By Jennifer Eisenbart
Sports editor
With starting setter Zach Gesteland sitting out with a double ear infection Monday night, the Burlington High School boys volleyball team needed to rely on its depth – and its depth came through.
Nick Bartlett set the ball for the Demons, coming up with 21 assists, and the Demons worked through a number of other illnesses to produce a 25-19, 25-18, 25-21 win over Racine Horlick.
Burlington is now 4-1 in the Southeast Conference and 17-5 overall.
“Nick Bartlett came through in the pinch,” coach Tim Gesteland said. “I guess it shows how deep we are at that position, and it shows how athletic Nick is.
“He’s our go-to, utility guy.”
Senior Joey Gesteland led Burlington with seven kills, while Eric Gerber had five. Gerber and Carson Biedrzycki combined for 12 blocks.
The Demons were coming off a silver bracket victory at the Shorewood Invite Saturday. According to coach Gesteland, Burlington got stuck in the hardest of three pools, where they lost to host Shorewood in three sets and beat Milwaukee Pius in two.
That put the Demons into the silver bracket, where they swept Nicolet and went three sets to defeat Wauwatosa West.
“We played very well,” the coach said. “It was a tough pool. It was also a tough schedule.”
The Demons had the first round off, and then played two matches, had a 10-minute lunch break, and then came back to win both silver bracket matches.
Zach Gesteland, in spite of being ill, had a team-record 106 assists, while Joey Gesteland had 38 kills and Nolan Rueter 34. Garrett Schilling had 41 digs.
On Sept. 28, Burlington picked up a huge win over SEC rival Westosha Central, downing the Falcons 25-22, 22-25, 25-21, 25-23.
“That was exciting,” the coach said. “All four games … they were very close.
Coach Gesteland said the team tried a different offense, sending the ball more to the middles than the outsides.
“I thought we were able to expose their defense a little better.”
Rueter led the Demons with 19 kills, while Joey Gesteland had nine, Gerber eight and Dexter Spieker six. Zach Gesteland finished with 40 assists, while Gerber had seven blocks and Zach Gesteland five.
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