Badgers Pick Up Two More Wins; Hold M&O Lead

Niagara Takes Down
STAA in Striaght Sets
Niagara held Saint Thomas Aquinas Academy to a combined 16 points in three sets on Tuesday night.
The Badgers won 25-6, 25-7, and 25-3.
“STAA is a young team that continues to work hard to improve,” Niagara coach Carol St. Arnauld said. “They have a good coach and in time, they will get there. Our goal was to minimize errors and be strong at the net. My girls succeeded in meeting that goal and continue to play hard.”
Morgan Borchardt had 19 assists and seven kills, both team-highs. Mallory Sanicki had eight aces and Abby Wells got seven. Wells also led the team with seven digs.
“Niagara is a very well-coached team that plays very well,” STAA coach Julie Chilcote said.
For STAA, Jenna Maxwell had two aces. Kate Peters and Brylei Smith had four digs each.
Niagara (13-1 M&O Conference) faces Suring on Thursday with just a pair of M&O Conference games left to play. A win locks up sole possession of the M&O title.
“We are looking forward to finishing our season strong and maintaining our high level of play throughout regionals,” St. Arnauld said. “Thursday is a big match for us. If my girls continue to push themselves, we will do well.”
Niagara earned a No. 2 seed in its Division 4 bracket, with playoffs starting Tuesday against No. 7 Elcho. Wabeno/Laona got the top seed in the bracket.
Cougars Ground
Eagles in Four Sets
Coleman came to Suring on Tuesday and put a damper on senior night for the Eagles with a four-set win.
The teams split the first two sets, with the Cougars taking the first and the Eagles winning the second.
Coleman came out hot in the third set to take a 5-1 lead, but Suring tied things at six. It would be the Cougars in the driver’s seat from that point, as they won 25-19.
In the fourth set, it was tied as late as 19-19, but the Cougars grabbed six of the next eight points and won 25-21.
It was a disappointing final home match for Suring’s six seniors: Christine Sleeter, McKenzie Chesterfield, MacKenzie Bailey, Trinity Remic, Macie Reed, and Moriah Baldwin.
“We’ve got six seniors that have put their time in and been dedicated to a program and I feel like they really have worked together well,” Eagles coach Tonia Kruschke said.
Coleman has a small roster of just 10 players, including a couple freshmen, but the Cougars are really showing some strength heading into the home stretch, especially from star Katie Knox.
“I’m super happy with how freshmen are coming along and how Katie is. When she’s on, she’s on. It’s phenomenal to see,” coach Katherine Schermer-Ludack said.
Playoffs are set to begin on Tuesday. One thing Kruschke will be hoping to see improve is the Eagles’ resilience in tough moments of matches.
“Most of our athletes have such high expectations of themselves on the court that when they make mistakes, it’s difficult for them to drive through, get together on the court as a team, and continue to play. Sometimes we’re are own worst enemy, but that’s what I get when I have high-achieving kids. They want to do well and be well and win,” she said. “We have to figure that piece out: how do we push through to get back over? Volleyball is such a momentum game, and we have to figure out when we use that momentum to really make a push.”
Badgers Slip Past
Tigers in Three Set Win
Niagara didn’t play its best match against Gillett on Thursday, but the Badgers still got the job done in three sets.
Niagara dominated the first set, with three straight aces from Abby Wells closing it out, 25-12.
Set two wasn’t a whole lot closer in the end, 25-15, with a kill by Morgan Borchardt ending things. Gillett did keep things close early on, however.
The Tigers trailed just 11-10 after an ace by Madison VanHaren, but Niagara then went on a big run to win it.
The third set was the biggest struggle. Niagara eventually won the set 25-18, but coach Carol St. Arnauld saw plenty of room for improvement from her team.
“I thought our serving and our passing wasn’t the best tonight and I think that’s why we had a battle, especially in set three. It has to get better,” Arnauld said. “I’ve got the hitters and I’ve definitely got the setter, but I need to pass the ball better and keep the ball in play, pretty much is what it amounts to.”
