is nothing that matches the emotions and the insanity that takes place over the three days.
After months of watching volleyball in high school gymnasiums – where some of the lights work, sight lines can be anywhere from awesome to awful and fans are often crammed into bleachers like sardines – the open area of the Resch Center is a treat.
And on championship Saturday, when there is just one court – red and blue, under bright lights and fans sorted by the two schools playing, one on each side of the arena, there isn’t a better high school state tournament to be found.
There are always a few special storylines, though, ones that make the trip more than just a sporting event.
* This year, everyone at state got a great view at the kind of talent that comes to a school once in a generation – maybe once in a lifetime. Menomonee Falls’ Simone Lee might be “just” the latest Division 1 recruit coming out of Wisconsin, but in watching her play, you can see the next level of the sport.
Lee is headed to perennial NCAA powerhouse Penn State next fall, and she’s ready to be there. As one college coach at state said, she’s stepped up her hitting, taking balls deeper and less up and down.
What made Lee so effective – she had 61 kills over three matches and would’ve had more if Falls hadn’t dominated in the semifinals and finals – is her placement. Not only does she hit the ball hard, she hits it in the open spots. Getting a dig on her at state was a badge of honor, and Falls had enough to back her up that even Westosha Central couldn’t find a magic formula to take the Indians down.
* And speaking of Westosha, it’s hard not to love the job Charlie Berg does with his teams year in and year out. Berg is a master of finding a winning formula – especially when his teams are senior-dominated and know what he wants.
This year’s team may not have pulled out a state title against falls (see the previous bit on Simone Lee), but just getting to the state championship match was impressive. In the state quarterfinals, the Falcons neutralized Muskego’s height advantage, and in the semifinals, let Neenah’s Haley Barnes hit – and then took advantage of every opportunity they got with her in the back row.
Berg, in his 34th year at the helm of the Falcons, truly deserves to be called one of the best coaches in the state, if not the best. The reason? His teams manage to find a way, even when maybe they shouldn’t. His players buy into his game plans, and believe they can win every time they step on the court.
* And finally, while Falls’ had the best player in the state in Lee, East Troy confirmed something most schools – Division 1 through 4 – understood going into state: that the Trojans deserved to be called the best team in the state, period.
After the Trojans thoroughly dismantled Madison Edgewood in the state championship match, a high school coach noted that East Troy played its state championship match in the sectional finals, downing Kettle Moraine Lutheran in five sets.
But beside those two wins, the Trojans took a back seat to no one this year, not losing a single match. Among their victims during the season: Westosha Central, Catholic Memorial, Menomonee Falls, Muskego, Divine Savior Holy Angels, Milwaukee Pius, and of course, Kettle Moraine Lutheran.
The Trojans had it all – great experience, talented youth, height and a team-first attitude that turned the state title match into a rout.
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