By Dana Ehrmann
Sports Correspondent
Though it was a busy week of postseason play, the girls Catholic Central volleyball team showed no signs of slowing down on its way to winning the WIAA Division 4 regional championship on October 24.
Facing off against Blackhawk in the regional final, Catholic Central completed a sweep, 25-21, 25-19, 25-21.
The only trouble came right at the beginning of the first set, when the Lady Toppers fell behind 8-4 to a Blackhawk squad Coach Mae-Mae Oberhofer described as “a senior-dominated team” with “a lot of height and athleticism.”
“We came out nervous which resulted in some earlier errors. Luckily the girls were able to settle down and take the lead,” the coach continued. “In set two and three we got an earlier lead which we were able to maintain to the end.”
She credited senior Olivia Sobbe’s offensive game as a key to the victory. Sobbe had 14 kills and ended the match with an overall hitting percentage of .243.
Oberhofer also gave credit to sophomore Emily Swanson. “Emily did a great job anchoring our right side defensively and scoring us points with her strong server.”
Swanson led her team with seven aces.
Other statistical leaders were senior Sarah Gould with 31 assists, and senior Sara Hackbarth with 20 digs.
Catholic Central was able to bring a lot of momentum into the regional final from two playoff wins earlier in the week.
On October 22,, the Lady Toppers defeated Williams Bay handily, 25-22, 25-12, 25-11.
“Overall we did a nice job controlling the match start to finish due to our strong service game,” said Coach Oberhofer.
That strong service game included senior Sarah Gould’s eight aces.
The coach also took note of her other players making a strong impact.
“I thought Kailey Kiekhafer had a really nice offensive match for us which was great to see. She really has been working hard on expanding her game.”
Kiekhafer, a senior, contributed seven kills along with senior Olivia Sobbe’s 12.
Lindsey Lehman, junior, added 17 digs for the Lady Toppers.
Kicking off Catholic Central’s playoff run was a match against Albany on October 20.
The Lady Toppers dominated, winning the three sets 25-9, 25-9, 25-7.
The statistical leaders should sound familiar by now.
Olivia Sobbe racked up eight total kills to go along with her four blocks on the defensive side.
Her teammate Sarah Gould tallied 18 assists as well as eight aces.
Lindsey Lehman totaled nine digs in the match.
The number one seed going into the postseason, Catholic Central has yet to lose a set. They will look to continue that streak on Oct. 29 in Stoughton against Randolph High School.
Coach Oberhofer’s keys to success are the same as they have been all season long.
“As we move into sectionals we need to focus on staying consistent, playing with a lot of energy and minimizing our errors.”
Season ends for runners
The Catholic Central cross country season came to an end on October 24 at the Lake Country Lutheran Sectional.
The girls finished eighth out of twelve teams, and the boys 10th of 15.
“It was a bit of a rough day for the majority of the kids. I think they were a bit too amped up for the start of the race. Everyone without exception was at least a little too fast,” said Coach Sean Birren.
Junior Kelly Aldrich was the top girl finisher for Catholic Central at 22nd with a time of 22:30.
Senior Brianna Martin was the next Topper runner to cross the finish line. Her time of 26:26 was good for 47th.
For the boys, senior Gavin Clayton crossed the line in 15th place at 18:06.
His teammate John Pum, a sophomore, was not far behind in 20th place (18:28).
“We had a great season with some amazing improvements, and I am excited about the upcoming track season and getting around to a second cross country season,” Birren said.
Coach Birren went on to say that he enjoyed how well the team worked together, and that with better training during the summer, bigger accomplishments are ahead for the Toppers.
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