Borchardt had a team-high 13 kills and 19 assists for Niagara. She also added seven digs.
“Morgan is Morgan,” St. Arnauld said. “We need to pass the ball better to make our offense more efficient, because she can put the ball just about anywhere, but you’ve got to get the passing.”
Erin Lukowicz had five service aces, three kills, two assists, and five digs. Wells and Mallory Sanicki had seven kills apiece.
Borchardt is having another strong season heading into the final weeks of the season. She’s locked in as she pursues an M&O Conference title, a playoff run, and individual awards.
“I have to be really focused,” she said. “This is my last hurrah and I want to show what I’m worth for colleges and stuff like that, 100%.”
The Tigers lost in three sets, but coach Jill Halla was happy with a lot of things her team did against the M&O’s top team.
“We did pretty good against the first-place team,” Halla said. “We blocked them a couple times, we dug them. [Mia] Soper, I think, had an amazing game. She was digging stuff and hustling like crazy. I’m happy with how we played.”
Crivitz Beats
Coleman in
Five Set Match
Crivitz hung on to beat Coleman in five sets on Thursday despite the Cougars going into the final set with all the momentum.
The Wolverines won the first two sets 25-19 and 26-25, but Coleman stayed alive with a 25-23 third set and forced a tiebreaker with a 25-21 fourth set.
The Wolverines regained their composure in the break between sets four and five, winning 15-12 in the final contest.
Crivitz was led by 14 kills and two blocks by Kylie Chilcote. Hailee Gyger had six aces and 30 assists, both team-highs.
Lucy Gruszynski recorded eight digs and Lexi Franzmeier had seven. Maddy Welty chipped in seven kills.
Katie Knox had a huge game for Coleman, with 16 attack kills, five aces, and two block kills.
Alayna Gilbertson and Breana Hanrahan held down the block, with seven and five total blocks, respectively.
Sylvia Fochesato and Madelyn Hinther had 14 and 17 assists, respectively. Vivian Kostreva and Aubrey Bintz had six kills each and both Fochesato and Hinther got five.
Tonn Leads Peshtigo
Past Gibraltar
A triple-double from Jaci Tonn helped push Peshtigo past Gibraltar in three sets on Tuesday night.
Tonn put up double digits in kills (10), assists (15), and digs (11) as the Bulldogs won by scores of 25-16, 25-21, and 25-21.
Allison Peters’ 14 digs and 11 kills both led the team. Akira Smalls had nine kills and 11 digs, and Avery Kehoe’s 19 assists were a team-high.
Bethany Ahrens had four kills, five assists, and five digs. Brooklyn Phillips and Smalls had two aces each.
Blue Devils Unable
to Overcome Blazers
Oconto fell to 6-23 overall with a four-set loss to NEW Lutheran on Thursday.
The Blazers took the first two sets, 25-19 and 25-16. The Blue Devils won 25-21 in the third set before NEW finished it off with a 25-15 fourth set.
Kate Bahrke had 27 assists, five digs, and three kills. Anna VandenLangenberg had 10 kills and Natalie Schlueter got six.
Kyanne Wusterbarth had a team-best 18 digs.
Eagles Cruise
Past Cavaliers
Suring put away Saint Thomas Aquinas Academy with relative ease on Thursday, winning in three sets.
The Eagles were winners by at least 15 points in every set (25-7, 25-10, 25-7).
Bailey Stuart had a staggering seven block kills to stifle the STAA offense. She also had three attack kills.
Christine Sleeter’s four attack kills led the Eagles. MaShya Seefeldt had two aces, two block kills, and 14 assists. Moriah Baldwin got three blocks and Autumn Dryja had two.
For STAA, Kate Peters had four attack kills and seven digs, both team-bests. Jenna Maxwell had three assists.
Goodman-Pembine
Competes at
Brillion Invitational
Goodman-Pembine picked up one win in four matches at the Brillion invite this weekend.
The Patriots beat Green Bay West in straight sets, 25-19 and 25-17, but they were beaten in two sets by Brillion, Southern Door, and Shawano.
