Appleton North falls short to Germantown in quarterfinal match at WIAA State Boys Volleyball Tournament
By Paul Lecker
AppletonSportsPage.com
GREEN BAY – The opportunity was there for the Appleton North boys volleyball team to make an early statement in its quarterfinal match at the 2024 WIAA State Boys Volleyball Tournament on Wednesday night.
The Lightning had Germantown on the ropes in the first set, owning set point on eight occasions, but they couldn’t close the deal.
Germantown (36-9) went on to squeak out a 30-28 victory in the opening set and finished off Appleton North (24-13) in the next two, 25-21 and 25-17, to win 3-0 at the Resch Center.
Germantown moves on to a semifinal match Thursday at 2 p.m. against Sussex Hamilton (37-4). Middleton (33-4) and Milwaukee Marquette (27-7) will play in the other semifinal at the same time, with the winners meeting in the state championship match Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Two exciting road wins over Fond du Lac and Kimberly in the sectionals last week led Appleton North to its second state tournament in the past three seasons and for ninth time overall.
“We had opportunities to win that first set,” North coach Michael Maass said. “If we could have got over that hump and took the first set, maybe the momentum would have changed a little bit. Germantown did a good job. Put a little pressure on us and a more consistent. We didn’t get that service pressure on them and get them out of system.”
A 5-0 run gave Germantown a 12-9 lead in the opening set. North held close before making a huge run of its own on the serve of junior Nathan Ramus.
Following a sideout on a kill by Ramus, he served eight-straight points, the final one on a block kill by Samuel Kuehl, and the Lightning led 22-15.
Germantown scored four of the next five points before North got to set point on a hitting error by the Warhawks.
Germantown stormed back with defeat staring them in the face, ripping off five points in a row, which included two kills by 6-foot-6 hitter Adam Emerson, to tie the match at 24-24.
The Lightning then had three more chances to finish off the set only to see Germantown counter. A service error from North followed by a kill from Ryan Stelling finished off the set for the Warhawks 30-28.
It proved tough for the Lightning to come back from as they looked to regroup.
“We just had to try to keep pushing and keep doing what we were doing to try to get Sets 2, 3, to get momentum on our side,” Ramus said.
North jumped out to a 4-1 lead to start the second after block kills from Howard Guilbeault and Ramus, but Germantown surged ahead 12-8 and never trailed again.
Kills from Oakley Griggs, Stelling and Parker Van Engen helped the Warhawks finish off a 25-21 win.
After falling behind early in the third set, the Lightning rallied behind the serve of Ramus again, scoring five points in a row to take a 13-12 lead.
Germantown quickly retaliated with an 9-1 spurt as Griggs slammed down four kills and another on a block to put the Warhawks on top 20-14. North never recovered.
After a kill from Ramus, who ended up with a team-high 13, Van Engen finished the match with a booming kill, his 12th of the match, and a 25-17 win for the Warhawks.
“A lot of coaches will tell you that whoever wins the serving and passing battle usually wins the match, and unfortunately they definitely won the that battle tonight,” Maass said.
“I’m so proud of my seniors. I’ve have had better, more successful senior groups, but I don’t think I’ve ever been more proud of a senior group,” Maass continued. “I was kind of looking at stats from last year and that senior group (Owen Tierney, Rowan Cihlar, Isaac Berken and Charlie Fanning) accounted for 15 kills last year, total. Going from really sitting, not playing and then coming to the state tournament the next year is incredible. They all contributed, all had roles. The future is bright, but it’s because of these seniors and what they’ve passed on to those guys.
Tierney added seven kills, Ramus had 13 digs, Spencer Munson finished with 13 assists and Saolai Thao had eight assists for Appleton North.
Alex Rogowski had 38 assists and 13 digs to top Germantown in both categories.
Click here for complete stats from the WIAA
2024 WIAA State Boys Volleyball Tournament
Wednesday, Nov. 6-Friday, Nov. 8
At Resch Center, Green Bay
Wednesday, Nov. 6
Quarterfinals
No. 3 Middleton (33-4) 3, No. 6 Westosha Central (27-2) 1 (25-14, 25-21, 19-25, 25-20)
No. 2 Milwaukee Marquette (27-6) 3, No. 7 New Berlin Eisenhower/New Berlin West (27-8) 1 (17-25, 25-21, 25-17, 25-20)
No. 1 Sussex Hamilton (37-4) 3, No. 8 Kenosha Indian Trail (19-16) 0 (25-18, 25-18, 25-11)
No. 4 Germantown (36-9) 3, No. 5 Appleton North (24-13) 0 (30-28, 25-21, 25-17)
Thursday, Nov. 7
Semifinals, 2 p.m.
No. 1 Sussex Hamilton (38-4) 3, No. 4 Germantown (36-10) 0 (25-22, 27-25, 25-21)
No. 3 Middleton (34-4) 3, No. 2 Milwaukee Marquette (27-8) 0 (25-19, 25-21, 25-23)
Friday, Nov. 8
Championship
No. 3 Middleton (35-4) 3, No. 1 Sussex Hamilton (38-5) 2 (25-10, 23-25, 22-25, 25-21, 15-10)