Lady Demons overcame youth, rough start to season
By Mike Ramczyk
State titles don’t come around too often.
In 2017, the Burlington girls volleyball team knocked off an undefeated River Falls squad back in November to capture the team’s third state championship.
The team’s rocky start turned into a well-oiled machine by the end of the season, and Teri Leach and Dan Lynch fit all the puzzle pieces together in an incredible run.
Burlington’s title is the Burlington Standard Press Sports Story of the Year for 2017.
Here’s the original article, which ran in the Nov. 9 Standard Press:
The gold ball is back in the halls of Burlington High School.
“It’s what you dream of since you’re 8 in Burlington,” said junior Maddie Berezowitz.
After a roller-coaster ride of a WIAA Division 1 state volleyball match that began with the Demons dominating and River Falls bouncing back to tie it, a knee-shaking fifth set, ripe with back-and-forth play and deafening intensity, yielded Burlington’s third state title in seven years Nov. 4 in Green Bay.
Previously unbeaten River Falls (43-1) lost the first two games, only their fourth and fifth game losses of the entire season, and Burlington overcame two straight losses and grinded out the final set to win, 25-20, 25-15, 22-25, 17-25, 15-13, in an epic finale that featured extended points and close calls.
It was Berezowitz that came up large with things tied at 13-13 in the decisive game. Powerful hitter Marissa Stockman, an Illinois State recruit, leaped to pound home a potential kill from the middle, but Berezowitz was right there for an emphatic dig, which saw the ball float back over the net and lead to a Falls error.
Then, with the serve, Burlington’s defense played it perfectly before Kaley Blake set up the Demons’ bread and butter, Abby Koenen on the outside left, who in rhythm banged home the winner. Burlington overcame a 13-11 deficit with a 4-0 run to win it.
Burlington struggled all match to stop Illinois State recruit Marissa Stockman in the middle, but on the final play sophomores Kaley Blake and Emily Alan played her perfectly, as their block ricocheted all the way back near the service line and forced a diving Falls save.
The disruption caused River Falls to give a free ball back to the Demons, and a crisp pass left Blake with no choice but to make the Wildcats pay by finding the team’s best hitter.
The Demon bench players rushed the floor, forming a monkey pile with their rambunctious teammates on the Resch Center court as the Burlington coaches shared embraces, highlighted by longtime coach Dan Lynch’s simultaneous jump and fist pump to the large contingent of Demon fans.
Koenen, a UW-Milwaukee recruit who finished with a match-high 26 kills, posted an impressive .367 hitting percentage thanks in large part to clean looks and accurate setting.
“It means a lot to me to finish this year with a gold ball, especially with the two girls next to me,” Koenen said in the post-game press conference referring to fellow seniors Brooklyn Vandehei and Tamlyn Kretschmer.
“Once we persevered through some blocking and passing struggles, we all came together and picked each other up. We saw when we were down, acknowledged it, and didn’t let it happen.”
“As soon as we started setting up and getting block touches on their middles, and especially with Maddie’s amazing dig, I feel like we got more momentum,” Vandehei said.
Alan said it was the team’s goal to win state. She agreed with Vandehei, noting once the Demons knew how to block Stockman (19 kills) and the Falls’ dangerous middle threat, the team’s confidence soared.
“Oh my God, it’s just ‘Wow,” I don’t have words,” Alan said. “I didn’t think it was happening, I thought it was a dream. I have no clue what’s happening right now.”
Freshman Sam Naber, who led the defense with 16 digs, was just as overwhelmed with emotion as Alan.
“You can’t really describe this feeling,” Naber said. “Pretty amazing. This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance, and it takes everyone. It takes years and years and years of practice. It’s amazing.”
“We hang out a lot, sleepovers, team breakfast, dinners, just to get together with all our different ages. To combine it all was cool, I made some amazing friends who are seniors and I’ll miss them. That friendship and that bond helped, and we weren’t quite able to finish at the beginning of the season. At practices, we worked on that. It took everyone’s positivity to get there.”
Top online sports stories of 2017
(as seen on www.myracinecounty.com, based on web hits)
- Underwear-gate: Bizarre rule keeps local wrestler out of state tournament
- Braveheart: Burlington teacher, coach leaving for tour in Iraq
- OT 2-point pass denied as Waterford edges Burlington
- Are we missing the point with Burlington vs. Catholic Central?
- PREDICTIONS: Heads may explode for Waterford-Burlington rematch
- Catholic Central football forfeits final 3 games
- Don’t call it a comeback: Former Burlington, Cowboys star Romo content focusing on family
- Klug breaks Tony Romo’s all-time Burlington scoring record
- BREAKING: Waterford-Burlington highlights football playoffs
- BREAKING: Burlington volleyball nets 3rd state title
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