Review updates from the WIAA girls and boys state volleyball tournaments: Arrowhead, Marquette, Oconomowoc all move on

The WIAA girls and boys state volleyball tournaments run Thursday through Saturday at the Resch Center in Ashwaubenon. Follow our live updates from Thursday's quarterfinal action, which features eight games and 11 Milwaukee-area teams overall.

For the full schedule, go to wiaawi.org.

Thursday schedule, results

Boys quarterfinals

No. 2 Arrowhead (38-5) def. No. 7 Kettle Moraine (19-17), 25-19, 25-20, 25-20

No. 3 Marquette (29-6) def. No. 6 South Milwaukee United (21-8), 25-13, 25-13, 25-20

Girls Division 1 Quarterfinals, 1 p.m.

No. 2 Oconomowoc (40-3) def. No. 7 Burlington (31-10), 25-23, 25-14, 25-13

No. 3 Appleton North (33-7) def. No. 6 Franklin (29-15), 25-16, 25-11, 25-15

Boys Quarterfinals, 4 p.m.

No. 4 Kimberly (33-6) def. No. 5 Waukesha South/North (33-7), 23-25, 29-27, 20-25, 29-27, 15-10

No. 1 Middleton (30-3) def. No. 8 Union Grove (19-15), 25-11, 25-17, 25-12

Girls Division 1 Quarterfinals, 7 p.m.

No. 1 Divine Savior Holy Angels (45-1) def. No. 8 River Falls (26-14), 25-12, 25-6, 25-11

No. 4 Sussex Hamilton (31-11) def. No. 5 Waunakee (38-9), 25-20, 25-17, 25-12

No. 1 seed Divine Savior Holy Angels rolls through quarterfinals, downing River Falls in straight sets

The defending Division 1 champs, Divine Savior Holy Angels, opened their first two sets on runs and never looked back. Junior Olivia Durst kicked off the first set on a 4-0 run, including three aces. After a small 4-1 surge by River Falls early in the first, DSHA took over, jumping out to a 21-10 lead before finally taking the first set, 25-12.

Behind the strong play of Madison Quest, with 7 kills in the second set alone, the Dashers made quick work of the second set and set their eyes on a sweep. In the third set, Divine Savior Holy Angels kept trying to pull away to an insurmountable lead, but River Falls, knowing they were down to their last hope, wouldn't go away. After making it 18-7, however, the Dashers proved too strong. Riding the play of Quest, who finished with 19 kills including the game winner, DSHA swept the Wildcats, to advance to the semifinals.

"I thought it was a good start to the state tournament from us," coach Caitie Ratkowski said. "It was a good first match to get used to the atmosphere and we played pretty strong and did a nice job following our game plan."

Divine Savior Holy Angels never trailed, leading to a game where the No. 1 seed here felt they could play free.

"I think we do a good job of starting and finishing and playing our game throughout," senior Sophia Wendlick said. "It’s kind of a relief to play with that lead, because you know you have the bounce back of those couple of points,"

The Dashers will face the Hamilton Chargers in the semi-finals on Friday, a team they faced earlier in the season. That matchup saw DSHA go down two sets early, before scrapping back to win. It's that sort of experience Divine Savior Holy Angel said they will draw upon on Friday.

"We make sure during the season to play teams that we know are going to push us," junior Madison Quest said. "Going into this we wanted to make sure we are prepared for everything. So we watched back our match against Hamilton and we kind of we looked at what we need to work on what we what's open for us when we play Hamilton."

Sussex Hamilton advances behind strong defense, a state record and momentum

The Sussex Hamilton Chargers swept the Waunakee Warriors in three sets, but framing the match like that doesn’t do justice to how close each game became. The first two sets saw the two clubs remain neck-and-neck for much of both sets, filled with extended rallies that stretched each team.

"Our coach, she always tells us, 'it's not your kill,' so we always try to keep the ball in play and let the other team make mistakes," libero Emily Zgonc said. "There were a lot of seniors on the other side of the mat...we kind of focused on, even if they did get a good kill, we'd get a better one."

Added coach Traci Buhr, "defense wins championships."

