By Dan Truttschel~Sports Correspondent
Just one minor speed bump kept the Westosha Central boys volleyball team from perfection at its own invitational Saturday.
And even with that setback, the Falcons still had quite the day for themselves.
Central won four of its five matches to finish first overall at the six-team invitational. The Falcons defeated Muskego (25-18, 25-16), South Milwaukee (25-9, 25-12), Brookfield Central (25-20, 25-17) and Waukesha West (25-22, 25-9).
The Falcons’ lone loss came to Waukesha Catholic Memorial (18-25, 21-25).
“We played very well,” Central coach Wayne Schultz said. “We controlled the ball and were very aggressive offensively. Good things happen when you pass and swing well.”
Schultz said the play of outside hitters Mike Skora and Jordan Easthon were big keys to the Falcons’ success.
“(They) keep getting better all the time,” he said. “One of our major keys when we are playing well is our serving. When we are serving tough and limiting our misses, we are tough to beat.”
The Falcons’ lone setback Saturday came against a tough and talented Catholic Memorial squad.
“They had some big blocks against us and we went into a bit of a shell offensively,” Schultz said. “We need to stay aggressive and remember that, at times other teams are going to do good things.”
Statistical leaders from the day included Glenn Karsten with 31 kills
and six blocks; Skora with 29 kills and 12 digs; Easthon with 22 kills, four blocks and five aces; Luke Werth with 19 kills; Brooks Gahart with 84 assists and eight aces; Jordan Meyers with nine assists; Nick Picchietti with 12 digs; and Kyle Foulke with eight digs and three aces.
Prior to Saturday’s tournament, the Falcons swept Racine Case 25-17, 25-14, 25-19.
Leading the way were Karsten with 11 kills and two aces; Easthon with six kills and five digs; Gahart with 14 assists and six digs; Meyers with three assists; Picchietti with five digs and two aces; Jon Satterston with two blocks; and Skora with two blocks.
Central traveled to Kenosha Tremper Monday night. Results were unavailable by press time. The Falcons will host the Southeast
Conference Tournament Saturday, Oct. 26, beginning at 8:30 a.m.
Schultz is happy with where his team is at.
“We are progressing great,” he said. “I think we are and will continue
to play our best volleyball of the year.
“(We need to) keep getting better by staying aggressive with our serving and offense. (We need) to outwork every team we play.”
Panthers close out season
The Wilmot boys volleyball team, which played a JV schedule this year, posted a 6-0 record at the Racine St. Catherine’s Invitational.
Wilmot defeated Case (23-21, 21-15), Burlington (21-8, 21-6), Muskego (21-16, 21-12), Racine Park (21-12, 21-11), Union Grove (21-11, 21-19) and Case again in the finals (21-16, 21-19).
Individual statistics were unavailable.
Earlier in the week, the Panthers recorded a pair of conference victories. Wilmot defeated Union Grove (24-26, 25-19, 25-14, 25-18) Oct. 17 and Westosha (25-17, 25-27, 25-17, 25-21).
Leading the way against Union Grove were Trey Turner with 16 kills, three blocks and 11 digs; Cody Fileatreault with six kills and one block; Evan Orre with 21 assists; Josh Schattner with five aces; and Brett Muzzy with eight kills.
Against Central, leaders included Turner with 14 kills, seven blocks, 23 digs and two assists; Fileatreault with 10 kills and seven blocks; Orre with 38 assists; and Ketterhagen and Muzzy with eight kills.
Wilmot finished the year at 13-5 overall.