‘Cats, Tigers win regional titles

By Casey Krautkramer

A large contingent of Durand-Arkansaw fans and its high school pep band traveled nearly two hours to Saturday night’s WIAA Division 3 volleyball regional championship in Stratford. The Tigers senior dominated volleyball team wasn’t fazed by the Panthers fans and pep band, however, as they won in three straight sets to capture back-to-back regional championships.

No. 1 playoff seed Stratford won the match against No. 5 seed Durand-Arkansaw by set scores of 25-17, 25-10 and 2517. Senior opposite hitter Kalyn Schueller led the Tigers with 11 attack kills and six digs while junior middle blocker Tria Tubbs added seven kills. Schueller and senior middle blocker Daisy Yoder paced the team with four serve aces each. Yoder and junior opposite hitter Emily Zuelke led Stratford with two solo blocks apiece.

Schueller spoke after the match win about the significance of her team capturing back-to-back regional volleyball titles.

“It feels really great,” she said. “We’ve worked so hard and we’ve made so much improvement from last year, so winning back-to-back regional championships really means a lot to us and hopefully we can continue this momentum going forward.”

Her senior teammate, setter Emerson Roy, echoed her thoughts.

“It feels great,” she said. “It feels like we have really accomplished something in coming back from last year and pushing to win this season by working hard in practice. I think playing Stanley-Boyd in Thursday’s regional semifinal really helped prepare us for this regional championship win.” Stratford lost a set against No. 9 seed Stanley-Body in Thursday’s 3-1 home regional semifinal match. Schueller led the Tigers with 13 kills and four aces while Yoder added 10 and senior outside hitter Mckenzie Novotny had seven. Durand-Arkansaw lost the first two sets in Thursday’s road regional semifinal against No. 4 Colby before winning the next three sets to take the match.

Stratford head coach Brooke Kafka was happy that her team quickly beat Durand-Arkansaw to win back-to-back regional titles.

“It’s great,” she said. “It’s so fun to see the hard work that these girls put in this season pay off for them. Most of them were here in this situation last year and I know they weren’t ready to settle for anything less than winning a regional championship again this year.”

Stratford advances from Saturday night’s regional championship victory against Durand-Arkansaw into this week’s sectional play. Stratford plays at 7 p.m. this Thursday, Oct. 31 against No. 10 seed See VOLLEYBALL REGIONALS/ page 19

TIGERS CELEBRATE ANOTHER REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP - Stratford volleyball players react on Saturday night to senior middle blocker Daisy Yoder’s attack kill for the winning point in the third set against Durand-Arkansaw to give the Tigers back-to-back WIAA Division 3 regional titles. Stratford players pictured, from left to right, are seniors Laney Pankratz, Mckenzie Novotny, Yoder and Emerson Roy.

STAFF PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER

WILDCATS RUSH THE COURT AFTER WINNING THE REGIONAL TITLE - Edgar volleyball bench players, freshman Carina Seubert and junior Brandi Halverson (4) run onto the Phillips court on Saturday night to join their teammates in celebrating the WIAA Division 4 regional championship victory. Players pictured in the team huddle, from left to right, are junior libero Kaitlynn Hartnady (4), junior Ella Baumgartner, sophomore Naquene Ellenbecker, (10), senior Emery Borchardt, freshman Shilo Karlen and junior Addy Nowak.

PHOTO BY MIKE HARTNADY Volleyball regionals

Continued from page 12

Prescott, which has tricked its playoff opponents thus far, in a home sectional semifinals match. Prescott won regional away matches in three straight sets against No. 7 seed Elk Mound, No. 2 Marathon and No. 3 Fall Creek in order to advance into Thursday’s sectional semifinals match.

