Wilmot girls take seventh at SLC tournament

By Dan Truttschel~Sports Correspondent

The final results from Saturday’s Southern Lakes Conference Tournament didn’t show that great of an overall finish for the Wilmot girls volleyball team.

But in a year when the Panthers showed vast improvement from recent seasons, there still were plenty of positives that came from it.

Wilmot won just one of three matches to finish seventh overall. The Panthers closed the regular season at 13-17 overall after they won just one match a year ago.

“I am pleased with the way we played at the conference tournament,” first-year Wilmot coach Kevin Raap said. “(I was) a little disappointed in our finishing place, but not in the effort given.”

Wilmot dropped its opening-round match to Union Grove 25-15, 21-25, 22-25, followed by a 10-25, 25-18, 15-25, 12-25 decision to Waterford.

The matchup with Union Grove was a tough battle all the way through, Raap said.

“That might have been the best we have played in a loss all year,” he said. “Union Grove has a good team. They finished third or fourth in the conference, and we gave them all they could handle”

Raap said Waterford relied mainly on one dominant player, and that his team never figured out how to slow her down.

“After we played them in the regular season, I replayed the match and thought I had the answer,” he said “We just couldn’t keep her from putting the ball on the floor.”

The Panthers closed out the tournament with their third win over Badger this season. Wilmot opened with a 25-21 win, followed by a 25-15 decision in the second. Badger avoided the sweep with a 25-12 victory in the third, but Wilmot answered with a 30-28 victory in the decisive fourth game.

“It is hard to beat any team three times in one season (but) we managed to do just that,” Raap said. “Our team was prepared and motivated to win.”

Statistical leaders for the day included Sarah Vozel with 36 kills and five aces; Taylor Tenhagen with 19 kills; Lindsey Orre with 10 kills; Sawyer Wightman with five aces; and Shannon Johnston with 45 digs.

Wilmot now looks to the post-season and this week’s WIAA Division 1 regional tournament. The Panthers drew the 11th seed and traveled to sixth-seeded Kenosha Tremper Thursday.

The winner will face either third-seeded Kenosha Bradford or 14th-seeded Badger in the next round Saturday.

“If we are to (advance) after Thursday’s match against Tremper, we are going to need to be on top of all aspects of our game,” Raap said. “We are going to have to keep serving tough, play fantastic defense and put the ball away when we have a chance.

“Tremper just won their conference tournament last weekend and are led by two very good middle hitters that we are going to have to slow down.”

 


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