ONALASKA — The Onalaska Luther High School volleyball team hasn’t won a share of the Coulee Conference championship in 17 years.
The Knights shared the title with West Salem back in 2008 and have struggled to stay near the top of the standings consistently ever since.
Luther jumped up to second place last year and have hovered in the top couple of spots all of this season. A piece of the championship is still in play, but Luther will need some help after a four-set loss to Westby on Tuesday.
The Knights are 8-3 with one match remaining against Viroqua (8-3). The Norsemen completed their conference schedule by beating the Knights and are 9-3. West Salem is 9-2 with one match remaining at Black River Falls (1-10). It is likely that the Panthers beat the Tigers and win outright but expect Luther to be ready for the Blackhawks in case of upset.
“You have to play good competition to get better, and Westby did a great job tonight,” Luther coach Dan Larson said after his team won the first set before losing the next three. “They have always been a good program, and our conference is always really tight and tough.
“It’s good to be part of all that to make our team better.”
The Knights have won 16 of 26 matches overall and own wins over teams like Cuba City, Viroqua, Aquinas and West Salem. Westby was a tough puzzle to solve, but that’s been the case for many teams in recent years.
Larson said the pieces to succeed were there when the season began, and it was a matter of finding the best ways for them to work together.
The Knights were without some attack options from the previous season, but having senior Kayla Schiebel and freshman Audrey Clark back was a great start. Transitioning to a new setter would be one challenge and sorting the defense with the return of Clark, junior Addie Schaper and senior Kamryn Anderson another.
Schaper became the setter and Anderson at libero to provide stability to use a pretty deep set of hitters led by Schiebel. Schaper has averaged 8.1 assists per set and Anderson 11.3 digs per match.
“I do like the depth,” Larson said. “The nice thing, too, is that the majority of them are sophomores.”
Schiebel leads the team with 2.8 kills per set, and Clark has contributed 2.3. But sophomores Cara Unke and Tessa Gloede have been other reliable options at the net with their per-set averages of 2.1 and 1.8 kills, too. Unke and Clark, in fact, lead the team in kill attempts.
Larson pointed out serving and passing as aspects of the game that have improved the most throughout this season. Schaper leads the team with 51 service aces, and Anderson and sophomore Carsyn Krause have added 31 each.
“The serving has picked up, and our passing has gotten a lot better,” Larson said.
Luther has five wins in its past seven matches going into the battle at home against Viroqua on Thursday.
