By David Paulsen
SPORTS CORRESPONDENT
A straight three-set win over Wilmot Tuesday has moved the Union Grove High School girls’ volleyball above .500 in Southern Lakes Conference action.
The 25-17, 25-20, 25-11 victory improved the Bronco girls to 3-2 in SLC play with two more SLC matches left.
In the first set games, head coach Sarah Busalacchi said the Broncos played at the competition’s level.
“They need to enjoy winning and play to the level of the opponent,” Busalacchi said.
In kills, Kylie Wilks led the team with 10, followed by Savannah Kohlhagen and Ashley Olsen with nine each.
Kohlhagen added eight digs to her stats, while Rachael Peterson accumulated 36 assists.
Frankie Pettit and Cassidy Kortendick had four block kills each.
Overall, the Broncos are now 23-10 on the season.
After going 3-0 on Friday, Sept. 21 at the UW-Oshkosh High School Showdown, the Bronco girls split four matches on Saturday to finish the 32-team event in 13th place.
On Friday, Union Grove defeated Sheboygan North in their opening match 25-19, 25-22. The girls followed that up with a 25-20, 25-23 win over Lodi, and then finished the day defeating Omro 25-13, 25-15.
Kohlhagen led the team on Friday with 21 kills, three aces and 12 digs.
Olsen added 18 kills, and Wilks 14 kills and six aces.
Kim Dam had 10 digs, and Peterson 42 assists.
On Saturday, the Bronco girls defeated Antigo in three sets, 23-25, 25-12 and 15-9, and bested Elkhorn 25-19, 25-22.
The girls lost to Oostburg 25-22, 25-22, and to Baraboo 25-18, 18-25, 15-13.
The Baraboo match was the opening match on Saturday. Head coach Sarah Busalacchi noted that Union Grove came into Saturday seeded No. 2 and Baraboo was seeded No. 15.
“(The girls) just walked through the game,” Busalacchi said. “It was hard to watch. They made mistakes they hadn’t made before.”
Wilks led Union Grove in kills with 37 and added 23 digs. Kohlhagen had 34 kills, 32 digs and four aces.
Melissa Gramza and Peterson each had five aces, with Peterson getting 106 assists.
Cassy Goodrich and Dam had 27 and 22 digs each.
With the 5-2 mark at the invitational, the Broncos are now 22-10 overall.
“Outstanding players on the weekend were Kylie Wilks, Savannah Kohlhagen and Ashley Olsen,” Busalacchi said, adding that Kohlhagen made the all-tournament team.
“Savannah had a really good weekend,” Busalacchi said. “She did incredible.”
Union Grove traveled to Mukwonago for a non-conference matchup Sept. 20, and lost a tough five-set match.
After losing the first set 25-16, the Bronco girls came back to win the next two sets by identical 25-21 scores.
The fourth set went 64 points and was not decided until Mukwonago pulled out a 33-31 win.
Mukwonago won the final set 15-9.
Wilks had 16 kills and Olsen 13, with Kortendick adding six block kills.
Peterson had 50 assists and Kohlhagen 14 digs.
Union Grove will be at Elkhorn for an SLC match on Tuesday, Oct. 2.
As the team prepares for its final two SLC matches and then the SLC Meet, Busalacchi said she is looking for the girls to increase their intensity, and to put teams away when they have the chance.
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