By Jennifer Eisenbart
Sports Editor
Burlington High School boys volleyball coach Tim Gesteland didn’t want his team to give Catholic Memorial any hope Friday night in the WIAA state quarterfinals.
“I told them, ‘get this done in three (sets),'” Gesteland explained. “You don’t want to go four, because four equals five.'”
The Demons got it done in four, beating CMH 25-22, 25-20, 23-25, 25-22, and Kettle Moraine beat Wauwatosa East in five sets, so it’ll be BHS vs. Kettle Moraine in the state semifinals tomorrow at noon. BHS beat Kettle Moraine earlier in the year, but as coach Gesteland said, “Every team’s improved since then.”
Final stats from tonight’s match: Nolan Rueter finishes with 17 kills, while Carson Biedrzycki had 12. Zach Gesteland had seven kills and 32 assists, while Nick Bartlett had seven kills, three aces, and eight digs. Libero Garrett Schilling finished with a team-high 12 digs.
9:35 p.m. – Some comments from the BHS players:
“We didn’t want it to go five,” said BHS senior Zach Gesteland. “We just had to win it there, and we did.”
Fellow senior Carson Biedrzycki added, “We knew we could handle the game. We just need to get our intensity back.”
9:19 p.m. – A kill by Zach Gesteland and a hitting error by CMH ends the match at 25-22. BHS is onto the semifinals, to face either Kettle Moraine or Wauwatosa East.
9:16 p.m. – WOW! Talk about taking ownership of your team! The BHS seniors have now put the team back ahead 23-22 on a beautiful kill by Carson Biedrzycki and then a block kill by Zach Gesteland.
9:13 p.m. – Catholic Memorial leads 21-19 in set four, and the Demons are just a few points away from seeing a 2-0 set lead disappear at the state tournament. Burlington looks very tight right now.
9:09 p.m. – If you’re a BHS fan, this is getting a little too interesting. Ahead 17-12, Catholic Memorial has rattled off the last three points to pull within two.
9:03 p.m. – CMH blinks first in set four, calling timeout with BHS ahead 10-7.
8:53 p.m. – Catholic Memorial takes set three 25-22, and for the first time, Burlington looked just a little tight. Now the Demons will have to regroup. Interestingly, the BHS coaches are holding off while the team huddles.
8:51 p.m. – Volleyball is a game of momentum, and right now, CMH has all of it. 23-19, CMH, as BHS uses its second timeout.
8:46 p.m. – This set has just been FUN. Burlington calls its first time out down 18-16, as both teams are, frankly, hitting the snot out of the ball. CMH seems to finally be getting good, in-system passes, though, to its hitters.
8:35 p.m. – CMH calls a quick timeout down 5-1 after both teams saw their passing break down on that last point, but BHS ended it with a spike kill by Nolan Rueter.
8:32 p.m. – On the student section cheering front, the BHS seniors break out the sumo wrestler cheer. Catholic Memorial responds with “We’ve got Jesus.” I sincerely doubt He is taking sides.
8:29 p.m. – And just like that, Burlington wins three of the final four points to take set two 25-20.
8:27 p.m. – Back-to-back error by Burlington has allowed CMH to pull within 22-19, and Burlington has called timeout to settle down the troops.
8:20 p.m. – CMH timeout with BHS ahead 16-11 in set two. Catholic Memorial is a bit more in system to start this second set, but has had a string of errors now, which led to the time out.
8:08 p.m. – BHS wins set one on a service error by CMH, 25-15.
8:04 p.m. – Another Catholic Memorial timeout, this time down 21-11. For everyone just tuning in, Burlington HIgh School is playing Catholic Memorial High School in the WIAA state boys volleyball tournament quarterfinals.
8:03 p.m. – All BHS so far, 19-11.
7:58 p.m. – Hi, folks. We are here at the state boys volleyball tournament, where BHS has an early 12-4. CMH just called timeout. The Demons have been firing on all cylinders so far, coming out with passion and aggression.
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