The winner of Thursday’s regional semifinals match between Stratford and Prescott will advance to play in the Division 3 sectional championship at 7 p.m. this Saturday, Nov. 2, at Barron High School. No. 1 playoff seed Barron plays at home Thursday against No. 2 seed Chippewa Falls McDonell on the other side of the bracket. The winner of Saturday night’s sectional championship will advance to the Division 3 state championship semifinals match on Friday, Nov. 8.

Edgar wins regional title

Edgar’s volleyball team beat Phillips in three straight sets on the road Saturday night to win a WIAA Division 4 regional championship. The No. 3 playoff seed Wildcats defeated the No. 2 Loggers by set scores of 25-17, 25-21 and 25-22.

Junior Ella Baumgartner and sophomore Naquene Ellenbecker led Edgar with 10 attack kills each. Junior Addy Nowak paced the Wildcats with five ace serves. Junior Kaitlynn Hartnady led Edgar with 19 digs while junior Brandi Halverson and Nowak added 11 digs apiece. Halverson paced the team with 14 pass assists and Nowak had 12.

Edgar head coach Evan Krebsbach was proud of how his squad followed the game plan to beat Phillips.

“We came in confident against Phillips, but I would say even more so, we were loose and having fun,” he said. “We work on serve and pass 50 percent of our practices every day, and that’s what we wanted to start with against Phillips. They have a talented hitter in the middle, so if we could get them out of their system, she’d be way less effective. Our plan worked and I think coming out strong in the first set really set the tone for the next two sets. We picked on and targeted some of their younger players and were just consistent with our plan. I think our serving and pesky defense got them frustrated and out of their comfort zone.”

“We had three girls with double-digit digs in Kaitlynn Hartnady, Addy Nowak and Brandi Halverson. To keep the volleyball off the floor that much in three sets, it mentally and physically takes so much out of your opponent and we just kept being aggressive both on offense, defense and with serving. It really was such a great team effort full of celebrating each other, having each other’s back, being locked into the assignment and executing it. I couldn’t be prouder of these girls.”

Edgar beat No. 6 playoff seed Coleman in three straight sets during Thursday’s home regional semifinal by set scores of 25-11, 25-19 and 25-21.

Baumgartner led Edgar with 12 kills while senior Emery Borchardt added nine and Naquene Ellenbecker had eight. Borchardt and Hartnady paced the Wildcats with two aces each. Hartnady led Edgar with 14 digs and Naquene Ellenbecker had 10. Nowak paced the team with 20 pass assists and Halverson added 15.

Edgar now plays in a road WIAA Division 4 sectional semifinals match at No. 1 playoff seed Wabeno/Laona at 7 p.m. this Thursday, Oct. 31. Wabeno/Laona beat Rib Lake, 3-1, in Saturday’s home regional championship match. The winner of Thursday’s sectional semifinal will advance to play in the sectional championship at 7 p.m. this Saturday, Nov. 2, at Crivitz High School.

The sectional semifinal on the other side of the playoff bracket has No. 1 seed Pittsville playing at home against No. 3 Auburndale on Thursday. The winner of Saturday night’s sectional championship will advance to the WIAA Division 4 state tournament semifinals match on Thursday, Nov. 7.

Athens falls in regional title

The Athens volleyball squad lost to Marshfield Columbus in three straight sets in Saturday night’s road WIAA Division 5 regional championship. The No. 4 playoff seed Bluejays lost to the No. 1 seed Dons by scores of 25-15, 25-16 and 32-30.

Junior Sy’Rih Hartwig led Athens with 10 attack kills and three solo blocks. Sophomore Karly Eckert paced the Bluejays with two ace serves. Senior Bailey Hanke led Athens with 19 digs while Hartwig added 12 and freshman Kaelin Switlick and Eckert had 11 each.

Athens beat No. 5 playoff seed Almond-Bancroft, 3-2, in Thursday’s home regional semifinals match. The Bluejays lost the first set, 26-24, to the Eagles before winning the second set, 25-17. Athens then lost the third set, 25-15, before winning the last two sets by scores of 25-23 and 17-15 to win the match.