Sports Wrapups: Nov. 1

Whitefish Bay cross country

Simply put, the girls state meet is getting stronger and stronger, for despite having an impressive six runners under 16 minutes for 4,000-meters, the Blue Dukes had to work hard to earn eighth in the annual WIAA State Meet in Wisconsin Rapids on Saturday.

"It was the toughest field that I've ever seen," Bay coach Mike Miller said. "It was a beautiful day, with fast conditions. The course was dry everywhere, even in the lower levels. We had a goal of getting five girls under 16 and we actually did that one better."

The Blue Dukes scored 243 points for their spot as Arrowhead (56) won a hotly contested three-team race over Neenah (81) and Madison West (86).

Senior Emma-Lisa Murphy led the way, taking 10th with a time of 14:46. She was one of a record 19 girls who broke 15 minutes in the Division 1 race. She had been third in last year's race.

"She felt terrible about it initially," Miller said. "She was still sixth (medals) with 200 to go, but then the kickers caught her. She's still had such a great career. Nothing to be a ashamed of."

Other scoring runners for the Blue Dukes included Sara Coffey in 50th (15:47), Elise Hotz in 56th (15:51), Alana Blegen in 63rd (15:56) and Emma Fallone in 64th (15:57). Also running were Sydney Wellensteiin in 65th (15:59) and Madeline Crider in 124th (17:10).

"We had such a nice pack," Miller said, "but it was just so hard to compete because there were so many fantastic times being posted (100 girls bested the 16-minute barrier). Still, it was fantastic as our girls were so close to their PRs (personal records) and ran with such great composure."

Murphy, Fallone and Crider were the seniors on the unit.

For the boys, making their first trip to state in five years, Nate Gomoll ran an excellent race on the 5,000-meter course to place 13th (16:18) and lead the team to a 15th-place showing with 348 points. Arrowhead also won the meet with 71.

"Nate's goal was actually just to get under 16:30 so he ran an awesome race for his first try up there," Miller said. "He handled the pressure very well."

He got support from Jordan Lester in 71st (17:23), Sam Casey in 80th (17:31), Eddie Pencak in 87th (17:38) and Andrew Searles in 97th (17:43). Also running were Nick Hotz in 120th (18:02) and Alex Hotz in 121st (18:02).

"It was a learning experience for us," Miller said. "Now we hope we can make this an expectation (of making state) with the opportunity of coming back and doing better."

Seniors included Lester, Casey and Alex Hotz.

Nicolet cross country

Both Lauren Cunningham and Josh Greenberg turned in good races in the WIAA State Division 1 race in Wisconsin Rapids on Saturday.

In the girls race, Cunningham, making a repeat performance, turned in an excellent effort of 46th on the 4,000-meter Ridges Golf Course layout in 15:28. Cunningham, a junior, beat several other runners that she had lost to previously in the 190-competitor field to earn her spot and ran much faster than she did at the sectional the previous week.

Franklin's Allie Fons repeated as champion in 13:56.

Meanwhile, in the boys race, the senior Greenberg was a credible 71st out of 190 on the 5,000-meter Ridges course in 16:59, also a much better time than what he posted at sectional. Madison La Follette's Chandler Diffee won his first state title in 15:35.

Homestead cross country

Senior Lauren Holtz was 51st out of 190 in the WIAA State Division 1 meet in Wisconsin Rapids on Saturday.

She covered the course in 15:37 for her spot as Franklin's Allie Fons repeated as champion in 13:56.

Meanwhile, junior Alex Vielmetti was 134th in the boys' race covering the 5,000-meter distance in 17:38 as Madison La Follette's Chandler Diffee won in 15:35.

Nicolet girls volleyball

Knights coach Dann Jacobson said it succinctly enough after his state-ranked, senior-dominated team lost a stunning and disappointing 28-26, 25-20, 21-25, 25-14 WIAA sectional semifinal against DSHA on Oct. 27: "There was no way I was planning a season-ending speech tonight."

And deservedly so because the Knights, who had been ranked as high as sixth in state polls, could have won this match in three games. They were ahead in the first game 23-20 before losing, but the telling point in the match came in game two.

Nicolet was cruising and was making DSHA look like the young but talented team it is. It was 17-7 and then the wheels suddenly came off. The Dashers scored 12 of the next 13 points to go ahead 19-18 and after Melissa Morello got a tip kill for the Knights to tie the score at 20-20, the Knights collapsed into a series of errors as DSHA scored the final five points of the game to take an insurmountable 2-0 match lead.

The Knights rallied to take game three, but then DSHA reasserted itself behind the powerful hitting of junior outside hitters Olivia Akin and Maggie Carter and never let the Knights have a chance.

"We had them scouted to a 'T' " Jacobson said "We knew that 11 (Akin) would hit crosscourt and that number 2 (defensive specialist Aly Deardorff) always serves to the same spot. We needed to hit more. We needed to be more aggressive.

"I just don't really have an explanation really (especially for game two)," he said. "First of all, give credit to DSHA. They just didn't give in. There were four really good teams here (in this sectional). We just didn't play well. We were lights out for stretches at a time and then we weren't."