The Chargers were able to ride the defense of Zgonc all night. Armed with the mindset she quoted from her coach, Zgonc set a new state record with 25 digs in three sets. The previous record was 24, set by Kyleigh Coglan of Kettle Moraine in 2021.

"I didn't come in with the mentality that I should break any records," Zgonc said. Still, "I think that's really cool. I'm really happy I did that."

In the third, Hamilton had its eye on the semifinals and flew through the set. "Our momentum carried us through that third set," junior Eva Finnessy said. After jumping out to a 10-3 lead, forcing an early Waunakee timeout, the Chargers took control and didn’t relinquish it for the remainder of the night.

Now, they prepare to face Divine Savior Holy Angels, a rematch of a heartbreaking loss for the Chargers earlier in the season. Buhr knows that if DSHA wins, it sets up a likely state championship with the No. 2 seed Oconomowoc (who will face Appleton North on Friday night in the semifinals). She also knows that an underdog story can be just as enticing.

"That is the matchup that every volleyball person wants to see," Buhr said of DSHA and Oconomowoc, before continuing, "but, I don't know. I feel like everybody loves an underdog."

Waukesha's co-op drops heartbreaking five-set thriller to No. 4 seed Kimberly in boys quarters

In just their third year as a co-op, the Waukesha Fusion were two points away from a state semifinal appearance with a 23-17 lead in the fourth set.

Then, the dam broke.

The Papermakers found a way back from the deficit with their season on the line to win the fourth game with a second 29-27 victory set victory and then finished out the Fusion's magical run with a 15-10 victory in the fifth and final set.

"I couldn't be prouder to be part of our team and to be a part of that match," Fusion coach Joe Banske said. "I think that's the match of the state tournament at this point and kinda what you would expect out of a 4-5 matchup."

The Fusion flew out of the gate with a 25-23 victory in the opening set and held a 22-19 advantage in the second before Kimberly started the trend that's defined it in recent weeks and flexed its resiliency to level the match with a breathtaking 29-27 win in set two to even up the scoreboard. Waukesha answered with a 25-20 victory in the third, including a 5-0 run sparked by the high-rising Rikhil Patidar, who led all players with 21 kills on the evening.

An 8-0 run capped by a gorgeous pass from Chris Rymer (match-high 21 digs) to Patidar had the Fusion up 19-14 and with one foot in the semifinals, but like Jason Voorhees in a Friday the 13th film, the Papermakers just kept coming back.

"I actually think Kimberly was feeling the pressure," Banske said of the match before the fourth-set collapse. "I think they answered that call and that's what this game — to a casual spectator, you see the three contacts: the hit, the block or the dig. What doesn't get seen by a casual spectator is the mental aspect of the game and that's where it's so hard to be on the non-winning side because you're so mentally and emotionally involved in it and they rose up and won one point at a time."

Kimberly coach Matt Seidl was complimentary of his team's fight, but took the time during his post-game press conference availability to credit the Fusion for the battles the two programs have had throughout the season.

"When you watch them on film, their outsides have had incredible seasons, but their middles were outstanding," Seidl said. "Offensively, defensively, we had a very difficult time. I think one of the best blocks we had was towards the end of the fourth against their middle. I credit them for switching it up on what we scouted them on. It was their middle blockers and just incredible defense. Their guys were diving all over the place, making us hit a third, fourth swing, and to be honest, we're not used to doing that."

Union Grove makes return to state but falls to top-seeded Middleton in boys quarterfinals

After no trips to state before the 2022 season, the Union Grove Broncos arrived in Ashwaubenon for the second straight postseason to take on top-seeded Middleton in the final session of the boys state quarterfinals.

The Broncos got overpowered 25-11 in the opening set of the contest by the experienced Cardinals, who won seven of the first nine points and 13 of the first 18 on their way to an opening-set victory. Ambrose Engling and Caden Van Buren each had four kills for the Cardinals.

Over the next two sets, the Cardinals dominated the Broncos to the tune of 29 total points to move onto Friday's semifinals where they will face No. 4 seed Kimberly, who defeated No. 5 seed Waukesha Fusion in the match of the tournament so far in five sets.

