November 2022

GREEN BAY — Their season had been over 15 minutes, or so.

Middleton’s boys volleyball team had given a valiant effort before Waukesha Catholic Memorial eventually toppled the Cardinals, 25-21, 25-21, 16-25, 25-22, in a WIAA state quarterfinal on Nov. 3 at the Resch Center.

And while Middleton was distraught that it wouldn't play another match in 2022, it was even more upset that things like practices and team dinners had come to an end.

Over the past 10 weeks, this group had grown remarkably close. And the fact the daily camaraderie was ending hurt even more than the loss to the mighty Crusaders.

“I’ll remember all the shenanigans we pulled, all the funny moments,” Middleton junior outside hitter Ambrose Engling said. “After we lost that game, I wasn’t thinking, ‘Oh shoot, I’m not going to be able to play another volleyball match tomorrow. I was thinking, ‘Oh shoot. I’m not going to be able to see these guys in practice every day.’ ”

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.

Three years ago, after Zaira Malloy-Salgado finished her first WIAA Division 1 state cross country meet, she had one singular thought.

“I remember when I was a freshman my goal was to get on the podium at some point,” Middleton’s senior standout said.

So as Malloy-Salgado exited Rapids Golf Course — home of the state meet in Wisconsin Rapids — last Saturday afternoon, she looked back with great pride.

Malloy-Salgado had just raced to a fifth-place finish at this year’s state meet, completing the demanding 5,000-meter course in 18 minutes, 50.5 seconds. Sara Mlodik of D.C. Everest won the race in 18:06.6.

Malloy-Salgado’s strong performance helped the Cardinals finish sixth as a team. That, combined with a fifth place finish in 2021 and a third place showing in the 2020 alternate season gave Malloy-Salgado a trio of podium finishes — and an enormous amount of pride.

Don’t count members of the Middleton boys volleyball team among those surprised by the way things went in the third set of Saturday night’s WIAA sectional championship match against Madison Memorial.

Frustrated maybe, but not surprised.

The top-seeded Cardinals knew a sweep of the second-seeded Spartans wouldn’t be easy — even after winning the first two sets rather handily.

“Their season’s on the line,” Cardinals senior middle hitter Joe Ilk said. “They’re going to fight with everything they have.”

The Spartans did just that. But all their third-set victory ended up doing was delay the Cardinals’ party as Middleton bounced back in a big way, winning 25-14, 25-14, 20-25, 25-13 to advance to the state tournament for the 13th time overall after being upset in this round a year ago as the top seed.