Top-ranked Luxemburg-Casco sweeps No. 2 Fox Valley Lutheran in NEC girls volleyball showdown
By Dustin Riese
For AppletonSportsPage.com
APPLETON – It’s very rare that two of the top volleyball teams in the state face off this late in the regular season, let alone being from same conference.
That was the case on Thursday as Luxemburg-Casco, ranked No. 1 in the latest Wisconsin Volleyball Coaches Association Division 2 state poll, came to Fox Valley Lutheran to take on the No. 2-ranked Foxes with first place in the North Eastern Conference was on the line.
Since dropping three matches early in the season, including a 2-0 loss to Casco, the Foxes have been on a roll as they entered the match on a 14-match winning streak and victors in 20 of their last 21. The Spartans put an end to that, taking care of the Foxes in straight sets 27-25, 25-14, 25-15. The two teams, along with Freedom, are tied at 6-1 atop the NEC standings. Freedom defeated L-C on Tuesday.
“I don’t think we played our best tonight,” Fox Valley Lutheran head coach Wendy Bixby said. “When you’re facing one of the best teams in the State, you need to bring your best game.”
If the first set of the night was any indication of what was to come, this had the makings of an incredible match as both teams brought their A-Game for what felt like a playoff game as opposed to a conference matchup.
Even with Aubrey Frey helping the Spartans jump out to a quick 3-1 lead, the Foxes never backed down as Molly Bixby picked up a massive ace to tie things up before Sophia Wunderlich delivered one of her seven kills to help the Foxes take a 6-4 lead.
This ultimately became a set of runs with Casco returning the favor with an 8-3 spurt sparked by several Isabella Vander Velden kills to put the Spartans back in front 12-9. Things continued to go the Spartans way for the next several points, only to have Wunderlich and Hannah Uhlenbrauck come up huge as the Foxes retook the lead 22-20.
The Spartans tied things back up 24-24, but with the Foxes coming away with a massive Uhlenbrauck block, they were won point away from taking the first set. Unfortunately for them, the Spartans had other answers as they closed out the first set with three quick points with Frey delivering the knockout blow in a 27-25 thriller. Coach Bixby said she loved how her team came out during that first set, but also knew how important it was to win the match.
“We had multiple opportunities to close out that first set and we didn’t capitalize on that,” she said. “We knew that taking the first set would be critical to a match win.”
The Spartans came out strong as Jenna Annoye teamed up with Frey and Vander Velden to help them race out to a massive 18-8 lead. That score was a little surprising when you look at the quality of play the Foxes were putting out, but this was one of those times where they couldn’t buy a point. Casco is a team you don’t want to fall behind against and with a lead like that they managed to pull away to take a 2-0 lead 25-14.
“We actually hit well in the second set,” Bixby said. “Luxemburg-Casco is a talented team, and the momentum was all in their favor.”
Facing a similar situation to their previous meeting earlier in the season, the Foxes knew that they needed to set the tone in the third set if they wanted this match to continue. What better way than having Ellie Hayes come up with a kill to start the final set. It was a lead that didn’t last long with Alayna Deprez answering with a kill of her own which set the tone in what was a 9-1 Casco run to put them in front 9-2.
L-C would eventually push its lead to 13-3 before the Foxes started to settle in a bit more defensively. As expected, FVL libero Riley Schmitz played a role in that, as her relentless approach on the floor to sacrifice her body resulted in 21 digs and helped keep the Foxes’ hopes alive. That allowed players like Ava Patchett to get in position to set things up for Uhlenbrauck and Wunderlich as the Foxes were battling back to make it an 18-11 game.
That would be as close as things would get as the Spartans continued to dominate up front with Frey closing out the game with a game-winning block and handing the Spartans a straight set win 25-15.
Wendy Bixby is hoping this loss gets out of their system as they will get some much needed rest prior to the stretch run.
“We’ve been able to have a balanced attack with our offense, and that’s been helpful,” she said. “We’ve played 14 matches in the past 13 days. We’re looking forward to some quality practice time to continue to push each other and grow as a team.”
Fox Valley Lutheran will host Clintonville on Tuesday.