Salem native Brown commits to La Crosse

Maddie Brown is a straight-A student, and she plans on working with sports in the future. For the near future, however, she plans on playing volleyball at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.  (Photo by Mike Ramczyk)
Maddie Brown is a straight-A student, and she plans on working with sports in the future. For the near future, however, she plans on playing volleyball at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. (Photo by Mike Ramczyk)

Central senior excels in classroom, on volleyball court

By Mike Ramczyk

Sports Editor

In western Kenosha County, volleyball is king when it comes to sports.

Whether it’s Westosha Central or Wilmot high schools, both have boys and girls varsity programs as of this past fall, and some of the state’s best athletes have been Falcons or Panthers.

But out of all the teams, Charlie Berg’s Lady Falcons take the cake.

With 19 state appearances in 37 years, Berg has one of the most elite programs in the state year after year. Led by current Winona State University standout Danielle Rampart, the Central girls made it all the way to the Division 1 state championship match in 2013 before falling.

While the headlines featured the undersized outside hitter, the player on the opposite side was just starting to hit her stride.

Her name is Maddie Brown, a 17-year-old passionate senior from Salem. Around 5-foot-7 with long, straight brown locks, Brown beams when talking about volleyball. She could go on for hours about the values learned from the Berg and the Falcons’ program.

As a junior alongside Rampart, Brown was an integral member of the conference champion Falcons and earned honorable mention all-conference.

Brown was the only player from Central or Wilmot to land on the all-SLC first team, a prestigious honor with elite company, including three Division 1 college recruits (Union Grove’s Kylie Wilks and Savannah Kohlhagen, Burlington’s Quinn Spieker).

This past fall, the senior took her game to a whole new level. While embracing a vocal leadership role on and off the court, she guided the young Falcons to sectionals and jumped to first team all-SLC and honorable mention all-state.

A true success story, the 4.0 student persevered through knee surgery and a year off from her passion to sign a letter of intent to play college volleyball at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

A down-to-Earth, Midwest girl who enjoys snowmobiling and football, Brown hopes to one day take her talents into the medical field.

An outside hitter who can jump out of the gym, Brown said she can touch 9 feet, 7 inches.

“My goal is to dunk one day,” she said.

The Westosha Report recently sat down with Brown at Westosha Central High School to discuss volleyball, Coach Berg and her future.

 

WR: You made varsity as a freshman. Take me through your injury.

MB: It was the last game of the season freshman year, and I landed awkwardly on my left leg. I completely blew out my knee. I had surgery and nine months of recovery after that. I missed my entire club season (November to June). By sophomore year, I had a huge, clunky knee brace on, but I was working my way back.

 

WR: What went through your head when you got hurt?

MB: It wasn’t too bad because I had so much adrenaline. I knew something was wrong. By far, it was one of the hardest things I’ve gone through. Every day, I had to keep doing everything that hurt and going through physical therapy. After surgery, it felt like I had knives stuck in my knee, grinding.

 

WR: At what point were you 100 percent back to normal?

MB: The first time I played was in late July (nearly a year later). It took until the end of my sophomore club season (spring 2012) before I knew I was back. I was back up to speed. There were a lot of ups and downs, and it was hard.

 

WR: Then your junior year, the Falcons went to state. How amazing was that?

MB: We took second and beat Burlington five out of six times that season. After continuously losing to them, we knew we had to go to state that year if we ever wanted to go.

We increased our pace of play. Everything happens so fast, and you have to do things in a split-second. Being the second outside hitter behind Danielle Rampart (who now plays at Winona St.) I knew I had to play well for us to win. We were opposite each other on the court.

We had eight seniors. We had a great team. We were all sisters, and we wanted it so bad and we were confident. We had such a strong team bond. The state tournament was probably the best experience of my life.

 

WR: How did you lead the team as a senior?

MB: We did a lot of team building. We had open gyms during the summer, and we’d play sand volleyball at my house. Personally, I never shut up. I’m articulate, and I never stop talking on the court. I’m constantly giving mental encouragement to my teammates. Girls could always come to me, no matter what they needed on and off the court.

 

WR: You girls lost to Kenosha Tremper in a sectional semifinal this past fall. How do you think the season went?

MB: At the Joust in the early season, we were playing awesome. Our outside was out for a month with a bad ankle sprain, and another starter had a sprained thumb.

When you add inexperience, it takes away from some of the team chemistry. But by the beginning of October, they were back. It took a few weeks to get back into the swing of things.

 

WR: Is Tremper a bigger rival than Burlington?

MB: They’re both rivals. The Burlington rivalry? Oh, jeez. I know some of those girls from club volleyball. Every year since freshman year, it’s always been “Beat Burlington.”

My first two years, it got in our heads and we lost. By junior year, we treated them like just another team and we beat them. You have to keep your composure no matter who’s on the other side of the net.

 

WR: Why is the Central volleyball tradition so strong? (19 state appearances in 37 years)

MB: Coach Berg. Hands down. It starts with the freshmen. There’s a lot of feeder schools that come to Central. Whoever shows up for tryouts, we instill in them it’s a program like no other in the state. I can’t specifically talk about some of the traditions because they’re a secret.

There’s a sense of family, and everyone is only as strong as the weakest player. Sometimes we practice with the JV and freshman teams, and we have a skills day every year where we teach them things.

 

WR: What have you learned from Coach Berg?

MB: Next to my parents, he’s the most influential person in my life. He’s like a second father because he’s taught me not only about the game but also how to be successful as a person. He’s taught me so much about hard work, drive, leadership, dedication and teamwork. He’s devoted his life to this program.

 

WR: How much of an honor was it to be named first team all-SLC with all of the talent in this conference?

MB: Going from honorable mention my junior year to first team and honorable mention all-state was icing on the cake. It was quite an honor. I had these goals set, and I worked so hard to achieve them.

 

WR: How did your game improve this season?

MB: Leadership-wise, I’ve improved my patience with teaching the younger girls. My overall hitting percentage was .247. I led the team in hitting attempts, almost double what I had last year. Also, I led the team in aces and was second in digs behind our libero.

 

WR: Take me through the La Crosse decision?

MB: In May, my club coach put me in contact with their coach. I did my official visit in September. I also visited a private school in Virginia and another school in St. Louis.

I had some D2 contacts, but my academics are really important, and I liked my academic possibilities at my D3 choices.

I chose La Crosse because of the team, coach and health care program. I want to go into the medical field and work with athletes some day.

It’s a gorgeous area, and I had that gut feeling that it was right. I committed in October, and I’m super excited for the next four years.

After I committed, it was a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. It was stressful.

 

WR: What’s your dream job?

MB: It would be an orthopedic surgeon working with athletes or with a professional sports team.

Or I wouldn’t mind opening my own business and training athletes. I’m a Wisconsin girl. I love the Midwest, and I’ve always loved it around here. I’d hopefully stick around here.

 

WR: You’re a 4.0 student. How do you balance year-round volleyball with school work?

MB: A lot of it is staying on task and prioritizing. My list is family, school and volleyball. If a friend asks me to go out, if I have something due the next day, I’ll always put that first.

It will big time be harder in college. There will be more distractions. I haven’t really had time for boys. That’s one less thing to worry about.

WR: What gives you the widest smile when you’re out on the court playing?

MB: The passion is all heart. I love to leave it all on the court. I love the close games decided by two points. Last year in state, we were down 23-17 to Neenah and came back to win 26-24. That winning moment when you grab your teammates and have tears streaming down your face, that’s living.


Posted

in

by

Tags: