GREEN BAY — The Aquinas High School volleyball team inflicted damage wherever it desired as it opened the WIAA Division 3 state tournament on Friday morning.
The Blugolds alternated attackers and took full advantage of some early setting troubles encountered by fourth-seeded Bonduel in a semifinal match at the Resch Center in Green Bay.
The end result was a 25-18, 25-17, 25-16 victory for top-seeded Aquinas, which advances to the championship match on Saturday afternoon with a chance to win its first title after capturing second place in 2019.
“I think it was pretty solid,” Aquinas coach Danielle Dolan said of the performance, which sets up a championship match against second-seeded Barron (36-2) at 2:30 p.m. Saturday. “A big key was our serve and the pass game. They made minimal errors in that and were consistent in serve-receive, and that tends to make or break things for them.”
The Bears (29-5) made a run at the Blugolds (28-4) in the third set after a long set of points served by Tessa Miskowski, but Aquinas recovered to score eight of the final nine points to complete the sweep and end a string of three straight five-set matches.
Miskowski served 11 straight points in the third after Bonduel scored the first point. Her ability all season to make the most of serving opportunities extended to the semifinal, especially during that run.
“Her serving game in general has been a huge piece of our team,” Dolan said of Miskowski. “She is aggressive but keeps the ball in play. She may not come out with 15 aces, but she challenges the team to move to the ball.
“She knows what her job is, and she loves to serve. That’s why I tend to have her be one of our first servers.”
The Bears did get within 17-15 in the third, but junior Sammy Davis had two of her team-high 11 kills down the stretch, and Josephine Lawton ended the match with a service ace.
Davis led a balanced attack at the net while finding ways to make big plays. She had consecutive kills to stretch the Aquinas lead to 23-15 in the third and followed up a kill with a block for two straight points after Bonduel had tied the score at 12 in the first set.
Those points in the first started a five-point run.
“Everyone had to play through the nerves in the first set, but once Sammy gets comfortable, that light’s on, and there’s no stopping her,” Dolan said. “I think you kind of saw relief when she got her first kill.
“Credit to Josie, too, because she was setting a little bit off the net early, but by the third set, she was really finding people in good spots.”
Lawton had 27 assists and tied Miskowski for the team lead with 12 digs. Senior Addy Foor had eight kills and senior Zoe Emineth seven.
Unlike Lawton, the Bears lost opportunities with their sets. Too many of them were sent to the net, where Aquinas blockers awaited and turned them into easy points. Audrey Weier, who had 344 kills entering the match (3.7 per set) had 29 attempts, but was held to seven kills while making seven errors.
Up next is a Barron team that hasn’t lost since Aug. 31 and has a 29-match winning streak. The Golden Bears lost only to St. Croix Central and Eau Claire North on the same day and beat third-seeded Lake Country Lutheran 25-27, 25-22, 19-25, 25-20, 15-10 in the other semifinal on Friday.
Dolan said she peeked at some Barron film during the week and that her team’s three-set victory allowed she and her staff to watch some of the fourth set and all of the fifth on Friday morning.
“I think they are pretty similar to us with a big outside presence and an aggressive setter,” she said. “We will watch some film this afternoon, and I think we’ll be pretty prepped to handle whatever comes.”
