Demons finish 39-10, enjoy strong state run
By Mike Ramczyk
GREEN BAY – After two nights featuring a dramatic comeback victory and a dominant four-set win, the Burlington girls volleyball team ran into a buzz saw in the WIAA Division 1 state championship game Saturday evening.
Neenah seemed to have everything go its way in a 25-17, 25-23, 25-10 victory.
Neenah improved to 45-4 and won its second state championship.
The Demons finished 39-10 and earned their first state runner-up finish in their third state championship appearance.
For Burlington coach Teri Leach, the loss wasn’t indicative of the Demons’ overall success this season.
“We ran into a phenomenal team today, and our goals of getting them out of system just weren’t working tonight,” Leach said. “They had an extremely great passing night, and they were in system the majority of the match. It didn’t seem like anything we could do to break them down was working. So props to them. Physically, we know they weren’t a great matchup for us.”
“We never put our heads down and never gave up. We kept fighting. I’m excited about what happened this season. It’s pretty awesome to be taking the silver ball home.”
The Rockets tallied 47 kills, doubling up Burlington with quick hits from the middle and booming blasts from the outside.
“They got their middles and their right sides far more than what we hoped they would do,” Leach said. “It created a lot of nightmare matchups.”
Burlington junior Abby Koenen opened the first game with three kills, but Neenah went up 16-11 thanks to the powerful hitting of Addie Barnes, who led the match with 13 kills.
Senior Mackenzie Zwiebel carefully placed an ace to cut the lead to 20-17, but the Rockets’ Hope Werch, who had 12 kills, reeled off four straight kills to end it.
Neenah again jumped out and had an 18-11 cushion in game two.
But Burlington stormed back, as kills from Alyssa Turzenski and Reba Thomsen, Neenah errors and a Maddie Berezowitz ace cut the lead to 21-20.
The momentum seemed to shift, but Barnes and Werch extended the Neenah lead to 23-20.
Koenen, who led Burlington with 10 kills, added two more kills off Kaley Blake assists to make it 24-23, but Werch finished off the game with a forceful slam.
It ended up being the closest the Demons would get to a comeback as the Rockets jumped out to a 10-1 lead and cruised in game three.
“We put more pressure on them in the second set, and caused them some errors,” Leach said. “We broke them down a little bit, otherwise they were always in system. Defensively, a couple of rallies gave us momentum.”
Blake led the way with 20 assists.
Neenah’s attack was consistent throughout the match, as it finished with a .347 hitting percentage, spiked by an impressive .536 in game three. Burlington hit .077, and its best mark was .200 in the first game.
Seniors proud of tournament run, careers
Burlington senior Megan Wallace said the girls weren’t intimidated by Neenah.
“We knew they had some good hitters, but we fought our hardest and had some crazy, scrappy plays,” she said. “Overall, the season was awesome. We shocked ourselves, and we shocked Wisconsin. It was a great season.”
Thomsen, who fought back tears as she hugged each teammate one by one after the match, was the emotional leader on the floor. Any time Neenah went on a run, Thomsen made sure to pick her teammates up and keep a big smile on her face.
“I was just so proud of everyone,” Thomsen said. “It didn’t matter what the outcome was, I just knew we proved ourselves getting here and we worked so hard. Neenah’s a great team. But we left it all on the floor.”
“It got a little frustrating, but we knew we had to fight through it. We were diving on the floor and making every play we could. Neenah is a very talented team.”
Turzenski, who had five kills and 13 digs, said the state quarterfinal against DSHA helped the Demons. They rallied from an 0-2 deficit to win in five sets Thursday.
“Nobody thought we could make it this far,” Turzenski said. “Beating DSHA helped us to move forward in every single match.”
Zwiebel, who finished with one ace, said she is happy with the way the Demons played their best at the end of the season.
Down 0-2 on Thursday, Wallace gave a speech to the team, saying they were going to play like the World Series champion Chicago Cubs and come back and win.
“We were definitely the Cubs,” Zwiebel laughed. “We knew what it was like last year to be up 2-0 and lose, and we didn’t want to have that same feeling.”
Burlington wrapped up its seventh state tournament appearance in eight years, with two state titles and a state runner-up finish. The domination of the Demons doesn’t show any signs of slowing.
“We’re successful because of the work these girls put in,” Leach said. “This is one of the best definitions of a team that I’ve seen come through our program.”
“It starts with the coaches, Teri, Dan, Parker, Brittany, Mad Dog, it’s a great opportunity to come to practice,” Wallace said. “Yes, they push us, and we may get frustrated at times, but they got us here, and it’s awesome.”
For Thomsen and Turzenski, it has been an unforgettable four years.
“I will remember my teammates the most,” Thomsen said. “They became my family, and this entire program has been so good to me. My teammates and coaches have been so supportive, no matter what.”
“This team is so special to me because we were so together all the time,” Turzenski added. “The relationships with my coaches and my teammates has really left an imprint on my life.”
“We’re more than a team, we’re a family,” Zwiebel added.
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