Tigers win Abby tournament

Wussow is interim head coach in 2022

By Casey Krautkramer

It was expected Stratford’s young varsity volleyball team would endure some growing pains early this season, which did occur but the Tigers have improved immensely under the tutelage of interim head coach Rachel (Ludwig) Wussow.

Stratford won the annual Bud & Mary Nelson Invite on Saturday in Abbotsford. Stratford defeated Abbotsford, Loyal, Spencer, Whitehall and Prescott to be crowned champions. Stratford beat Prescott in the tournament title match by two identical set scores of 25-23.

This is Wussow’s fourth year coaching volleyball at Stratford High School. She was the school’s JV1 coach in the previous seasons.

Wussow is only the interim head coach this season while Brooke Kafka takes a year off from coaching to care for her newborn baby. She is absorbing any advance Kafka gives her this season.

“Brooke Kafka has been an amazing mentor,” Wussow said. “She is still very hands-on and is always willing to provide feedback and advice when needed. Overall, she has guided my entire coaching experience since I started in Stratford.”

Wussow said this year’s Tigers varsity team has a very different makeup this season compared to last year because it only has three varsity returners in seniors Tessa Berg and Allison Lindner and sophomore Kalyn Schueller, and two of them are playing different roles on the court this season.

“With having a whole new team, it’s hard to say who our top new players are on varsity,” she said. “Each girl brings something special to the team that we all need, whether she is on the bench or on the court.”

Senior Ava Weix led Stratford with 16 digs on defense in the team’s Bud & Mary Nelson Invite championship match victory against Prescott on Saturday. Schueller paced the Tigers with 10 spike kills.

Berg led the team with two ace serves and she added eight kills, a block and 10 digs. Sophomore Emerson Roy paced Stratford with 19 assists and senior Sonia Peterson added 11.

Stratford couldn’t keep the momentum it gained on Saturday heading into Tuesday’s home match against Marathon, in which the Tigers lost in straight sets.

Berg led Stratford with five aces while Allison Lindner and Peterson had three aces each. Berg and Schueller paced the squad with eight kills apiece. Schueller led the team with 17 digs and Weix added 15.

The Tigers will compete in the Marawood Conference Crossover at 10 a.m. this Saturday, Oct. 1, at Phillips High School.

Other teams there besides Stratford will be Auburndale, Marathon, Prentice, Rib Lake and Phillips.