SPORTS - Stratford loses its home sectional

SPORTS

By Casey Krautkramer

Stratford’s varsity volleyball team on Thursday couldn’t pull out wins in the first two sets against La Crosse Aquinas in its home WIAA Division 3 sectional semifinals match. The Tigers lost close sets by scores of 25-21 and 25-19. Stratford bounced back to edge Aquinas, 2523, in the third set. The Tigers, however, lost the fourth set by a score of 25-20.

The Tigers conclude this season with a 27-11 match record. La Crosse Aquinas lost to Cuba City, 3-0, in Saturday’s Division 3 sectional championship.

Stratford rallied to win the third set against Aquinas and give a boost of excitement to its home fans. Junior outside hitter Kalyn Schueller’s attack kill gave the Tigers a 23-22 lead against the Blugolds in the third set. Each team then exchanged hitting errors. Aquinas’ final hitting error gave Stratford a 25-23 set win.

The fourth set between the Tigers and Blugolds was also close throughout it. Junior outside hitter Mckenzie Novotny achieved a kill when the volleyball landed just inside the back line to give Stratford a 12-9 lead against Aquinas. Junior middle blocker Daisy Yoder’s kill gave the Tigers a 13-11 advantage against the Blugolds in the fourth set.

Both teams would trade points backand-forth during the pivotal fourth set. Sophomore middle blocker Tria Tubbs’ kill knotted the fourth set at 18 points for each team. Stratford unfortunately had some hitting mistakes at the end of the fourth set that helped Aquinas obtain a 25-20 win to take the match.

Schueller led Stratford with 12 kills against Aquinas while Yoder added nine kills and Novotny had seven kills. Junior setter Emerson Roy paced the Tigers with 15 set assists and junior setter Laney Pankratz contributed 14. Schuel-

See SECTIONAL VOLLEYBALL/ page 13

CELEBRATING AN ATTACK KILL IN THE THIRD SET WIN- Members of the Stratford Tigers varsity volleyball team react to junior Kalyn Schueller’s (9) kill to give the team a 23-22 lead against La Crosse Aquinas in the third set of Thursday’s WIAA Division 3 sectional semifinals match win in Stratford. The Tigers won the third set, 25-23, but they ended up losing the fourth set and the match to the Blugolds. Sophomore Tria Tubbs is pictured to the left of Schueller and juniors Emerson Roy (3) and Mckenzie

Novotney (12) are to the right of her. STAFF PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER

TIGERS’ BLOCK AGAINST THE BLUGOLDS- Stratford junior outside hitter Kalyn Schueller on Thursday goes up for a block against La Crosse Aquinas junior outside hitter Addy Foor during the Tigers’ home WIAA Division 3 sectional semifinals match loss.

STAFF PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER Sectional volleyball

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ler also led Stratford with two serve aces while Pankratz and Yoder achieved one ace each.

Freshman libero Carly Pankratz led Stratford with 23 digs on defense and Schueller added 19. Tubbs and Yoder had one solo block apiece against the Blugolds.

Stratford’s varsity volleyball team will only lose four senior players including Ashley Hollatz, Brianna Landwehr, Sadie Weigel and Carissa Weis to graduation this spring. The Tigers will return 11 underclassmen from this year’s team next season so the future is certainly bright.