Blue Devils Are State Bound

Oconto Defeats 

Wittenberg-

Birnamwood 

in Sectional Semi

The Oconto Blue Devils were the victors in Thursday night’s showdown with the Wittenberg-Birnamwood Chargers, winning the sectional semi by way of three sets 25-5, 25-17 and 25-17.

“We were focused on shutting down the 1 and 7,” said Oconto head coach Adrian De la Cruz. “My thought was that if we could keep them guessing and keep them running we would have a great chance. I made a comment  to my coaching staff this week that we have some of the most dangerous servers in the area.”

Oconto jumped out ahead of the Tigers in set one with some great serving by Hannah Moe who pushed her team to a 9-1 lead. With some great defense the Blue Devils easily crushed to a 20-5 lead which they held onto for the win.

“When a girl goes on a run of four or more serves we call it a Dr.Pepper,” said De la Cruz. “So Hannah earned herself a Dr. Pepper with that opening barrage. Wittenberg played awesome tonight too. We just have to see of we can get past our next hurdle.”

 Oconto was more evenly matched with the Chargers in set two but still found a way to get a nice lead. After things were tied 5-5 Oconto started their climb with a 10-5 lead. After giving the Tigers a little room to work their way back the score was 13-10 in favor of Oconto. 

Game three saw Oconto get ahead early again with a 8-2 lead which quickly became a 15-7 lead. But the Chargers weren’t going to give up easily as they fought back to a 24-15 differential before Oconto closed things out.

“We were focusing more on our energy on the court tonight,” said Leah Allen. “We just  wanted to make sure we kept ourselves up and ready to go on those scoring runs.”

Oconto was led by Hannah Moe with 14 kills, 13 digs and 14 service points. Baxter posted 10 kills, two blocks and six digs while Kate Bahrke got 30 assists and nine digs. McKenna Seidl added up 18 digs and 11 service points while Kyanne Wusterbarth and Leah Allen posted 8 kills, 12 digs and 11 service points each.

“We were just so excited for the game tonight,” said  Lianna Baxter. “We had a great sense of togetherness tonight and that is what gave us the edge tonight.”

 

Oconto is Sectional 

Champs with Win 

Over Stanley-Boyd

The Oconto Blue Devils are rolling through the WIAA volleyball postseason. After defeating Wittenberg-Birnamwood in the sectional semi the Blue Devils took on the Stanley-Boyd Orioles who they defeated after four sets 25-14, 17-25, 25-22 and 25-21.

“We came out guns blazing,” said Oconto head coach  Adrian De la Cruz. “We had no choice cause Stanley-Boyd is a great team. If we didn’t, a team like them would have shut us down. Their number five was amazing on the court. She almost shut us down out there. We had to trust our system tonight. We did that and it proved to be a solid system.”

The Win Gave the Blue Devils the Sectional championship for the 2021 season.

Oconto worked their way to an early lead in set one after a few Lianna Baxter kills that gave Oconto the 4-1 lead. Later on Kate Barhke served up a couple aces that brought the Blue Devils to a 14-9 lead.  Thanks to a Hannah Moe ace the Blue Devils took the first set 25-14.

In set two the Blue Devils again found a way to an early lead, getting ahead 5-0 before the Orioles made a push for the lead. After a little back and forth the Stanley-Boyd girls took the lead 17-16. After that it was all Orioles as they fired off for the 25-17 win.

“I’ve got  so many great servers here,” said De la Cruz. “Kate can serve and set and Hannah as well. We go about seven deep in our roster which gives us a lot of depth. This was just a heart pounding fun match tonight. It is so nice to win. Our hearts go out to Stanley-Boyd though. We have been in their position before and it hurts but they played amazing tonight.”

Game three was another back and forth battle with the team trading lows to an 8-8 tie. Then Oconto got into a rhythm and started to pull away. After a couple Baxter kills the Blue Devils led 16-13.

Set four was close from start to finish with the teams again trading blows. This time the tie held till 21-21. After which the Blue Devils found a way to push to the 25 point win.

“I was just going into tonights game thinking I needed to play my heart out,” said Oconto’s Kate Bahrke. “This is my last  chance to get to state and I know we have the players to do it. I just needed to make the best decisions I could tonight and play my hardest.”

Oconto’s Hannah Moe posted 24 kills and 17 digs while Lianna Baxter added up 21 kills and seven blocks. Bahrke posted 45 assists, 14 digs and seven service points while Leah Allen and Kyanne Wusterbarth combined for 36 digs and 19 service points.

 

Menominee Ends

Regular Season With 

Loss to Carney Nadeau

The Menominee Maroons ended their regular season play Thursday night against the Carney-Nadeau girls who they lost too after three sets 25-19, 25-10 and 25-21.