“The girls played pretty well against some tough opponents. Our back row was put to the test facing several big hitters all day,” G-P coach John Swick said. “Overall, we finished where I thought we would and took away a lot of positive accomplishments to build on.
Hailey Moore had 23 digs and Jolie Siedel had 10.
Lauryn Dwight had eight kills and Minna Yang had four. Sammi Swick had seven assists.
O. Falls Takes
Silver at Home Invite
Oconto Falls finished second at its home invite over the weekend after losing the championship match to Freedom.
Peshtigo was third and NEW Lutheran took fourth. Oconto Falls beat Peshtigo in the gold bracket in two sets, 25-19 and 25-22.
Amber Otto had nine kills and Morgan Moynihan got 11 assists.
Keira Cole had a big game from the service line, with six aces and 11 total points. Madison Uelmen had 11 digs.
In the championship, the Panthers were outmatched by the Irish, 25-15 and 25-20.
Otto and Brailyn St. Louis each had six kills. Kyndra Staidl got 11 digs and Morgan Kluth had two total blocks.
The Panthers were unbeaten in pool play, taking down Menasha (25-14, 25-17), NEW Lutheran (25-18, 25-19), and Chilton (25-21, 25-10) all in straight sets.
In pool play, Otto had 31 kills, including a 15-kill game against Chilton. St. Louis added 19 kills over the three matches.
Hanna Krejcarek had 34 assists in pool play. Madison Uelman got six aces, including five against NEW Lutheran.
Peshtigo Quickly
Defeats Kewaunee
The Kewaunee Storm weren’t able to stick with Peshtigo in a three-set win by the Bulldogs on Thursday.
Peshtigo took the three sets by scores of 25-16, 25-17, and 25-13, led by Allison Peters’ team-high 10 kills and 13 digs. Akira Smalls had 13 digs and five kills as well, along with two aces.
Jaci Tonn had 19 of Peshtigo’s 31 assists. Bethany Ahrens had seven to go with five digs and three kills.
Brooklyn Phillips, Tonn, and Maysen Brissette had a solo block each.
Rylie Ellie had two aces.
Rangers Take Win
Over Thunderhawks
Wausaukee handled business against Oneida Nation on Thursday, with 18 aces from the service line contributing to the Rangers’ success.
Wausaukee won the three sets 25-17, 25-18, and 25-15.
Melody Schaal had six aces to lead the way, followed by Lydia Schaal’s four and three each by Nellie Dunlap and Rachel Schlies.
Schlies and Lydia Schaal each had eight kills and Sparrow Luccarini got five.
Dunlap had 20 of the team’s 22 assists and Schlies had a team-high 17 digs.
Tigers Overcome
Rangers in Three
Wausaukee beat Gillett in three sets Tuesday.
The first set wasn’t close, 25-13, but the Tigers fought hard in the final two sets to keep things tight. The Rangers won 25-19 and 25-23.
Nellie Dunlap had 26 assists, nine digs, and three aces.
Rachel Schlies had a standout 17 kills to go with 12 digs and a team-high five aces.
Ella White had 13 digs and two aces, Melody Schaal had 19 digs and three aces, and Lydia Schaal had five kills, four digs, and two aces. Sparrow Luccarini had five kills and two assists and Katelyn Luccarini got four kills.
Blue Devils Secure
Win Over Storm
Oconto grabbed its third Packerland Conference victory of the season with a 4-set win over Kewaunee on Tuesday.
Kate Bahrke had 30 assists, four aces, and eight digs to help propel the Blue Devils.
Oconto won the first set 25-17, faltered in the second set 25-17, and rebounded to win 25-18 and 25-14 in the final two sets.
Anna VandenLangenberg had 11 kills, 10 digs, and two aces. Kyanne Wusterbarth had 46 digs, Kathryn Alwin and Lexi Anderson combined for six kills and 13 digs, and Gracie Campshure and Abby Klein had 13 digs between the two of them.