Entire starting lineup back from sectional final run
By Mike Ramczyk
Sports Editor
Volleyball is becoming a way of life in the city of Burlington.
For three decades now, the Demons have been the gold standard in terms of area volleyball success, with back-to-back Division 1 state championships in 2011 and ’12 and multiple sectional finals appearances.
Last year, a senior-laden Westosha Central squad, Burlington’s arch-nemesis, ousted the young Demons in Janesville for a trip to state. The Falcons made it all the way to the state final before losing.
The Demons featured zero seniors in their deep rotation.
This fall, those youngsters are a year older and wiser, and now five seniors lead a team with 12 returning letter-winners.
After Burlington made it to the championship game at last weekend’s Joust, the hardest tournament of the season, the state has officially been put on notice.
Burlington has all of the ammunition necessary for its third state title in four years.
“We’re very deep,” said co-head coach Teri Leach, now in her 10th season with co-coach Dan Lynch. “That’s our biggest strength. Expectations are high. This group is focused on making the best run back to the state level. They don’t have to verbalize it. It’s there. They know what it takes to achieve it. They come into the season hungry for that.”
The Demons are a bona fide state power, and they showed it last weekend at Homestead High School. Burlington took care of Cedarbug, Waukesha West, Milwaukee Pius, Homestead and Divine Savior Holy Angels (DSHA) before succumbing to Catholic Memorial, 29-27, 25-18, in the finals.
The star-studded, 24-team event is considered the toughest competition in the area, as most of the state’s top 10 teams in divisions 1 and 2 were there.
Burlington, ranked No. 1 in D1, only lost to D2’s No. 1 team, Memorial.
Spieker, a junior who is a candidate for state player of the year, led the Demons with 77 kills, and junior Ali Rueter added 41.
Defensively, Teagan Taylor, a senior, had 34 digs. Spieker added 32 digs.
Sophomore setter Reba Thomsen, new to varsity, paced the club with 88 assists. Rueter added 45.
Juniors Tay Lewis and Phoebe Hozeska led the team with 13.5 and 11 blocks, respectively.
Two key Demons were limited. Senior Robyn Robers missed action on Saturday due to a prior commitment, and sophomore outside hitter Alyssa Turzenski suffered a concussion during warmups and had to miss all four matches Saturday.
Three decades of success
The Demons made their first state appearance in school history in 1997 and have been back four times since. Last year’s sectional loss snapped a streak of four straight years in Green Bay, where the state meet takes place.
Throughout the 90s and 2000s, though, Burlington was always close, as area powers Westosha Central and Muskego would often be the only teams preventing state appearances.
This year’s players grew up watching the program evolve into what it is today, and the tradition continues.
“We have such a history of success,” Leach said. “These kids came and watched all the older kids play. Dan’s been here for 26 years, and he built a youth program immediately back in the late 80s. All of our kids have seen the older kids achieve at a high level.”
“They’ve all played the game since elementary school, and they’ve all invested a lot of time. They put in the work, attend summer workouts and we are a top program because we touch the ball a lot.”
Leach added that several of her girls are multi-sport athletes.
“It’s hard to play several sports with the commitment to volleyball,” Leach said. “If they’re not playing club ball, they may not advance their skills. It’s not a requirement to play club, but our kids are hooked, they love the sport and they play a lot.”
In the early season, the Demons are already showing resiliency. Even when they’ve gotten down early, they are usually able to bounce back and right their wrongs.
Burlington, which took second in conference to Westosha, should contend for the conference title with D1’s No. 10 team, Union Grove.
“My goal is to see us improving and take a step forward each day,” Leach said. “We’ve got to get our offense going and start to connect between our setters and hitters. That should get better each day.”
Burlington opens SLC play tonight at Delavan-Darien.
Along with depth, versatility is there with this bunch. Forget playing other teams, just doing well at practice is a challenge with this much talent.
“We have well-rounded volleyball players who can play numerous positions,” Leach said. “We don’t have to pigeon-hole one lineup to be successful. Our ability to push each other at practice gives us an edge over other programs. We are 16 or 17 deep.”
Meet the players
Robers, Lauren Pesick, Taylor, Leah Hofer and Sarra Webb are the seniors and will take on leadership roles.
Team chemistry is strong, as this group has been together for all four years of high school and beyond.
Joining the quintet are returning letter-winners Spieker, Rueter, Arden Peterson, Lewis, Phoebe Hozeska, Emma Fettig and Turzenski.
Thomsen, Jalyn Krause and Maren Franzke are newcomers expected to contribute, Leach said.
Hozeska is 100 percent after a knee injury sidelined her last year. A key contributor to the 2012 state championship squad, Hozeska is ready to go. Lewis, who missed much of last season with an injury, is fully healthy as well.
“There is very good team chemistry and leadership,” Leach said. “The seniors have been vocal, setting up team dinners, tie-dying shirts and other things to stay united. It’s very neat.”
Schedule
(HOME GAMES IN BOLD CAPS)
September – 4: at Delavan-Darien. 6: at Muskego Invite. 9: LAKE GENEVA BADGER. 13: at West Allis Hale Invite. 16: at Elkhorn. 23: UNION GROVE. 26-27: Sprawl at West Bend East. 30: at Westosha Central. October – 2: at Muskego. 7: WATERFORD. 11: at Westosha Central Invite. 14: WILMOT. 18: SLC meet at Badger. 23, 25: WIAA Regionals. 30: WIAA Sectional. November – 1: Sectional. 6-8: State at Resch Center (Green Bay).
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