In a battle of two teams with powerhouse hitters, the Burlington High School girls’ volleyball team earned its first trip to the WIAA Division 1 state championship game, beating Watertown 25-15, 27-25, 23-25, 25-16 in a state semifinal.
Fond du Lac downed Divine Savior Holy Angels in five sets to set up the state final Saturday night at 5:30 p.m.
“It’s awesome. The best feeling,” said BHS coach Dan Lynch. “We handled the pressure well tonight.”
Watertown’s Katie Stadick, an NCAA D1 commit to Illinois, finished with a match-high 20 kills. But Burlington put together just enough runs with her in the back row to pull out the match.
BHS took a lead in the first set it never surrendered, but trailed 20-12 in set two. The Demons rallied and tied the score at 24-24 on a block kill, then exchanged points twice with the Goslings. Finally, senior Emma Ketterhagen hit an ace to make it 26-25, and Watertown had a hitting error to end the set.
Watertown eked out a close set three, but the Demons tied the score at 2-2 in the final set and then never trailed again.
Ciara Capezio led Burlington with 17 kills, while Katie Drohner and Bridget Vos added 10 each. Kaysie Shebeneck – who got a chance to hit in the last three games with Casey Roberts in to run a 6-2 (two setter) offense – finished with eight kills and 32 assists. Roberts added 10 assists.
For other highlights, see the blog below:
Hi, everyone: this is Jennifer Eisenbart and I’m here at the Resch Center in Green Bay for the WIAA Division1 state semifinal between Burlington and Watertown. This is another matchup between the No. 1 and 3 teams in the state, with CCHS (ranked No. 1) beating Hillsboro (No. 3) in Division 4 earlier today.
Per WIAA regulations, we cannot do live play-by-play, but I’ll be updating on timeouts and at the end of games. Please hit refresh often for the latest updates.
6:55 p.m. – Warmups are almost over here, and then we have introductions for two courts. We’ll probably start shortly after 7 p.m.
7:08 p.m. – Watertown just cannot handle BHS’s serving so far, and the Demons lead 9-2 at the first timeout. Incidentally, the BHS student section just started chanting “Go home early” and BHS Athletic Director Eric Plitzuweit silenced them with a look.
7:14 p.m. – And BHS now leads 16-6, behind some heavy serving and just coming ready to play. This is a complete 180 from where BHS started last night against Eau Claire North.
7:20 p.m. – Set one to Burlington, 25-15 on a hard kill by Katie Drohner. BHS opened this match playing very confidently, and they look about as nervous as Catholic Central did this morning — which is to say not at all!
7:32 p.m. – Watertown is completely and totally in sync right now, playing very crisp and clean and getting Katie Stadick open. At a BHS timeout, it’s 11-5 Watertown in set two.
7:40 p.m. – BHS just called its second timeout, down 19-12 in set two. Right now, Watertown is working well enough in system and BHS can’t get a good block up on Stadick, who is the best player on the court right now.
7:45 p.m. – BHS has finally put together a rally in game two, and is starting to get into system and with it. It’s 23-20 Watertown ahead, but the Goslings called timeout.
7:48 p.m. – Ciara Capezio just served up an ace that just got over the net (brushed it), forcing another Watertown timeout with the score 24-23, Goslings.
7:51 p.m. – BHS rallies all the way back to win set two, 27-25. Updates will be slow in set three, as the computer needs to be plugged in to charge.
8:16 p.m. – It’s 23-22 Watertown in set three. This has been high quality volleyball the whole set, back and forth the whole way. Everything you’d expect from these two teams playing.
8:18 p.m. – Watertown survives to win game three when Ciara Capezio’s kill was ruled to have touched the antenna. It was really, really close.
8:30 p.m. – We just hit out first timeout of the fourth set, with Burlington leading 13-9. Capezio just got a great kill off a set by Katie Drohner, and the Demons are surviving the Katie Stadick Onslaught (yes, it deserves all caps right now!). Just great volleyball all around.
8:36 p.m. – Watertown timeout, 19-12 with Burlington winning.
8:43 – BHS wins set four, 25-16B. More coming once post game is done!
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