State title remains elusive as Arrowhead finishes as runner-up in WIAA boys volleyball

GREEN BAY- For the second year in a row, the Arrowhead Warhawks will return a silver ball to their trophy case, finishing as the runner-up in the WIAA state tournament for boys volleyball. The Warhawks fell to the Middleton Cardinals at the Resch Center on Saturday night, in five sets (18-25, 25-21, 22-25, 26-24, 6-15).

“I'm really proud of how we played,” Warhawks senior Charlie Andorfer said. “Really proud of all my guys. I think it's a great way to end, getting two silver balls in a row is something not to laugh. It’s something everyone should be proud of and I'm really proud of all my guys.”

Added senior Luke Heberlein, “We had the toughest route to the state championship in the state and I think that really says something about this team and our resilience to fight back when we’re down."

The back of Middleton’s jersey’s display the immortal words of Julies Caesar, “Veni, vidi, vici.”

I came, I saw, I conquered.

The phrase was representative of how the final match of the season would unfold; a battle, with neither team ready to back down, before the Cardinals finally proved too much.

The first two sets saw both teams find an edge

Heberlein opened things in the first set with a statement kill, the Warhawks jumped out to 5-3 and it looked like Arrowhead was going to breeze through another match. But these were the two best teams in the boys WIAA, fighting for a state title; things were never going to be easy.

The Warhawks back row kept rallies alive through the first set, led by libero Nikko Javier. The senior was low to the ground all day, nabbing dig after dig, including four on one rally, before the ball innocently skirted the net for a Middleton point. Such was the way much of Arrowhead’s day went. Defense would keep the team alive, only for a mistake or hit outside to make it all for naught.

In the first set, the Warhawks finished with 11 errors, to three by the Cardinals.

“Middleton played a great match,” Arrowhead coach Dennis Mechenich said. “They really took it to us. Their service game was really good. They put a lot of pressure on us and we weren't able to stay in system that much and anytime we're out of system, then their three big blockers are up in front of our guys.

“We just weren't able to execute and score against their front row. And I thought there were some stretches where we wanted to get on a run and we just never could get on a run.”

A bright spot in the first set and the entire match was Javier’s defense. His 21 match digs tied him for fifth in the WIAA state tournament all-time record book (five sets).

“Nikko cares so much about volleyball and about this team,” Andorfer said. “He really stepped up and was huge for us. I didn't know that he (tied) the record. That's awesome. But, I mean, I'm really proud of him. He's been a great leader this whole season. And I just I couldn't be more proud for him.”

The second set saw the Warhawks settle in and settle down. With Ezekiel Jalan serving, Arrowhead took a 3-0 lead. The Cardinals roared back with a 5-0 run, before Arrowhead’s front row took over. Match point was slightly anti-climactic, a service error by Middleton giving Arrowhead its win, but it was a welcome reprieve in what had been and would continue to be an exhausting back-and-forth.

A title game down to the wire

Middleton controlled the third set from wire-to-wire, with the Warhawks making short bursts of runs, but never enough to grab the momentum that served them so well in the previous night’s semifinal win.

The fourth set pushed both teams to the brink. At 21-17, Middleton started to celebrate, thinking the gold trophy was all but in its hands at that point. The Warhawks weren’t ready to go away just yet though, fighting back and taking advantage of rallies gone array by Middleton. After a blazing kill by Arrowhead’s Ethan Dassow, it was 23-all and the Warhawks had the Cardinals scrambling. A service error and a side-out by Middleton put Arrowhead in position and they clinched the penultimate set 26-24.

“We felt really good coming off that big comeback.” Andorfer said of the fourth set.

The Warhawks were swept in straight sets in last year’s state title game, falling to champion Catholic Memorial. Unlike that match however, which featured one clear winner, Andorfer said the split sets through four on Saturday night were a testament to how strong each team is on the court.

“I feel like in the last year’s state championship, it wasn't very close," he said. "We kind of got steamrolled. This year, it kind of felt the same in the sense of like it wasn't close each set. Each set felt like whoever won that set deserved to win that set. But I went to five, it was a long game. Great game.”

Middleton raced out to an early lead in the fifth, and Arrowhead was never able to catch its breath. An ace by Ambrose Engling found a soft spot in the middle of the Warhawks zone to make it 11-5, a moment emulative of the entire set.

“They were putting good pressure on us at the service line,” Heberlein said. “I don’t think we were able to reciprocate that pressure. I gotta give it up to Middleton. They played a great match; very aggressive team, very tall team and they got us tonight.”

A kill by Brody Stuttgen put the exclamation point on the set and the match, giving Middleton the 15-6 set win, 3-2 match win and the WIAA boys volleyball state title.

Arrowhead’s future is bright

It’s two years in a row that Arrowhead has come up short in the championship game. The Warhawks hope the third time is the charm, but on a team made of only upperclassmen, it means they will lose 10 seniors in their quest return. Returning to the final round for a third straight trip won’t be easy, but Mechenich is confident in who he has preparing.

“Our pipe system (is) pretty strong. We have over 50 kids in our program," Mechenich said. “It’s tough to replace two guys like (Charlie and Luke). I mean, when you got this kind of caliber on the outside and losing those, I'm not going to say we're going to be back here next year. But I got a lot of guys that have looked up to these kids for the last two years. And they envy these boys so much. They're going to put the time and the effort in the offseason.

“I guarantee you we're going to be competitive, and there's a chance we could be sitting back here next year. Because kids believe in what we're doing at Arrowhead and they understand what it takes to compete at this level.”

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Arrowhead finishes as runner-up in WIAA state boys volleyball