L-C wins 5-set thriller over Notre Dame
Breathtaking.
It’s the only way to describe a five-set thriller between two of the top teams in the state.
Luxemburg-Casco could finally exhale after upending Green Bay Notre Dame with a 25-27, 25-21, 25-16, 19-25, 15-11 victory in a WIAA Division 2 sectional semifinal match Thursday at Oconto Falls.
“I don’t know if I took a breath that whole time,” Luxemburg-Casco coach Jeff Frey said about the fifth set. “It was a great match. Notre Dame and Luxemburg-Casco, that’s the way it should be.”
L-C (39-8) will attempt to advance to state for the first time in program history when it faces conference foe Little Chute on Saturday at Chilton.
It’s the first time the Spartans have made it to the sectional finals since 2014, which was also the last time they had defeated Notre Dame prior to Thursday.
“We’ve been waiting for this match because they knocked us out last year,” L-C senior setter Megan Cannon said about losing in the regional finals last season to Notre Dame. “This group of seniors, we’re so close, and we just wanted to push the team to get there.”
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L-C defeated Notre Dame in a WIAA Division 2 sectional semifinal match on Oct. 26, 2017.
Posted by Preps Agenda on Friday, October 27, 2017
Cannon made 59 assists to lead the Spartans, who were ranked No. 5 in D2 of the Wisconsin Volleyball Coaches Association state poll.
Senior Molly Wotruba made 25 digs, while senior Alexis Dorner (21) and junior Cassie Schiltz (17) combined for 38 kills.
“We just really scrapped,” Frey said. “We were everywhere on the floor. We were digging balls like crazy. The effort was there.
“One of the things that makes us tough to defend is we spread the ball around. We can go to our big guns in Al and Cassie, but we can also get that ball out to Megan Thayse and go to the right side to Peyton VandenBush. I think that’s tough when you have four hitters on the season that have 250 kills or more. When you’re spreading the ball around, it’s hard to defend that and know where it’s coming from. That’s our biggest thing.”
The top-seeded Tritons (34-8) got a big performance from senior Sydney Slack, who recorded 12 kills, 27 assists and five aces.
Senior Grace Campbell posted a match-high 24 kills, while sophomore Katherine Walch made 13 digs for the Fox River Classic Conference champion, which was trying to advance to the WIAA state tournament for a third straight season after finishing as the D2 state runner-up last year.
“We battled. That was a state-caliber match,” said Notre Dame coach Ben Wolf, whose team was ranked No. 3 in D2
“You have two heavyweight programs that have grown and battled. It’s been back and forth. Jeff has done such a phenomenal job with his program. They were so solid all the way across the front line. His block touches were amazing. His defense was phenomenal. Both teams put everything out there and this is the type of match that you get. This is the caliber that we’ve grown to and it’s only going to go up from here.”
L-C will face another familiar foe on Saturday as it attempts to punch a ticket to state for the first time. The Spartans defeated Little Chute 3-1 on Sept. 21 in a match that ultimately determined the North Eastern Conference championship.
The battle of L-C vs. LC will have much higher stakes this time around. The Spartans know they’ll have to match the intensity they showed on Thursday.
“To come out and play the way we did tonight, I’m so proud of the girls,” Frey said.
