Published: Nov. 7, 2014
G’town sweeps way into semis
Warhawks to play Divine Savior Holy Angels at 7 p.m. today
in semifinals
By NICHOLAS DETTMANN
Daily News
ASHWAUBENON — Germantown is just continuing what it started
more than a month ago.
And all Merrill could do was stand aside and be another team
off the checklist as Germantown chases its first state championship.
After a slow start, the Warhawks controlled Thursday’s WIAA
Division 1 girls volleyball state quarterfinal and rolled to a convincing
three-set victory, 25-15, 25-22, 25-14, at the Resch Center.
The victory advanced the Warhawks (37-13) to the state
semifinal for the first time in school history. They will play Divine Savior
Holy Angels, last year’s state runner-up, at 7 p.m. today.
“It’s a great win,” Germantown coach Ted Gollakner said.
In the other semifinal, it’ll be Muskego (28-12) against
Burlington (43-3), the 2011 and 2012 state champion. Muskego beat DeForest in
five sets, while Burlington cruised in three sets against Manitowoc Lincoln.
It’s an intriguing matchup between the Warhawks and the
Dashers.
DSHA beat Germantown twice this season, but they were
tightly contested matches. In addition, Gollakner was an assistant for DSHA
before arriving at Germantown.
“That’s what we came here for,” Gollakner said about being
one of the final four teams still playing in the state. “We have to play our
best game to get to the finals.”
Carly Townsend and Chloe Bingenheimer each had 11 kills to
lead the Warhawks. Townsend also had 16 assists, as did Christina Nennig.
“Chloe was finishing strong,” Gollakner said. “They were
some pretty monster kills that she had.”
As a No. 6 seed, the highest in the tournament since at
least 2001, the Warhawks have played throughout the postseason angry and with a
chip on their shoulder. It was more of the same Thursday against the Blue Jays,
who were making their second appearance at state in three years after waiting
30 years from the previous trip.
Merrill, the champion of the Wisconsin Valley Conference,
had little chance to compete against a determined Germantown squad.
“They’re a seasoned team; you can tell they’ve been playing
together for a long time,” Merrill coach Kris Krug said. “So they’re no
strangers to high pressure, high competition.”
“Their schedule, they’re playing against some high-caliber
teams,” she added about Germantown being a surprise team in the field. “That’s
the fuel for their fire.
“They’re mad because they got a six seed because they view
themselves as a much greater team than that.”
Since Oct. 1, the Warhawks are 18-3, including winners of
now 14 matches in a row, with two of those losses coming to DSHA. The other
loss was to Burlington.
The reason for the hot streak is because of its added
versatility on the attack. The Warhawks had four players attempt at least 17
kills against the Blue Jays. They were also precise.
The Warhawks had a .347 attack percentage, with only nine
attack errors, while Merrill’s was .023 and 26 attack errors.
The versatility took a step up when Mel Heupel returned to
the lineup from an ankle injury suffered in the preseason. Merrill struggled
with where to put up its block because of it. “They have some big hitters,”
Krug said.
Merrill had the upper-hand early in the match, jumping out
to leads of 5-2, 7-4 and 9-6. From there, the nerves had settled and the
Warhawks returned to the form they’ve shown all postseason. They went on an 8-1
run to take a 1410 lead and cruised to the first-set victory. But hanging close
early in the match helped get the girls calmed down and focused.
“It was crazy; I was shaking,” Townsend said about her
nerves, especially during warmups.
It was the closing points of the first set Townsend said she
believed she and her teammates had found a groove.
“We should’ve come out much stronger,” she added. “But we
did come back and we did play our game.” It was much of the same in the second
set. It was close early, but with the score knotted at 14, Germantown went on
another run, this time 6-1 to take a 20-15 lead.
And in the third, Germantown put the finishing touch on the
match with a 12-4 run to end the set and the match. If Germantown wasn’t spot
on, it was close to it.
“We’ve peaked at the right time,” Bingenheimer said.
GERMANTOWN 3, MERRILL 0
Merrill...............................................................15
22 14
Germantown....................................................25
25 25
Germantown stat leaders— Kills: Chloe Bingenheimer 11, Carly
Townsend 11; Assists: Christina Nennig 16, Townsend 16; Digs: Rachel Scaduto
11; Aces: Kayla Budgins 2, Nennig 2; Blocks: Anika Swoboda 2, Megan Marks 2,
Budgins 2
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