September 2022

Few — if any — programs in the state have the depth that Middleton’s girls swimming and diving team does.

So last Saturday, Cardinals head coach R.J. Leiferman tried to divide and conquer.

Leiferman sent half of his team to the star-studded Waukesha South Invite. He also sent half of his girls to a terrific meet in Sun Prairie.

The results were awfully impressive, too, as Middleton finished third at both of the power-packed invitationals.

“Our girls at the Sun Prairie meet did very well, staying very competitive, even though half the team was in Waukesha,” Leiferman said. “Our invite in Waukesha also went very well. We finished third in a meet with many of the top teams in the state, and were really close to winning.”

Middleton also notched an impressive 119-67 Big Eight Conference win over Madison West last Friday.

Here’s a recap of the Cardinals’ week with their top performances:

Waukesha South Invite

It’s been 13 years since Middleton’s girls volleyball team captured back-to-back Big Eight Conference championships.

Members of today’s Cardinals team were in 4K — or younger — at the time.

But Middleton stayed on track to win a second straight Big Eight title last week, with three-set wins over both Madison West and Sun Prairie West.

The Cardinals rolled past the Regents, 25-14, 25-16, 25-21 on Sept. 13. And Middleton cruised past Sun Prairie West, 25-10, 25-9, 25-13 on Sept. 15.

The Cardinals improved to 14-2 overall and 4-0 in the Big Eight.

“I was very happy with both of our games this week,” Middleton coach Maddie Vogel said. “Winning conference is definitely on our minds, but more so because of how it will set us up for success come postseason.

“I think as of right now we’re on track to be in good standing for conference, but we’re not taking any games for granted. We’ve got a full speed ahead mentality this year.” 

On Sept. 29, 2011, Middleton’s boys volleyball team went to Beloit Memorial and lost a five-set thriller.

Amazingly, the Cardinals haven't lost another Big Eight match since then.

Middleton went back to Beloit on Sept. 12 and made sure the Purple Knights weren’t going to halt their current streak.

The Cardinals rolled to a 25-10, 25-11, 25-20 win and pushed their remarkable conference winning streak to 84.

“We had a full-team effort in our win over Beloit,” Middleton coach Rob Kleinschmidt said. “Our serving game was strong and we put a lot of pressure on them with that, leading to some easier balls over the net for us to set up our offense.”

Ben Heise led the Cardinals with nine kills, while Kaden Fosdick, Hudson Sweitzer and Teddy Young all had four kills. Brody Stuttgen had 18 assists, while Sam Jolin added nine assists.

Ambrose Engling had three aces, Sweitzer had three blocks and both Henry Gassen and Lucas Rosa had four digs.

MIDDLETON–Middleton Hills residents have always had to pick up letters at a nearby rented mailroom but they’re unhappy with the post office’s recent decision requiring them to pick up their parcels there, too.

For years, residents could count on the US Postal Service to deliver packages to their doorstep but last month, were informed that service is being discontinued due to staffing shortages, said Don Knorr, president of the Middleton Hills Neighborhood Association (MHNA).

Letter carriers are working 14-hour days, six days a week and some changes needed to be made to that unsustainable schedule, local postal officials said, according to Knorr.

Now, packages are piled on shelving in the mailbox the association rents from Erdman and Associates, developers of the 430-home residential subdivision.