From the Resch Center, Day One: BHS girls win

The Burlington High School girls volleyball team admittedly had some opening jitters Thursday night at the WIAA Division 1 state tournament.

But the Demons worked through them, rallying after losing the first game to defeat Eau Claire North 21-25, 25-18, 25-18, 25-14 at the Resch Center in Green Bay.

BHS will play Watertown in a D1 state semifinal Friday night at 7 p.m.

Burlington looked skittish in the first game, making numerous hitting errors and serving errors. But a lineup change in the second game – with Mackenzie Schneider coming in for Cassidy Robers and Casey Roberts coming in as a second setter – seemed to swing the moment.

BHS coach Dan Lynch said his team also seemed to settle down once it got a lead in game two.

“Nerves got in the way,” Lynch said. “Once we pulled ahead in game two, we played w a little more confidence.”

Ciara Capezio led the Demons with 24 kills, while Katie Drohner added 14. Kaysie Shebeneck had nine kills and 42 assists, and also 17 digs. Morganne Longoria led the Demons with 20 digs.

Please see the blog below for some highlights.

Hi, everyone. This is Jennifer Eisenbart and I’m here from the WIAA state girls volleyball tournament at the Resch Center in Green Bay. Per WIAA rules, I cannot do live play-by-play this afternoon, but I will be updating frequently with scores and highlights.

Please hit refresh often for the latest commentary!

4:15 p.m. – And we’re here! Burlington is about to start its on-court warmup, and Demons appear to be in their tie-dye orange uniforms today. They will be facing Eau Claire North here in the state quarterfinals.

4:25 p.m. – Warmups are done, and we’re ready for introductions. A very small Burlington crowd here so far, probably because the BHS boys’ volleyball team is hosting Westosha Central tonight in a sectional final in Burlington. North has a large contingent here.

4:26 p.m. – On a non-volleyball note, coaches on the bench for BHS are Mary Parker and Brianne Stankus – two members of the 2005 team that lost to Westosha in the sectional semifinals before the tourney was seeded. Both went on to collegiate careers – Stankus at UW-La Crosse and Parker (I believe) at Beloit College. Now both are lending their expertise to a young class. 🙂

4:27 p.m. – The starters for Burlington today: Cat Zimmermann, Kaysie Shebeneck, Ciara Capezio, Bridget Vos, Katie Drohner and Emma Ketterhagen. Ketterhagen will likely go out right away to make room for libero Morganne Longoria.

4:30 p.m. – And we have our first two mis-pronounciations of the state tourney – Sierra instead of Ciara for Ciara Capezio, and Mor-GAN Longoria. The announcer is having some issues with North as well. But we’re ready to go here. I’ll update as often as possible. BHS looked solid in warm-ups, if a little nervous. North will be sporting No. 3, Kayonna Lee – a former football player who is apparently quite a blocker.

4:41 p.m. – After an exchange of runs (and timeouts), BHS now trails 10-9. They were behind 10-5, and they have the serve.

4:53 p.m. – North wins the first game, 25-21. The Huskies have been extremely effective blocking BHS, and it’s killing the Demons momentum. The BHS parent section is now cheering, trying to fire up their team. The girls need something to fire them up. Also, Watertown just rallied from 20-15 down to beat De Pere 25-21 in game one on the other court.

5:15 p.m. OK, BHS uses a combination of good blocking, some timely North errors and some better play to take the second game 25-18. Ciara Capezio got the kill on game point. On the other court, DePere did NOT let game two get away, winning 25-14.

5:38 p.m. – Burlington survives a determined run by North in the third game, winning 25-18. Capezio is hitting better with good placement now, and BHS seems to be finding a way around the North block a little bit better. On the other court, Watertown wins game three, to go up 2-1.

5:45 p.m. – Quick shouout to Beth Reetz, our first commentor. BHS leads in game 8-4.

5:48 p.m. – Quick update during timeout, BHS up 12-5 on a steady stream of good hitting and North passing errors at this point.

5:59 p.m. – BHS wins the fourth game 25-14 on another Katie Drohner kill, and it’s on to the semifinals!