'9-14' mentality helps Xavier beat Appleton North in high school girls volleyball showdown at West Bend Sprawl
WEST BEND − Call it the "9-14 mentality."
It's a mantra the Xavier girls volleyball team subscribes to when their backs are to the wall and it was a mindset that helped them defeat Appleton North in a pool play match at the West Bend Sprawl Invite on Friday.
Xavier defeated the Lightning 2-1 with set scores of 25-20, 17-25, 15-13. The match was a battle of top-tier teams in the state, with Xavier the defending WIAA Division 2 state champs and ranked No. 1 in D2 and North a state semifinalist in D1 and ranked No. 3 in D1.
The match's third set was a nail-biter, with Xavier trailing 12-7, which prompted Hawks coach Luke Herriges to call a timeout to assess the situation.
Enter the call for the "9-14" strategy.
"Our assistant Jeff VandenHeuvel comes in and he says, 'Play like there is no scoreboard,' " Herriges said. "And then we followed it up with (9-14) and that's exactly what it is. When your back is against the wall, every point you have to go as far as you can and you have to believe in coming together and stay in that moment and take it one point at a time."
Xavier senior setter Mariah Potter said the genesis of "9-14" came from a previous Hawks team that faced a crucial situation in a game-defining fifth set.
"A couple of years ago, one of the other Xavier teams was playing West De Pere for the conference championship," Potter said. "We were down 9-to-14 and one of them came back and served the (rest of the game) and we ended up winning 16-14. So we’re just living by that mentality, that the game is never over. It’s something that’s been part of our program for a while. There's just so much intensity in that huddle and we were going to go get this and the game is not over."
Xavier senior middle blocker Olivia Neumann said having the right mentality was a boon for her team.
"I live for these moments, for these big intense moments," she said. "So going for those moments and having those moments to actually accomplish is really big for me, especially as a senior."
The Hawks finished third at the 24-team tournament to improve their overall record to 29-2. North (23-6) finished fifth with a 5-2 mark. Divine Savior Holy Angels finished as the tournament champion, defeating Oconomowoc in the title match.
Herriges said there's "a lot of respect" between the Xavier and Appleton North programs, with many of the players sharing friendships due to their participation on the same club volleyball teams.
"(Appleton North) coach Steve (Scheuerell) and I go pretty far back and we're friends off the court," Herriges said. "He does a wonderful job with that program every year to put them in these kinds of positions. I can't remember the last time Appleton North volleyball was irrelevant. They're always in the conversation.
"So the girls and those friendships, they were excited. And when we got here at 3:30 p.m. over in the cafeteria, the girls went over and said, 'Hi,' and they were at each other's tables."
Scheuerell is active on the club coaching scene and said he was familiar with the Xavier roster.
"I think with the development of clubs over the area, I think I coached five or six of the girls (on Xavier) and they just play together all the time and they know each other's tricks," he said. "The biggest difference (from years ago) is that teams are so disciplined now, which is why you have longer rallies and it's high-level execution by both teams. I couldn't be more proud of our team and Xavier, too.
"Like I said, I coached those kids and I know Luke and he's been building that program for a long time. It's super cool to see."
Said Herriges: "That's another thing that club has done for them too, brings different kids together from different schools and creates those relationships and that's going to go beyond matches like this, just those memories. 'Remember when we played each other at the sprawl? What a match.' Doesn't even matter who won."
By the numbers
Xavier had wins at the Sprawl over Appleton North, Germantown (25-15, 25-20) and West Bend West (25-9, 25-15) in pool play Friday. On Saturday, the Hawks beat Menomonee Falls (25-19, 25-22) and Brookfield East (19-25, 25-16, 15-7) before falling to Oconomowoc (25-18, 14-25, 9-15) in the "Gold" semifinal. They defeated Arrowhead (25-21, 25-20) in the third-place match.
Potter led the charge with 87 assists, 17 aces and 11 digs. Belle Shea had 36 digs and three aces and Annika Kowalski had 23 kills, seven aces, four blocks and 14 digs. Neumann added 20 kills and five blocks with Halle Vande Hey (20 kills, four blocks, 11 digs), Madison Daley (17 kills, 12 digs, six aces, three blocks) and Mattea Kiepert (11 kills, five aces, four blocks) also playing well.
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Appleton North beat West Bend West (25-14, 25-18) and Germantown (25-15, 25-16) in pool play. The Lightning fell to Oconomowoc (19-25, 25-16, 13-15) and then beat Franklin (25-16, 24-26, 15-9), Brookfield East (32-30, 25-18) and Manitowoc Lincoln (18-25, 25-17, 25-13).
Emerson Van Lannen had 156 assists, 24 kills, 23 digs, eight aces and seven blocks. Ella Demetrician had 97 kills, 49 digs, 13 blocks and five aces. Teegan Charapata added 49 kills, 34 digs, 13 assists, six blocks and four aces with Chloe North (29 digs, eight assists, seven aces), Maggie Hahnke (50 digs, eight aces) and Kayden Lamon (15 kills, 12 blocks) also having big days. Taylee Jones had 10 blocks and eight kills and Lainey Frisch added six aces for the Lightning.
She said it
"It's really enjoyable. I absolutely love it. I love this team. I love the culture and I think we have a great group of girls and I think we can do it again." − Belle Shea, Xavier senior libero, on the team's quest to win a second consecutive WIAA Division 2 state title.
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This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: '9-14' mentality helps Xavier beat Appleton North in girls volleyball
