Burlington High School

Bring out the brooms: Demons sweep opponents at SLC tourney

by Ed Nadolski Views: 18

By Jennifer Eisenbart

Sports editor

Members of the Southern Lakes Conference championship girls volleyball from Burlington High School are: (front from left) Kaysie Shebeneck, Cat Zimmermann, Morganne Longoria, Casey Roberts, Sam Webb; (middle row) Leah Hofer, Sarra Webb, Cassidy Robers, Bridget Vos, Abby Schmalfeldt, assistant coach Brianna Stankus with Natalie (in arms) Leach and Mackenzie Leach; (back row) head coaches Dan Lynch and Teri Leach; Emma Ketterhagen, Katie Drohner, Mackenzie Schneider and Ciara Capezio. (Photo by Jennifer Eisenbart)

For the second year in a row, no one could get a set off the Burlington High School girls’ volleyball team at the Southern Lakes Conference tournament.

The Demons swept Lake Geneva Badger, Waterford and finally Union Grove Saturday, winning its third consecutive SLC title.

Burlington went undefeated in the regular season at 7-0, and won the overall title as well. With Union Grove upending Westosha Central in the semifinals, the two teams finished tied for second in the final standings. The Broncos had lost to Westosha in five game early last week.

For the Demons, it was a chance to get their lineups set going into the postseason. With the status of junior outside hitter Ciara Capezio still up in the air – she sat out Saturday with a knee injury suffered at the Westosha Smash – Burlington had a chance to see everyone on its roster.

But as it turned out, it was a slightly revised lineup that proved most effective. In the championship match, junior setter/right side Kaysie Shebeneck was back, and Mackenzie Schneider, Bridget Vos and Cassidy Robers were all hitting from the outside.

Shebeneck and Casey Roberts set the ball in a 6-2, and the end result was – after a rough semifinal win over Waterford – a sweep of the Broncos in the final.

“We’ve just been flying by the seat of our pants all season,” said Burlington coach Dan Lynch. “We hadn’t practiced what we ran at the end of the day Saturday.”

“We were really happy with the fact we didn’t even drop a set with all the changing we’ve been doing.”

Senior middle Katie Drohner finished with a team-high 26 kills, while Vos added 18 and Shebeneck 17. Robers added 16 kills, while Schneider and the team’s other middle hitter, Emma Ketterhagen added 11 kills each.

Roberts had a team-high 58 assists, while Shebeneck had 33 assists. Morganne Longoria had 24 digs, while Cat Zimmermann and Sam Webb added six each and Robers five. Ketterhagen finished with eight blocks, while Drohner added four.

Burlington opens up WIAA Division 1 postseason play Saturday against either Fort Atkinson or Elkhorn in a regional final game at home at 7 p.m.

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