Leaders for the Broncos were Hudson Dresen with seven kills, Caden Eichner with 11 assists and Nolan Schwaab with five digs. Ambrose Engling and Caden Van Buren combined for 26 of the 40 kills for Middleton, while Brody Stuttgen dished out a match-high 28 assists.

Oconomowoc kicks off third straight state appearance with quarterfinal sweep over four-time champion Burlington

Oconomowoc's seventh trip to the state girls volleyball tournament got off to flying start Thursday with a 25-23, 25-14, 25-13 sweep over No. 7 seed Burlington to advance to Friday's Division 1 semifinals against Appleton North, which defeated No. 6 seed Franklin in the other afternoon quarterfinal in a three-set sweep.

Sophomore outside hitter Marlee Sivak led the way for the Raccoons with 17 kills on the day, most of which came from Lilly Wagner and her match-high 31 assists.

"She's been fun to watch this year for sure," Oconomowoc coach Michelle Bruss said. "Tonight, she made it look easy. She was like, 'Ahh, I'll just do it again (laughs).' It's a journey. We've put a lot of work into being in the moment, trying to adjust and find the niche and making sure she was ready for all the shots."

Along with Sivak's pin play, Olivia Kwiatkowski contributed with 11 digs, eight kills and two assists, while the Raccoons forced the Demons into 21 attack errors and suffocated the Caitlyn Flees-led attack in the middle for Burlington after a competitive 25-23 first set that saw the Demons come back from 16-11, 19-15 and 22-19 deficits before the Raccoons finished the set off.

"Oconomowoc's a very talented team," Burlington coach Teri Little said. "They put a ton of pressure (on you). We knew that their offense was highly potent, so one of our goals was to come into this match was and put as much pressure from the service line as we could to get their offense out of sync and unfortunately, that kinda went their way and not ours.

"They seemed to hold the pressure from the service line and really caused a lot of fits for us. We played the entire match out of system. We didn't handle the pace of their serve well, which really limited our middles' opportunity to get the ball where we had a lot of efficiency going."

Flees and Emma Tenhagen each had five kills apiece, while Sophie Stoughton led the Demons with six kills. Lilly Dempkey led the way with 13 assists.

As for the Raccoons, they'll move on to face Appleton North once again this season with the Raccoons holding a 2-0 edge after a pair of tournament victories over the Lightning this season.

"They've got some much bigger swings," Bruss said. "With (Ella) Demetrician out there, they go to her front row, back row, finding her and they're a little bit more spread out offensively. The gameplan always is what we do first and then we push into them and just kinda finding out who we go after on that serve-receive and then just having eyes on Ella wherever she is on that court."

Franklin's first state appearance since 1995 ends in quarterfinal defeat to No. 3 seed Appleton North

For the first time in 28 years, the Franklin Sabers found themselves at the state girls volleyball tournament.

For the ninth time since 2008, the Appleton North Lightning were playing at the state girls volleyball tournament.

That experience imbalance was on full display on Thursday afternoon as the No. 3 seed Lightning dispatched the Sabers in a dominant 25-16, 25-11, 25-15 sweep to bring Franklin's stellar season to a close.

Ella Demetrician led the Lightning with 10 kills with Emerson Van Lannen leading the offense with a game-high 25 assists. Maggie Hahnke dug out a match-high 21 shots.

Avri Solik-Fifarek led the Sabers in her final high school match with nine kills with Madison Marx dishing out 14 assists and five service aces.

With the victory, the Lightning move on to Friday's semifinals against Oconomowoc, the team that they've lost to twice in tournament play this season and in the 2021 Division 1 state title match in three sets.

"I think one thing is they have a lot of the same players we have too," Appleton North coach Steve Scheuerell said. "They have their setter (Lilly Wagner), their middle (Anna Bjork), and they have a tradition of coming here, too. I think first time we played them, we were a little like, not ready. We lost the first set and in the second set, we came back a bit and it was really close. And then our last match against them, again, was back in September (laughs), but we went three with them and in the third, it was 13-13.

"I think that we know they're gonna be a tough team, but it has just a little bit different feel this year. We've come here and we're executing very well and we've talked a lot about don't let the moment get too big. If there's struggle, embrace it and don't run away from it. We know they're gonna score and they're gonna push us. We kinda look forward to that."

