Top seed Greendale advances to state
By Jennifer Eisenbart
News Editor
After winning regional titles Oct. 24, both the Waterford and Union Grove girls volleyball teams dreamed of a possible trip to the WIAA Division 1 state tournament.
Those dreams came to an end Oct. 29, though, as both teams fell in the sectional semifinals at West Allis Hale High School – Waterford in three sets to Greendale and Union Grove to its old nemesis, Muskego, in four.
In Saturday’s sectional final, Greendale – the sectional’s top seed and ranked No. 5 in the state – swept Muskego to earn a berth in the state tournament at the Resch Center in Green Bay that started Thursday.
Semifinal One
Greendale 3, Waterford 0
The Wolverines, in their first sectional since 1999, started off the match by racing out to a 7-2 lead before Greendale finally settled in.
Paced by the multi-pronged attack of freshmen Nicole Martin and Kayce Litzau and senior Ally Bialo, the Panthers survived a rash of early errors and finally took the lead on a block of Waterford sophomore Mia Grunze.
The Wolverines also struggled with five service errors in the first set – one of which gave Greendale the set.
In set two, the Panthers got an eight-point run on the serve of senior Sarah Grabowski to take an 11-2 lead, and Waterford struggled to make it into double figures in losing the set 25-11.
The third set was back and forth early. Waterford took several one-point leads on Grunze’s hitting, and Gabi Ramczyk and Grunze’s senior sister, Mikaela, pushed Waterford ahead 16-15.
But Greendale got on the serve of libero Jessica Grabowski to take a lead it would not relinquish. Martin ended the match with a spike.
Tears flowed after the match, as both Mia and Mikaela Grunze wondered what might have been.
“I think we all just got a little upset with each other,” Mia said. “We didn’t play our best game. If we had just picked our game up a little bit, we would’ve done a lot better.”
Added Mikaela, “I’m just so proud of my team. There were times we played really good, and there were times where our nerves got to us.”
Mia Grunze led with 10 kills, while her sister Mikaela added five. Senior setter Logan Klein had 14 assists and 11 digs.
Waterford coach Ashley Ingish praised her seniors –Klein, Olivia Berg, Marie Bose, Mikaela Grunze, Hannah Michalowski and Taylor Juran – and vowed the program would continue in the right direction.
“We just got a little tense,” Ingish said. “I thought the girls fought hard. They need to know and remember the road we took to get here. We’re on the way of putting Waterford back on the map.”
Semifinal Two
Muskego 3, Union Grove 1
In spite of beating the Warriors earlier in the season at a tournament, the best Union Grove could do in the second semifinal was even the match at a set apiece.
Union Grove struggled to find a way to block Muskego’s numerous weapons, which included senior Sandra Mohr and junior Brooke Gostomski – both of whom finished with 17 kills.
The Warriors also got several kill contributions from Olivia Kudronowicz, Rachel Hein – and setter Alison Makinen, who dumped the two-ball consistently for Muskego.
“They have struggled in previous postseasons with Muskego and we couldn’t seem to get past them,” said first-year head coach Annie Sireno. “They had a bunch of great players that could put the ball away.”
Union Grove countered with senior superstar Kylie Wilks – a 5-8 outside hitter who worked from both the front and back row against the Warriors.
Wilks finished with 21 kills, while fellow senior Frankie Pettit added nine kills.
Behind a strong defensive effort by senior libero Kelley Becker, the Broncos rallied and took set two on an error by Muskego.
But the Warriors came out firing in the third and fourth. Mohr put down five kills in the early going of set three, while Gostomski got an ace and a handful of kills early in set four. The match ended on a kill by Hein.
Wilks, who is headed for UW-Milwaukee next year, tried to sum up the frustrations against Muskego, which bounced the Broncos from the tournament for the fourth consecutive season.
“They always come to play against us,” she said. “I think we were prepared. They served really tough. It just didn’t go our way.”
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