Pirates’ volleyball hopes for a banner year

The goal for the Port Washington High School volleyball team is clear this season.

It’s literally clear.

“We set it when I took over the program ­— we’ve got a blank conference championship banner in our gym,” third-year coach Paul Jungbauer said.

This year, he may have the team to do it.

Port returns outside hitter Jennacy Wille and middle blocker Elyse Karrels, who both were chosen to the North Shore Conference second team last season, along with the Pirates’ third and fourth top attackers.

Middle hitter Rebecca Sepanic is also back, along with outside hitter Carolyn Lippe.

Sophomore Lillian Merow, who is more than six feet tall, serves as another effective middle hitter. Karrels stands 5 feet, 10 inches, but “she plays much bigger, sometimes like she’s 6-3 or 6-4,” Jungbauer said.

Senior setter Sydney Hoeft, in her fourth year on varsity, is keeping defenses off guard by getting everyone involved.

“She has been doing a fantastic job of keeping our offense balanced and spreading the ball around, and that has been a huge part of our success,” Jungbauer said.

On defense, Ariana Canseco, who had limited experience on varsity last season, joins Cali Schultz, a sophomore new to varsity.

They replace Amira Szczepanski, who earned NSC honorable mention at libero  and is playing in college.

“There will be learning curves. Ari and Cali have been doing a good job,” Jungbauer said.

The conference, he said, is more evenly matched than last year. Six of the nine NSC first team players graduated, including several from defending champion Cedarburg, which Port beat in its final conference match last year.

Jungbauer said Slinger is young and talented, Hartford is a solid team and West Bend West has good ball control and is scrappy.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if three of us were conference champs at the end,” he said, adding six of the 10 NSC teams last season were either 5-4 or 4-5.

Port already has two conference sweeps under its belt — one at Whitefish Bay, which has NSC first team outside hitter Zoe Behrendt, and over West Bend East last Thursday, 25-14, 25-21, 25-21.

Against East, Wille and Karrels each had seven kills. Lippe had four, and Sepanic and Merow each had three.

Karrels had four blocks. Hoeft had 26 assists. Lippe had nine digs, Schultz and Hoeft each had seven, and Canseco and Wille each had five.

Maya Haug and Lilly Bandle each had eight kills for East. Briana Schauble had five blocks. Paige Harter had 20 assists, and Ava Tolfa had 18 digs.

Two early tournaments helped challenge the Pirates.

“We definitely have kind of picked up where we left off, but we also increased the difficulty of our nonconfernece schedule early on,” Jungbauer said.

“We’ve had some very good quality wins and have definitely been competing and learning along the way as well.”

Port won the silver bracket title at a New Berlin West tournament with its only loss to Waukesha West.

Last weekend in Germantown, Port was shorthanded and went 2-3. The Pirates beat Notre Dame, 12-25, 13-25, 15-12; and Slinger, 12-25, 25-14, 15-12.

They battled hard with Pewaukee, ranked No. 2 in Division 2 in the state and the team that ended Port’s season last year. Pewaukee won, 25-21, 22-25, 15-10.

Port also lost to Kaukauna, 25-13, 20-25, 15-11; and ran out of gas at the end of the day to Germantown, 25-18, 25-11.

Jungbauer praised sophomore Abby Zirbes, “who held her own and grew along the way.”

Port was to play at Nicolet on Tuesday, Sept. 13, at a Wauwatosa West tournament on Saturday, Sept. 17, and host Slinger on Tuesday, Sept. 20.

Grafton nearly comes all the way back

Grafton fell behind at home last Thursday to Cedarburg, 25-18, 25-20, before mounting a comeback, tying the match with 25-21, 25-19 wins. The Bulldogs prevailed in the fifth set, 15-12.

Black Hawk senior Leah Maciejewski had nine kills, sophomore Anna Holzer had eight and junior Ella Johnston-Fodor had seven.

Junior middle blocker Avery Smith had six blocks, and Maciejewski, Johnston-Fodor and senior Kaitlin Mangan each had three.

Senior Grace Viesselmann had 23 digs. Maciejewski had 17, Kaitlin Muecke and Allison Viesselmann each had 11, and Johnston-Fodor had 10.

Muecke had 27 assists.

For Cedarburg, Cassidy Gall had 12 kills and Kathryn Peterson and Ashley Lecavalier each had seven. Jae Fitting had 32 digs. Sarah Prom and Evelyn Jones each had 15 assists.

In a tournament on Saturday, Grafton went 2-3. The Hawks beat Campbellsport, 2-0; and Monona Grove, 2-1. They lost to Holmen, 2-1; Beaver Dam, 2-1; and Hortonville, 2-0.

Grafton was to play at Whitefish Bay on Tuesday, Sept. 13, and host a tournament on Saturday. The Hawks host West Bend East on Tuesday, Sept. 20.

CG-Belgium lets one get away

Cedar Grove-Belgium had Sheboygan Christian nearly beat on the road last Thursday, but they couldn’t put the Crusaders away.

After winning, 25-22, 25-11, they lost, 27-25, 26-24, 15-8.

“They obviously just thought they could cruise past them. It was a hard lesson,” coach Sharon Stellwagen said.

The Rockets were up, 22-18, in the third game but the Crusaders went on a 5-0 run and took a 23-22 lead. The Rockets bounced back to take a 24-23 lead before the Crusaders tied it. The Rockets scored the 25th point but the Crusaders rattled off the next three to win.

“It took the wind out of our sails. We tightened up,” Stellwagen said.

Tara Schmitz had 11 kills and Alexis Bahr had 10. Payton Dodson had 33 assists. Schmitz and Lauren Morris each had 19 digs.

Two days later, the Rockets exacted revenge in a tournament at Sheboygan South.

The Rockets beat Sheboygan Christian, 25-14, 25-17.

“They came back. That’s hard for any team, especially at the high school level,” Stellwagen said.

They beat Sheboygan North, 25-19, 25-13; Kohler, 25-13, 25-16; and Sheboygan Lutheran, 25-8, 25-23.

They lost to highly regarded Oostburg, 25-17, 25-16. Stellwagen said Oostburg had one hitter hit over .400, which is off the charts.

The Rockets also lost to Howards Grove, ranked No. 1 in Division 3, 25-18, 25-12.

Stellwagen praised the play of Schmitz, Dodson, Olivia and Alexis Bahr, Kahleah Knight and Katelyn and Lauren Morris.

The Rockets play at Oostburg on Thursday, in a Lomira tournament on Saturday and host Sheboygan Lutheran on Tuesday, Sept. 20.

Ozaukee falls to Lutheran

Ozaukee lost to Sheboygan Lutheran last Thursday, 25-18, 23-25, 25-14, 25-12.

The Warriors play at Random Lake on Thursday, Sept. 15, and host Howards Grove on Tuesday Sept. 20.