Wilmot continues run at Delavan-Darien tourney

By Dan Truttschel

Sports Correspondent

Based on history, the Wilmot girls volleyball team almost didn’t even need to compete at Saturday’s Delavan-Darien Tournament to ensure a first-place finish.

Each of the past two years, the Panthers have come home with the title – and that trend continued again this year – two years from Wilmot’s last championship.

And it wasn’t really that close.

Wilmot dropped just one set all afternoon and rolled to a perfect 5-0 record.

“(The key) was relying on one another for a change,” Wilmot coach Kevin Rapp said. “We came together and jelled as a team. The communication was so much better than it has been in the past.”

The Panthers defeated Racine Lutheran 21-15, 21-16, followed by a win over Delavan 21-15, 21-14 and Janesville Parker 21-19, 21-12.

In the day’s fourth match, the Panthers finally dropped a set, as they needed three to defeat Badger 21-18, 11-21, 15-7. Wilmot closed the afternoon with a 21-12, 21-11 win Beloit Memorial to complete the title run.

Rapp said he senses an increased confidence by his team – even to the point that he had to reel them in a bit before the day’s last match.

“After our fourth match, we had the tournament won going into the final match, and I reminded them, ‘The day is not over. We still have a job to do, and that is to go undefeated on the day,’” he said.

“They refocused and did it. They are confident. They are loving the fact that we have eight wins and only six losses, but they also realize that we’re not quite where we need to be yet.”

A number of key statistics jumped off the page, Rapp said, but none more than his team’s stellar serving percentage.

For the day, Wilmot served at a 95.7-percent clip and tallied 40 aces. Lindsey Orre, Cheyenne Moffatt and Shannon Johnston each had 10.

Putting the ball in play more often than not certainly helps the offensive attack, Rapp said.

“Volleyball is a game filled with errors,” he said. “The team that commits the fewest is likely going to win. We’re just trying to eliminate our errors. Serving is the only time that you have complete control over the ball.”

Other statistical leaders for the day included Sarah Vozel with 27 kills and 40 digs, Moffatt with 59 assists and Taylor Tenhagen with six blocks and 11 kills.

The first-place finish Saturday helped ease the pain of a tough Southern Lakes Conference loss to Elkhorn earlier in the week.

Wilmot battled the Elks, who also entered the match unbeaten in the SLC, but fell in three sets 25-23, 25-23, 25-19.

“Elkhorn was a tough loss,” Rapp said. “The team and I both felt that Elkhorn was beatable. I still feel that way. I don’t think we beat ourselves. We ran into a good team.

“We only lost by 10 points the whole three games (combined). It was a close match.”

Vozel had nine kills, while Moffatt had three aces and Johnston had 24 digs.

Wilmot was back in action Tuesday night with a tough challenge, as it traveled to state-ranked Westosha Central.

Regardless of the outcome, the Panthers definitely could take valuable lessons from the encounter, Rapp said.

“Playing somebody with their kind of pedigree, you can’t help but learn from what they show you on the court,” he said. “They’re bigger. They’re stronger. They might even be quicker than we are.

“But we are riding such a high right now, that my girls are going to come out and fight hard.”

 


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