WIAA 2023 state girls volleyball preview: Schedule, teams and players to watch this week
51st WIAA girls volleyball state tournament
When: Thursday-Saturday, Nov. 2-4
Where: Resch Center, Ashwaubenon
Results: Available on wiaawi.org
Schedule
Division 1: Quarterfinals — 1 p.m. Thursday: No. 2 Oconomowoc vs. No. 7 Burlington and No. 3 Appleton North vs. No. 6 Franklin; 7 p.m. Thursday: No. 1 Divine Savior Holy Angels vs. No. 8 River Falls and No. 4 Sussex Hamilton vs. No. 5 Waunakee; Semifinals — 7:30 p.m. Friday; Championship — 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
Division 2: Semifinals — 2 p.m. Friday: No. 2 Pewaukee vs. No. 3 McFarland and No. 1 Xavier vs. No. 4 Rice Lake; Championship — 2:30 p.m. Saturday.
Division 3: Semifinals — 11:30 a.m. Friday: No. 2 St. Croix Falls vs. No. 3 Cuba City and No. 1 Howards Grove vs. No. 4 St. Mary Catholic; Championship — 11:30 a.m. Saturday.
Division 4: Semifinals — 9 a.m. Friday: No. 2 Newman Catholic vs. No. 3 Prentice and No. 1 Wonewoc-Center vs. No. 4 Fall River; Championship — 9 a.m. Saturday
2022 champions
Division 1: Divine Savior Holy Angels (43-6, 4th title)
Division 2: Xavier (39-7, 1st title)
Division 3: Howards Grove (37-4, 6th title)
Division 4: McDonell Catholic (41-12, 3rd title)
Area teams in the field
The top seed in Division 1 is DSHA, the defending state champions. The Dashers enter their 12th state tournament this week and their sixth since the 2014 postseason. Oconomowoc joins the Dashers once again at state as the second seed. The Raccoons played an epic five-set encounter in the title match last year against the Dashers and enter their third straight state tournament as the second seed and seventh overall. Sussex Hamilton makes its second appearance in four seasons at state this week as the No. 4 seed. The Chargers won the 2020 title in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and are making their third appearance at state. For the first time since 1995, the Franklin Sabers will play for a gold ball at state. The Sabers are the No. 6 seed. Rounding out the area representatives is No. 7 seed and four-time state champion Burlington. The Demons will make their 15th appearance at state and their 10th straight dating back to 2014. Pewaukee is the lone area representative in the other three divisions this week. The Pirates will make their seventh overall state appearance and the second in the last three postseasons as the No. 2 seed in Division 2.
Players to watch
Jordan Czajkowski, jr., DSHA: The Dashers have a chance to go wire-to-wire as the state's best team and the Belmont recruit is a massive reason why they can win back-to-back titles. You could pick Creighton recruit Sophia Wendlick, Michigan State recruit Olivia Durst or Wisconsin recruit Madison Quest for this list. They're absolutely loaded in the rotation, but Czajkowski's table-setting abilities are a huge part of what makes this side so special.
Lilly Wagner, sr., Oconomowoc: The Maryland recruit plays with an infectious, joyous energy. There's a reason why she won a handful of player of the year honors last season because she's one of the best setters in the nation on one of the best teams. When she gets this rotation into rhythm and feed teammates like Notre Dame recruit Anna Bjork and Troy recruit Olivia Kwiatkowski, this side can beat anybody.
Eva Finnessy, jr., Sussex Hamilton: Like the true elite teams, the Chargers get a ton of contributions from all over the court. The Brookes (Baldwin and Aslakson), Emily Zgonc and Ella Schumacher make this one of the best rotations in the area and the state. Finnessy led the Chargers with 287 kills this season and dug out 221 swings, second-best on the team to Zgonc. They pushed DSHA harder than anyone did this season in non-tournament play and could be a bit of a dark horse as the No. 4 seed in Division 1.
Avri Solik-Fifarek, sr., Franklin: The Sabers are making their first state tournament appearance in almost three decades this week and their senior captain on the outside is a massive reason why. With Madison Marx and her 808 total assists this season, Solik-Fifarek eclipsed the 1,000-kill milestone earlier in the season. Sabers coach Eric Brandenburg previously called her "a great human being and a strong force on the court." She led the Sabers with 431 kills, which tied her for 20th on this year's state leaderboard.
Ella Safar, sr., Burlington: Surprise, the Demons are back at state again. Despite losing the likes of Abby Alan and Kenna Kornely from last year's state semifinalist squad, the Demons will return to the Resch this week thanks in large part of the play of another stellar setter in the area. Safar returned from last year's bunch to help lead the Demons to a share of the Southern Lakes title with Westosha Central. It's been five years since the last title for Burlington and with an engine like Safar picking her spots (32 assists, 15 digs in last year's matchup), the Demons could make life difficult for Oconomowoc like in last year's semifinals.
Dani Kopacz, sr., Pewaukee: The Pirates are back at state for the second time in three postseasons and Kopacz's production helped get them there. The Austin Peay recruit hammered home 467 total kills this season and helped the Pirates win the Woodland West title with a perfect 8-0 mark while not losing a single game. Xavier will be the prohibitive favorite as the defending champion, but the Pirates can certainly be good enough to play for the gold ball if Kopacz starts swinging away with some power off some Hannah Padilla and Lucy May passes.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Previewing the area for the WIAA state girls volleyball tournaments
