Classic 8 champ Oconomowoc takes team honors in final area girls volleyball rankings

AREA RANKINGS

Team (W-L), last week

1. DSHA (39-1), 1

2. Oconomowoc (36-3), 2

3. Mukwonago (25-8), 4

4. Sussex Hamilton (25-11), 5

5. Oak Creek (31-7), 3

6. Menomonee Falls (25-11), 7

7. Slinger (16-11), 9

8. Franklin (21-14), 10

9. Pewaukee (28-11), 6

10. Arrowhead (20-13), –

Others considered: Brookfield East (15-10), Burlington (24-8), Cedarburg (29-11), Grafton (26-11), Homestead (20-10), Kettle Moraine (21-16), Lake Country Lutheran (20-13), New Berlin West (17-10) and Racine Lutheran (23-8) and Waukesha West (20-13)

TEAM OF THE WEEK

Oconomowoc

For the first time this season in the final batch of the area girls volleyball rankings, Oconomowoc finds itself in the spotlight as the team of the week. The Raccoons clinched another Classic 8 Conference title with a perfect 8-0 mark this past week with sweep victories over Waukesha North (25-14, 25-12, 25-10) and Muskego (25-19, 25-11, 25-12). Last weekend, they rolled through their final tournament of the season in style with a flawless 5-0 mark that saw them extend their overall match win streak to eight and their game win streak to 19 consecutive games dating back to Sept. 23. Three players – Troy recruit Olivia Kwiatkowski (280), Marlee Sivak (225) and Notre Dame recruit Anna Bjork (214) – all have registered over 200 total kills, while Maryland recruit Lilly Wagner has set the table excellently with 744 total assists (9th-best in the state). This season has felt like a march toward a highly-anticipated Division 1 state title rematch between the Raccoons and top-ranked DSHA. If the Classic 8 champions continue to play this well, it'll be hard for the field in D1 to stop that from happening.

COMING UP

All matches are scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday unless otherwise noted.

Brookfield East at Sussex Hamilton: The Chargers will host the Spartans in an interesting matchup between two solid Greater Metro Conference programs. Sussex Hamilton can still technically grab a share of the GMC title this season, but they'll need a win here, a win at Germantown on Thursday and some help. Brookfield East isn't technically eliminated from the title chase with a 5-2 record, but it would take even more help than the Chargers need. Still, it's a solid matchup between two teams that can make some noise in the Division 1 playoffs.

Menomonee Falls at DSHA: This GMC matchup is probably the marquee match of the week around the greater Milwaukee area. Falls has been a roll as of late, winning 13 of its last 14 matches across all competitions, and sit 5-1 in GMC play as they travel to face top-ranked and defending D1 state champion DSHA. With a win, the Dashers clinch no worse than a share of the conference title and can win it outright on Thursday at Wauwatosa West. With a win for the Phoenix, it can certainly shake things up in the final week of conference play.

Mukwonago at Kettle Moraine: This Classic 8 matchup features a team that can definitely make a run in the Division 1 postseason and a team hoping to make it back to the Resch Center again this season. Mukwonago has been one of the area's most consistent programs all season, while the Lasers have been battling a rugged schedule to win eight of their last 10 matches and can finish with a 7-1 mark in conference play with a victory here behind champion Oconomowoc.

Cedarburg at Grafton, 7 p.m. Thursday: Slinger has already won the North Shore Conference title, but similar to the match above, this match features two programs that have been playing good volleyball lately and each could make things interesting come playoff time. They're a combined 54-22 on the season and help round out a top four in the NSC with Slinger and Port Washington.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Oconomowoc is team of the week in final area girls volleyball rankings