BHS, CCHS set sights on a Burlington state volleyball sweep
By Jennifer Eisenbart
Staff writer
The Burlington and Catholic Central High School volleyball teams differ in many ways.
One school plays in Division 1 led by two NCAA Division 1 recruits, the other in Division 4 with a collection of well-schooled players who all know their roles.
This week, both teams head to the WIAA state tournament for the second year in a row with a common goal in mind – win a state title.
The Demons defeated Kenosha Tremper Saturday night in four sets at home to win their sectional, while CCHS traveled to Lake Country Lutheran to defeat Sheboygan County Lutheran in four sets as well.
Burlington will open tournament play in Green Bay Thursday at 4:30 p.m. against Eau Claire North, while the Lady Toppers open Friday at 10 a.m. against Hillsboro.
Both squads enter the tournament as the No. 1-seeded team from their sectional – and as the No. 1-ranked team in their division by wissports.net.
“It means so much to me, because this is my last year,” said CCHS senior Amanda Koenen, who added that she’s been motivated to “not waste” her final moments on the court.
“Now we’re going to state, and that’s the biggest thing we can do, so that’s just awesome,” she added.
Both teams have had different roads to state. BHS is making the trip for the third year in a row, the result of a strong senior class of seven as well as three standout juniors. But two of those juniors were injured for significant stretches this season, and as a result, the Demons have not had their full lineup together again until the postseason.
The Demons are excited to have a shot at the state title, especially after winning what many refer to as the “pre-season” state tournament at the Thomas More Joust in August. The saying this week? The third time is the charm.
“Our goal is to obviously win state, and I think we can definitely do it this year,” said senior Emma Ketterhagen. “We are very focused on beating (Eau Claire North), and continuing on to Friday and Saturday.”
The team focus is something the Demons are also stressing. During a timeout against Tremper, co-head coach Teri Leach chided the squad for not playing as a team – and the lesson has stuck.
“Our team couldn’t really get anywhere without any one person,” said senior Casey Roberts. “All together, we make us the Burlington Demons of 2011.”
Catholic Central, meanwhile, has had its lineup steadily improving week in and week out. With most of the team returning from last year’s state runner-up squad, the Lady Toppers have seen everyone make improvements from match to match – again having everyone play a role.
Senior libero Bekah Shellberg may have summed it this week’s goals the best.
“I want our team to stay together, no matter what, which we’ve been doing really good,” Shellberg said. “The last two games, we’ve had so much more intensity than we’ve had the entire year. We want to keep that up.”
-
-
-
-
-