A Classic 8 showdown as Arrowhead sweeps Kettle Moraine to advance

They hadn't seen each other since Sept. 23 at the Middleton Invite, but Thursday to kick off the WIAA boys state volleyball tournament was more of the same in No. 2 seed Arrowhead's three-set sweep against No. 7 Kettle Moraine.

The 2022 state runner-up Warhawks took care of their fellow Classic 8 Conference member in a 25-19, 25-20, 25-20 sweep to move on to Friday's semifinals against No. 3 seed Marquette, which made quick work of No. 6 South Milwaukee United.

Whenever things appeared to get tight, the Warhawks loosened up.

Kettle Moraine trimmed a 20-13 advantage to 20-18 in the opening set before Arrowhead closed it out. The Lasers took an 18-17 lead in the second set, then Arrowhead took eight of the final 10 points. Kettle Moraine tried to force a fourth set with a 17-13 lead in the third, but Arrowhead won 12 of the final 13 points to take the match.

"I don't know what it is," Arrowhead coach Dennis Mechenich said. "I don't think there's one thing. These guys, they're gonna bend because we play good teams all season long, but we just don't break. These guys know when the pressure's on. They just need to find someone that's going to get our bench excited and someone that can score a big point for us."

Three Warhawks had at least nine kills in the victory, led by senior Ethan Dassow's match-high 13. Charlie Andorfer and Luke Heberlein each chipped in with nine apiece.

For the 2020 state champion Lasers, a rollercoaster of a season came to a close, but there was a sense of pride from coach Elliott Van Dyke as one of the three Classic 8 representatives in the eight-team tournament.

"We're at a different level, I think, a lot of the time," Van Dyke said.

"It's definitely scary," Ethan Hoffert added. "I think it prepares us a lot to be in such a tough conference. We play in a lot of these high-level teams and I think like Coach (Van Dyke) said, we have three teams from our conference at state. We see a lot of high-level competition right away."

The Lasers lost five of their final seven matches in the regular season but found their way through Fort Atkinson and then defeated Wilmot and Westosha Central, the two top seeds in the sectional, to make it to Thursday's quarterfinals.

Ten-time state champion Marquette opens state tournament play with a sweep over South Milwaukee United

Led by a tournament-record eight service aces in a three-set match from senior Miles Von Rueden, the Marquette Hilltoppers cruised into another showdown this season with No. 2 Arrowhead after a 25-13, 25-13, 25-20 victory over No. 6 South Milwaukee United.

The Hilltoppers had a state team-record 14 aces for a three-set tournament match. while Jack Fitterer led the match with 25 assists, Von Rueden had a team-high eight kills, and Thomas Schmidt and Aidan Del Fava each chipped in six kills.

"This is what Miles does," Marquette coach Jake Cosson said. "He's been doing it on this stage since he was a sophomore. He's comfortable back there. He's got all the shots. It's what makes him one of the top players in the state. To have a weapon like that is really special."

The Hilltoppers and Warhawks were complimentary of each other before Friday's rubber match. The two elite programs have had two wins each in their four previous matchups this season and the fifth meeting will decide one-half of the state championship matchup Saturday.

"It starts with Dennis (Mechenich)," Cosson said. "He does a great job. He's got an unbelievable program. They've got a ton of kids that play club, so they're playing volleyball all year round, but Dennis has a way of doing things and he does things the right way. They play the right way. I got a ton of respect for him and these boys play with and against them in club. There's a lot of mutual respect."

"They're a great team," Arrowhead right-side hitter Ethan Dassow said. "They're just so dynamic. They don't make very many mistakes really. They have a great setter in Jack Fitterer. He runs their offense so quickly and I mean, it's just so difficult to get a block up and be disciplined with him because he can set the ball anywhere. They have some great servers like Miles Von Rueden. They all serve super aggressively and super tough.

"It makes it difficult to pass a two or better and then being out of system, then they put up a block. It's really good that we've seen them four times already this year and having experiences and kinda knowing what we're getting into. They're a great team and it'll be a great game."

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Live updates from WIAA volleyball state tournaments