North Shore Conference co-champion Nicolet finished with a 30-12 match record.

Nicolet boys volleyball

The Knights closed their regular season with a tough three-game sweep loss to top-ranked Marquette in a nonconference dual meet on Oct. 26.

Nicolet earned the top seed in its WIAA sectional. The Knights had a first round bye and then took on Fond du Lac in a sectional semifinal on Tuesday. If they won that, they would host the sectional final at 7 p.m. Thursday.

Germantown, with whom the Knights shared the North Shore title, as a result of a dual meet loss to the Warhawks on Oct. 19, is the sectional's second seeded team.

Nicolet coach Brad Kuehl, who has taken a team to state the last four seasons in a row, had been proud of his team despite its uneven 18-16 match record. The team lost veteran setter Michael Shklover to a season-ending injury before fall and had to adapt as junior Steven Richards had to fill in at setter.

"Some days he's lights out, and some others he's not quite," Kuehl said, "but he's learning."

He said that senior outside hitter Dan Mulcahy is having a sensational season, with more than 350 kills, second all-time in Nicolet annals and has already set a career record for blocks with 114.

Kuehl also noted that senior middle hitter Spencer Borneman has also had an excellent season and that senior outside hitter Jordan Teichen and senior opposite side hitter Matt Dixon have also contributed well.

"I've had to be more involved play-by-play this season," Kuehl said. "Talking them through certain things. They were upset at the loss to Germantown but I told them that if they were that upset, then they should have done something about it during the match.

"We have to put in a full effort (if we want to get back to state). They punched us, and we didn't punch back."

Shorewood boys volleyball

The second-seeded Greyhounds took on Brookfield Central in a WIAA sectional semifinal Tuesday. If they won that match, they would advance to a 7 p.m. sectional final at Brookfield East on Thursday against the winner of top-seeded Wauwatosa East and Brookfield East for the right to advance to the WIAA State Tournament, Nov. 11 and 12.

University School football

The Wildcats went down fighting 28-19 in a WIAA Level 1, Division 4 loss to Valders at Brown Deer on Oct. 22.

Coach Brian Sommers made a late tactical decision with the Vikings (7-3) ahead 21-19 and threatening.

"They were on our eight and we were out of timeouts," he said. "So we let them score and hoped that their kicker (a freshman) would miss so we would at least have a chance to go down and tie. If we hadn't, they would have taken a couple of knees and run out the clock.

"But give credit to the kid (the kicker). His first three extra points weren't exactly perfect, but his last one was and that was the ball game."

The Midwest Conference Northern Division co-champs finished at 5-5 while Valders advanced to a second-round game this past weekend.

Sommers said his team played gamely, but didn't always take advantage of the opportunities that it had.

"They were definitely a bit more physical than us," he said, "so we tried to take advantage of some opportunities we had on the edge, but we had a first and goal on the four once and did not score and also had a fourth and four pass go right through a kid's hands."

Sommers was impressed with the support the team got playing its home game at Brown Deer. The USM facility needs upgrading and was not suitable to host a playoff game, said Sommers.

"It was great (at Brown Deer)," he said. "Our best crowd all year. Vocal and loud."

Plans for an improved stadium are currently being drawn up.

Sommers was pleased with his first season at the helm.

"I thought our kids played with tremendous heart and character all season," he said. "If you had told me back in February that we'd go to the playoffs and be conference champions I'd have taken it."

Shorewood/Whitefish Bay girls volleyball

The match almost got lost in the wash of a series of other high-powered events that were going on the week of Oct. 17-22, but there was an epic Division 2 girls volleyball match held between area rivals Whitefish Bay and Shorewood that was one for the ages, as the Blue Dukes pulled out a 26-24, 31-29, 23-25, 16-25, 15-13 victory over the rival Greyhounds.

"Thursday night's game was truly a battle for us," Shorewood coach Ryan Roessler said. "Whitefish Bay came in ready to play and they were not going to give us the game. Throughout the match it felt like we pretty much controlled them, even in the games we lost. It was a match that balanced on one or two points, and to come back after losing the first two games I was very proud of our effort."

"Losing the second game after having a 10-point lead was absolutely crushing, most teams would have folded up right then. To battle back and take the next two and then come back in the fifth game down a bunch of points it was really a special game to watch. I give Bay a lot of credit, they didn't make mistakes when the game was in the balance, and when they needed a key stop or a kill they got it. It was one of the best matches that I've ever been a part of as both a player and a coach and it was great to see some of our young players step up."

Two nights later, St. Thomas More then beat Bay, 25-22, 20-25, 25-20, 25-20, in the regional final.

Roessler's hopeful that his team can pull out matches like the Bay defeat next year.

"We had a pretty young team this year at Shorewood, and I'm excited about next year and what's to come for these girls," he said. "We gained a tremendous amount of experience this year and we changed the expectations of what it means to play volleyball at SHS. This team collected more wins this year than they have in probably the last three-four years combined, and my biggest struggle this year was getting them to believe that they can win. I think this game showed everyone that this was not the team from years past and that we were not going to go away without a fight. I can't be any more proud of our effort all season, and I am thankful that I was a part of it."

- Steven L. Tietz