Middleton spikers headed to state

MONONA — The match had been over for roughly 15 minutes.

Middleton’s girls volleyball team had defeated Waunakee in a WIAA Division 1 sectional final last Saturday evening. And the Cardinals had earned a trip to state for the first time since 2009.

As the mayhem around Jordan LaScala unfolded, Middleton’s gifted and verbose senior outside  hitter reflected for a moment. Then she summed things up perfectly.

“Looking back on everything we’ve been through together, all the ups and downs, today was the moment,” LaScala said. “We reached the summit.”

They sure did.

Second-seeded Middleton played with poise and precision, overcame some second set foibles and knocked off the top-seeded Warriors, 25-20, 22-25, 25-19, 25-18, in a match played at Monona Grove High School.

Middleton received the No. 7 seed at the state tournament and will face second-seeded DSHA in a quarterfinal match Thursday at 1 p.m. at the Resch Center in Green Bay. The state semifinals are Friday at 7:30 p.m. and the championship match is Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

“It’s just amazing,” said Middleton senior setter Evin Jordee, whose team fell in the sectional finals in 2021 to Holmen. “Honestly, it doesn’t even seem real. We talked about it all season. It’s been our goal all season to get one game farther than we did last year. And doing it with the people I love, the people from last year, means so much.”

Senior libero Eliana Ross agreed with Jordee.

“It’s amazing to have this feeling,” Ross said. “Losing to Holmen in five sets last year was such a big motivator for us. After all we worked for and to be on top finally … it’s very emotional right now for us.”

Middleton, a veteran team with seven seniors — including five that start — had been aiming for this moment for years now.

LaScala, Jordee and senior middle blocker Sierra Pertzborn are all four-year varsity players. The rest of the senior class which includes Ross, middle blocker Amelia Frautschi, outside hitter Bryn Larson and rightside Addy Gmur all reached varsity in either 2020 or 2021.

A gifted group of juniors joined the team this year. And from the first practice of 2022, reaching the state tournament was the goal.

“We thought it was our year,” said LaScala, who had a match-high 18 kills and a remarkable 24 digs. “That’s what our coach always tells us and we believed it.”

So when that dream became a reality, Middleton third-year coach Maddie Vogel was almost at a loss for words.

“It’s kind of hard to put into words,” said Vogel, who coached several Cardinals during the club season. “It means a lot. It just feels like a really full circle moment. We watched a lot of these girls grow up. It’s been a really cool experience to grow along side of them.”

Middleton completed its journey by rolling past a Waunakee team that had gone unbeaten in the Badger East Conference, got the No. 1 seed over Middleton, and cruised to this point in the tournament.

“It’s great motivation to be the underdogs,” said Jordee, who had 38 assists and 14 digs. “We were the (No.) 2 seed and we wanted to prove we should have gotten that (No.) 1 seed. So being the underdogs is something that really motivates us.”

That was evident early, as the Cardinals dominated the opening set.

Middleton raced to leads of 7-2 and 14-5 behind tremendous serving from Pertzborn, LaScala and junior Abby Tubbs. LaScala also had five early kills as the Cardinals grabbed control.

“We knew it could be our last match,” LaScala said. “So we made sure not to take any point for granted.”

That was evident later in the set, after Waunakee crept within 17-12. The Warriors appeared to have hit a winner that would have pulled them within four points, but Ross came out of nowhere and delivered one of the biggest shots of the match.

Ross dove to the floor to keep the ball alive. She did more than that, though, lofting a shot to the back left corner that landed on the line for a winner that gave Middleton an 18-12 lead.

The Cardinals kept control from there and captured the first set, 25-20.

“I love to play scrappy,” said Ross, who had 22 digs and a team-high three aces. “I’ve been working a lot on reading the hitters, so seeing their hands, knowing when they’re going to tip.

“I just think you should never give up on a point because every single point is important. As you could see in the match, Waunakee did keep up with us really, really well. So nothing should be hitting the floor.”

Vogel was incredibly impressed with Ross. Of course, that’s nothing new.

“She’s got incredible grit,” Vogel said. “She’s always flying around the court. I always say she’s a frustrating libero to play against. She picks up a lot of stuff.”

There were six early ties and three lead changes in the second set as Waunakee jumped to a 12-9 lead. But the Cardinals went on a 6-0 run to take a 15-12 lead, and seemed to be in good shape.

Ross had five service points during that surge and Pertzborn had a pair of kills.

Waunakee refused to go away, though. Trailing, 17-13, the Warriors finished the set on a 12-4 blitz and evened the match at one set each.

“Waunakee went on a couple of really tough serving runs,” Vogel said. “That was a big difference. In the other sets, we weren’t letting them go on any big runs.”

Middleton made sure that didn’t happen in the critical third set.
The Cardinals went on an early 12-2 run and turned a 5-4 lead into an insurmountable 17-6 advantage. Tubbs had four service points in that stretch and Ross had three. Frautschi was also terrific up front with a pair of kills.

Waunakee crept back within five points at 23-18. But the Warriors had a service error and a hitting error and the Cardinals captured the set, 25-19.

“In set two, I think maybe we were a little bit overconfident from the first set,” LaScala said. “But they are a very strong team. So I think we were like, we can’t take any point for granted. We have to focus on every point.”

Jordee agreed.

“I think we really started playing together and our serve receive was amazing, the best it’s been all season,” Jordee said. “And that helped us a lot. We were able to set anyone, run fast tempo and kept pounding it on them.

“Playing together like that is something we talk about. When we play together, we can do anything.”

The Cardinals proved that once again in the fourth and final set.

The Warriors sprinted to a 5-3 lead, but Middleton embarked on a 10-3 run, took a 13-8 lead and put Waunakee behind the 8-ball. Tubbs once again had a solid service run with three points, while Frautschi came up big with two kills.

Waunakee pulled within three, but a block kill from Pertzborn and a pair of service points from Amber Wahlgren gave Middleton a 17-11 lead. The closest Waunakee came from there was four points.

On match point, Jordee gave Pertzborn a perfect set, and the 6-foot-2 middle blocker hammered it home.

Middleton’s crowd rushed the court. The Cardinals hugged anyone and everyone in their path. And after a 13-year hiatus, Middleton was headed back to state.

“That’s crazy to think about,” LaScala said when informed the Cardinals hadn’t been to state since she was in pre-school. “For me, being on varsity for four years, we’ve all come so far. It’s crazy. And we feel very proud of ourselves as seniors. It’s pretty amazing.”

Vogel agreed.

“I think we came in here even more level headed, more relaxed than we did against Holmen (in the sectional finals),” she said. “We had our game plan, we drilled it hard at practice and we were ready for it coming in.

“And the girls did the rest. They played two of their better sets to finish off the match. They were ready.”

And proved it against Waunakee.

Oct. 29

WIAA Division 1

Sectional Championship 

Middleton 3, Waunakee 1

Waunakee …………….... 20  25 19 18

Middleton ……………… 25  22  25  25

MIDDLETON (leaders) — Kills: Jordan LaScala 18, Sierra Pertzborn 9, Bryn Larson 6, Amelia Frautschi 6. Assists: Evin Jordee 38. Blocks: Sierra Pertzborn 4, Amelia Frautschi 3. Aces: Eliana Ross 3. Digs: Jordan LaScala 24, Eliana Ross 22, Evin Jordee 14, Abby Tubbs 11.