Burlington gains revenge, beating Wolverines in title match
By Mike Ramczyk
Under somewhat bizarre circumstances, the Southern Lakes Conference girls volleyball was over in record time Saturday at Elkhorn Area High School.
Pouring rain engulfed the area, but inside the gym walls it only took the Burlington Demons three hours to regain their yearly status as the team to beat.
However, it wasn’t enough to knock Waterford out of first place, as the Wolverines landed in second place to capture their first Southern Lakes Conference championship since 2000.
For Waterford, winning conference was a goal at the beginning of the season.
“Today during a huddle we talked about how close we were and one of the girls said, “I remember talking about winning conference in our first team meeting, and today we can actually do it,’” Ingish said.
“It was possible through hard work, dedication and the girls constantly pushing each other to get better.”
Despite the overall conference title, Waterford fell to Burlington in Saturday’s title match, 13-25, 25-15, 16-14.
Much like the first meeting between the Waterford and Burlington, it was close. The Wolverines won the first set, 25-13, before Burlington answered with a 25-15 win.
In the third set, the Demons hung on for a 16-14 victory.
“The third set was a back-and-forth battle, just like the first time we played them, but unfortunately today we came out on the wrong end,” said Waterford coach Ashley Ingish. “Beating Burlington would’ve been the icing on the cake to a conference season to remember, but we’re still really proud of what we accomplished.”
“I’m not sure how many people (other than our coaches and players) knew what we were capable of before the season started.”
Two points were awarded per regular season win, so Waterford entered with 14 points based on a 7-0 mark. On Saturday, the Wolverines finished ahead of six teams, giving them 12 points, for a grand total of 26 points.
Burlington, which slipped to 5-2 in the regular season, entered the meet with 10 points, and added 14 for a total of 24.
Wolverines face tough draw
Waterford received a No. 4 seed in the WIAA Division 1 playoffs, which open Thursday. The Wolverines host No. 13 Milwaukee Madison.
However, Waterford must beat state-ranked Menomonee Falls or Arrowhead, its bracket’s top two seeds, to make state.
The Demons earned a No. 1 seed and open Saturday at home against Oregon or Kenosha Bradford.
For Waterford, senior Gabi Ramczyk, who contributed five aces and 10 digs,
“Burlington was the game we were waiting for,” Ramczyk said. “Knowing this would be our hardest game of the day, we went in strong but their back row made sure to not let balls drop and that’s why they beat us today. But the team is truly ecstatic to be conference champs for the first time in 17 years.”
Senior outside hitter Mia Grunze, who led the team with 53 kills, said the team got down on themselves in game two against Burlington and couldn’t recover in time.
Grunze added 29 digs and six aces to pace the girls.
Aspyn Krygiel had 73 assists.
Mariah Grunze added 22 kills.
Mariah Grunze and Anna Shipley each tallied 26 digs.
Burlington controls passing game
Playing without head coach Teri Leach, it was coach Dan Lynch’s team on Saturday, and the youthful Demons, who lost to Waterford and Westosha Central in the conference regular season, were able to beat Elkhorn, Westosha and Waterford.
The Central and Waterford battles went to three games, but Burlington, which wasn’t strong passing or serving in the previous matches, utilized ball control and aggressive serving Saturday.
The Demons finished with 27 aces and five girls reached double digits in digs.
“The Demons passed well all day,” Lynch said. “Our ball control helped us run our offense. The girls fought hard during the last two matches. We stayed composed and aggressive to win the championship match.”
Abby Koenen led the Demons with 33 kills in the tournament, while Cayla Gutche had seven aces.
Kaley Blake totaled 70 assists, and Maddie Berezowitz had 18 digs.
Brooklyn Vandehei and Sam Naber each added 17 digs.
“We just played smart today and kept our energy high,” Vandehei said. “We found the open spots against Waterford and then had aggressive serving against Westosha.”
“During the third set against Waterford, we had to stay calm and play how we know how to play and stay together as a team. We kept our energy up the whole time and never gave up. We told each other that the 3rd set is mini-games. First to 5, 8, 12, and then 15.”
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