Xavier girls volleyball sweeps Fox Valley Lutheran in WIAA Division 2 sectional semifinal

Xavier setter Mariah Potter, left, sets up a teammate on her way to finishing with 33 assists. Fox Valley Lutheran’s Hannah Uhlenbrauck, right, tries to coax a shot over Xavier’s Annika Kowalski. (Photos by Paul Lecker/AppletonSportsPage.com)

By Paul Lecker
AppletonSportsPage.com

APPLETON – The Xavier girls volleyball team stands one win away from a return trip to state after a dominating 3-0 sweep of crosstown rival Fox Valley Lutheran in a WIAA Division 2 sectional semifinal Thursday night at a jam-packed Torchy Clark Gym at Xavier High School.

The top-seeded Hawks won 25-23, 25-18, 25-10, to roll into a D-2 sectional final against another No. 1 seed, Kettle Moraine Lutheran, on Saturday at 4 p.m. at Wrightstown High School. KML defeated Ripon 3-1 on Thursday.

Xaver (42-3), the No. 1-ranked team in the Wissports.net Division 2 state coaches poll, defeated No. 2-ranked Fox Valley Lutheran for the third time this season and now needs just one more win to have a chance to defend its Division 2 state title from a year ago at next week state tournament in Green Bay.

“These matches, you have to take some time and settle in,” Xavier coach Luke Herriges said. “There was no fear from the girls, but there were nerves. There were nerves from the coaching staff too. Once we settle in, once we can trust what they have been doing all season long, they can play great. When they play great, they are so aggressive.”

Back-to-back aces by Belle Shea sparked a 6-0 run that helped Xavier pull ahead in the first set 8-5 and it never trailed again.

Two kills by Halle Vande Hey and two more by Mariah Potter pushed the Hawks’ lead to 22-16 before Fox Valley Lutheran made a late push.

Emma Nilson had two kills and Annalise Patchett added another to tighten things up for the Foxes. An ace by Amara Jahner and a Xavier hitting error brought FVL to within one at 24-23 before a service error handed the Hawks the win.

Fox Valley Lutheran led the second set 10-6 after an ace from Ava Patchett and three early service errors from the Hawks, but Xavier was able to regroup as Potter, the Hawks’ setter, and their stellar front line heated up.

Back-to-back kills by Annika Kowalski and an ace from Potter gave Xavier a 13-12 lead. After a sideout tied it, the Hawks ripped off five-straight points, which included a kill from Madison Daley and an ace by Kowalski.

The Foxes came no closer than four and Xavier was able to finish off the 25-18 win on a kill by Olivia Neumann.

The third set was all Hawks as FVL just ran out of gas.

Xavier started out on a 6-1 run and led 15-6 after four-straight perfect offensive possessions that ended in two kills by Neumann, and one each by Daley and Kowalski, all set up by Potter.

Xavier secured the victory with a 4-0 run as Newmann and Vande Hey had kills.

“We’re going to have to clear up our serves a little bit (on Saturday) and again, deal with the mental side of things,” Herriges said. “I think both sides of the net will be going through the same things and we just have to leverage our experience. Twelve of the 13 (players on the team) were on the state championship team last year. It’s getting them to remember that, and bring back all those emotions and all that energy and realizing that they can do hard things.”

Potter finished with 33 assists, Kowalski had 11 kills and four service aces, and Vande Hey had eight kills for Xavier. Neumann added seven kills and four blocks, and Daley had five kills and four blocks for the Hawks, winners of 11 matches in a row – without dropping a set – dating back to its last loss, which came against Manitowoc at the Neenah Invitational on Sept. 30. Shea added 11 digs and four aces in the win.

Sophia Wunderlich and Nilson each had four kills, Ava Patchett had seven assists and seven digs, Molly Bixby added six assists, and Riley Schmitz had 23 digs for Fox Valley Lutheran, which finishes its season with a 36-7 record.

Click here to view the statewide WIAA boys and girls volleyball sectional scoreboard & schedule