Ozaukee takes second in silver bracket

The Ozaukee High School girls’ volleyball team is starting to hit its stride late in the season.

The Warriors went 4-1 in the Silver Bracket of the Big East Conference Tournament in Appleton on Saturday.

Ozaukee beat Hilbert, 25-19, 20-25, 15-4;  Sheboygan Lutheran, 25-23, 25-23; Random Lake, 25-20, 25-18; and Reedsville, 25-20, 25-17.

Ozaukee lost to Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah, 25-13, 15-15.

“Minus the last match vs. Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah, we played some of our best volleyball all season,” coach Amy Barnes said.

“We were able to take care of business against teams we had already beaten and able to get one back from Reedsville after losing to them a few weeks ago. We served really tough, which helped us a lot. We had really good net play from our hitters and took advantage of what they were giving us in terms of hitting.”

In the gold bracket, Cedar Grove-Belgium was swept by Manitowoc Lutheran, 25-18, 27-25, 25-20; beat Kohler, 25-13, 25-22, 22-25, 25-14; and was swept by Oostburg, 25-18, 25-20, 25-22.

“Mia Grisolono and Lauren Lueth were our top players from this weekend,” coach Cailey Jeske-Winker said. 

“Lauren was our best player offensively. Defensively, Mia Grisolono was our best passer and was a vocal leader throughout the day to push our team to be its best.”

Jeske-Winker also highlighted another player.

“Haeley Schmit also had a great day on Saturday. She is a sophomore who splits her time between junior varsity and varsity,” she said.

“She had a good amount of playing time this weekend and was a great block at the net for us and hit consistently on the right side to earn herself a lot of playing time. She kept her composure as a young player during tough matches, and we could rely on her, which is amazing for a young player who only gets partial playing time on varsity.”

Ozaukee, 16-14 overall, plays in a triangular at Central Wisconsin Christian on Thursday, Oct. 16.

The Warriors got a 6 seed in the Division 4 tournament and hosts 11 Milwaukee Juneau on Tuesday, Oct. 21. The winner plays at No. 3 Kenosha St. Joseph Catholic on Thursday, Oct. 23.

The playoff seed for the Rockets, 13-11 overall, hadn’t been released as of Tuesday, Oct. 14.