GIRLS VOLLEYBALL: Falcons sweep Waterford

Senior Kennedy Muff focuses her attention on the volleyball in preparation for a serve against Badger earlier this season. Muff had 42 assists in three sets at Waterford last week (Photo courtesy of Nancy Switalla).

By Jason Arndt
Editor

Courtesy of an aggressive and well-balanced attack, the Westosha Central High School girls volleyball team captured its second Southern Lakes Conference sweep Sept. 6, when the Falcons defeated host Waterford.

Westosha Central, which dropped a decision to Waterford last year, improved to 2-0 in conference play after the 3-0 win (25-23, 25-15, 25-18).

Wolverines coach Morgan DeLuca, crediting Westosha Central’s experience, said the Falcons found a way to exploit her team’s weaknesses.

“It was just our lack of ability to the errors that we made,” she said. “We didn’t adjust, they found our weaknesses, and unfortunately, we didn’t make the corrections like we should have.”

For the Falcons, they relied on their fast tempo, steered by senior setter Kennedy Muff, whose front row hitters offered the Wolverines a steady mix of shots.

The fast tempo, according to Falcons coach Megan Awe, was one of her team’s areas of focus during practice leading up to the match.

“The girls have been doing a really good job of working on that this week,” she said. “We know that is a strength of ours in the season and for us to be successful, we have to run a good tempo.”

Muff, who accounted for 42 assists, added seven kills, two total blocks and accumulated a 100 percent serve percentage on 18 attempts.

Of her 18 attempts, seven came in the second set, where the Falcons opened on with a 7-0 run capped off by a senior Laura Shoopman spike.

“Kennedy is a great server, she is aggressive, and when she is on, she is on,” Awe said. “She did a great job hitting her zone.”

Muff, however, was not the only Falcon to have an aggressive serve approach.

Juniors McKenna Hall, in nine attempts, and Ava White, who had six serve attempts, each had a 100 percent serving percentage.

Along the front row, the Falcons received contributions from seniors Sierra Lee (11 kills, 19 digs), Laura Shoopman (16 kills) and Ella Kaebisch (eight kills, two total blocks).

“I think our front row did a really good job with their shot selection and mixing up their repertoire, which is awesome, we need more of that,” Awe said.

While the Falcons offered a balanced attack, they also received support on defense, where senior Twila Dovas dove in for 25 digs and Hall added another 12 digs.

The Wolverines, meanwhile, received 15 kills, three total blocks and 17 digs from sophomore Mariah Grunze.

Grunze, and her sister, Mia, played a role in the Falcons loss last year.

However, without Mia, who plays for Division 1 Ohio State University, The Falcons were able to focus on the younger Grunze, a sophomore.

“We didn’t have Mia Grunze to look for this year,” Awe said. “I give Mariah a lot of credit, she does a great job of seeing the court, she makes herself available to everything the offense and defense gives her.”

Waterford dropped to 1-1 in SLC play following the loss.

Falcons finish 4-2 in Brookfield
Westosha Central, meanwhile, won four of six contests at the Sept. 8 Lancer Invite hosted by Brookfield Central.

The Falcons, who won the silver bracket, finished 1-2 in pool play with a win against West Bend West (19-25, 25-21, 15-12) and losses to Appleton North (25-16, 25-17) and East Troy (25-21, 25-22).

In the silver bracket, Westosha Central won all three contests, starting with Waterloo (25-19, 25-20) followed by Menominee Falls (25-23, 25-13).

The Falcons then defeated Greendale (25-13, 25-16) to win the silver bracket.

Westosha Central received contributions from Shoopman (55 kills, 13 aces, five blocks, 23 digs), Muff (94 assists, 27 kills, nine aces, five blocks, 20 digs), Lee (27 kills, six aces, 60 digs, 16 assists) and Dovas (62 digs).

Kaebisch (four aces, 17 kills, six blocks) and Hall (17 kills, 30 digs, six aces) also contributed for the Falcons.

“This is a long day for the team and really proud of the team and their ability to push through and finish strong,” Awe said.

Editor’s note: After this story went to press for the print edition of this week’s Report, the Falcons swept host Union Grove on Sept. 11. The Report will have more on the win against the Broncos in the Sept. 21 edition.


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