Handful of Demons were on 2012 state championship squad
By Mike Ramczyk
Sports Editor
Dressed in throwback jerseys from the days of grade school, the Burlington girls volleyball team was ready to have some fun.
What was supposed to be a volleyball practice really wasn’t that at all.
There were relay races, written tests and a volleyball version of lightning where one girl after another had
to hit the ball against the wall and keep going. They couldn’t let the ball bounce twice or go out of bounds.
Whereas running lines are usually seen as punishment, the Demons were having a blast competing with each other and trying each mini-competition.
At one point, junior Megan Wallace even ran senior Quinn Spieker over, and Spieker slid backward on the hardwood floor like she had just been steamrolled.
Girls were sharing laughs, putting their bodies on the line and enjoying the fruits of their labor.
On Saturday, Burlington swept rival Westosha Central in a WIAA Division 1 sectional
final to earn another trip to the state tournament, its sixth in seven years.
This was their reward, a fun, competition-filled practice that only happens if you
make it to state.
“It’s the best practice of the year,” said senior Alyssa Wawrzyniakowski. “Everyone looks forward to it. It’s a fun practice to celebrate us going to state.”
Senior Ali Rueter said in the past, the girls have had to make up dance routines.
Rueter will be making her third state trip Thursday at 7:30 p.m. against Verona at the Resch Center in Green Bay, and she is confident in her team.
“It’s a little different because you know it’s the last chance you have, but it helps that we’ve been there before,” she said. “Everyone on our team plays club and have been in big matches. I think we can win it if we play our best.”
Wawrzyniakowski and Rueter are two of nine Burlington seniors who have been dreaming about this moment for nearly a decade.
All of them play volleyball year-round, and they were members of the youth club
Burlington elite in the late 2000s.
Quinn Spieker and Phoebe Hozeska, cousins who were both on the 2012 state championship squad, are ready to erase the memory of last year, when the Demons fizzled away a 2-0 lead and lost the state semifinal to Muskego.
“I hear people say ‘we’re not going to choke again like last year,’” Spieker said. “I realize I didn’t have my best game. Everyone’s going to have a bad game, we just take it one play at a time. You’re going to make mistakes but you always have the next point.”
Spieker is the team’s leading hitter, and she has taken on a leadership role on the
court with constant communication.
She said if the Demons play their uptempo style and can control the ball, the gold ball should be within reach.
“I think we have the best offense in the state,” Spieker said.
Hozeska said she relishes the fact that the younger girls look up to her as a senior.
“You have to bring it in practice every day,” she said about leadership.
Wawrzyniakowski is one of three setters along with senior Emma Fettig and junior Reba Thomsen. She said it’s nice being able to trust any of her teammates to put the ball away on one of her sets.
“We can’t underestimate teams at state,” she said. “We have to just play volleyball.
She added that the team is “one big family.”
“We’re all here for each other.”
Tay Lewis, a middle blocker who is committed to Iowa State University for softball, said she feels more pressure this season as a senior. Lewis was also on the 2012 state title squad.
“At state, I want to hold myself accountable with blocking, and make sure I do what I need to do so our defense can do what it needs to do,” she said.
Peaking at the right time
The fact that Burlington swept both the sectional semifinal and sectional final matches is no fluke.
Rueter said the Demons are peaking at the right time.
““We’ve definitely seen a lot of improvements, especially with younger girls stepping up,” she said. “the goal is always a championship, but you can’t get too ahead of yourself. DSHA is always a great match, but it’s one step at a time.”
Burlington wouldn’t see DSHA, the defending Division 1 state champion, until the
state title match Saturday, but the likes of Verona and state-ranked Greendale and Oconomowoc stand in the way.
“I’m excited,” said senior Arden Peterson, an outside hitter. “We just have to play how we usually do, and we’ll be fine. We’re expected to take it all, and we can.”
Setter Emma Fettig, who recently competed in a national equestrian competition, said the fun practice helps the girls with quickness and agility.
Fettig said her role on the squad is to bring energy.
What will it take to win state?
“Everything we have,” Fettig said. “And I think we have everything we need, we just have to execute. We know it will be tough to win state.”
Jalyn Krause mostly plays in the back row and doesn’t see a ton of playing time. But that doesn’t stop her from focusing on the mission at hand.
“I support my teammates that are out there, and I go in when I’m needed and do my best,” she said. “We always have to be ready.”
“When we were younger, we were so close. We always talked about when we’re seniors and getting to state. We want to finish what we’ve been talking about.”
Maren Franzke, who was wearing her fifth-grade jersey complete with socks, said it’s important to stay hype on the bench.
“To get another shot after last year is amazing,” said Franzke, who has been playing year-round since fifth grade. “We can’t underestimate anyone.”
While the main goal will be to bring the city and school its third state championship in
five years, Franzke said the girls will have plenty of time for fun.
An unlimited food budget and spending every waking moment with the team are a few special things about state.
“The emotion at state is something you’re not going to get anywhere else.”
Just like the other seniors, Franzke knows the Demons are there to take care of business on the court.
“We have recommended bedtimes, and we take them very seriously,” she added.
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