By Jason Arndt
Editor
Playing against the Burlington High School girls volleyball team is never easy, especially with the skills each player possesses, and the Demons showed where they stood in the Southern Lakes Conference in back-to-back matches.
The Demons, coming off a four-set win at Union Grove Sept. 5, headed to Wilmot Tuesday and came out aggressive to sweep the Panthers, 25-7, 25-18, 25-14.
Burlington coach Teri Little, whose team improved to 10-2 overall and 2-0 in conference, said her squad entered Tuesday’s match with a purpose.
“We came in with the same mentality and that was control the tempo,” she said.
Senior Cayla Gutche, a University of Wisconsin-Parkside commit, played a role in the tempo with 13 assists and showed aggression at the service line, where she produced four aces to tie for the team lead with senior Claire Walby. Walby also led with nine digs.
If Gutche’s pass distribution was not enough, junior Victoria Van Dan pitched in another nine assists.
Along the front row, the Demons spread the ball around, receiving contributions from seven players with junior Mackenzie Leach leading the way with six kills.
Leach, who pitched in a service ace, also contributed defensively with seven of the Demons’ 41 digs.
Emily Alan, who had a team-leading 17 kills against Union Grove, followed up with four kills along with two total blocks Tuesday.
Alan attributes a combination of factors for Burlington’s back-to-back conference wins.
“Our ball control and our chemistry is what makes us great,” she said. “Ball control is definitely one of our strengths.
Other contributors to Tuesday’s win were Ally Meyerhofer (seven digs, two aces), Amanda Viel (three kills, ace), Laren Baldowsky (four kills), Lizzy Stoffel (four digs), Lydia Biggin (three kills, block, dig), Morgan Klein (three kills, block) and Sam Naber (five digs).
Wilmot (5-2, 1-1 SLC) coach Josh Price said the Demons presented many challenges, adding his team couldn’t just focus on one player.
“They have amazing skill level and have many interchangeable parts,” he said. “They are good and they are aggressive. They definitely came out in that first set and took it to us. We played a little nervous, a little bit scared.”
To read the entire story, including more photos, see the Sept. 12 edition of the Burlington Standard Press.
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