HOLMEN — High school volleyball teams don’t set out to have undefeated regular seasons.
Schedules are long and can be grueling. Injuries are hard to avoid. Off nights happen.
With two recent appearances in the WIAA Division 1 state tournament, Holmen is also in the position to challenge itself to take another step forward in the state landscape.
So there was a lot of significance when the Vikings swept Logan in the regular-season finale on Oct. 16.
Twenty-nine wins and no losses. That didn’t happen for any other school in the state this fall.
The Vikings had stood up to every challenge, used their depth and experience to find ways to win and had the kind of season they knew they could have.
But they’ve celebrated all of that and spent the past week getting ready for much more important matches for a magnificent senior class that is making its last run together.
The postseason starts Saturday with a regional championship matchup with seventh-seeded Monona Grove at the Bernie L. Ferry Fieldhouse. The second-seeded Vikings will try to add to their 29-0 record with another big performance in a match that begins at 7 p.m.
“Obviously, everyone is in good spirits,” Holmen coach Nick Rose said. “But I’m the one going home with an ulcer.
“No losses is great, but it’s also a little scary.”
Scary is what the prospects have become for any team lined up across the net from Holmen.
The Vikings, who are ranked fifth in Division 1 by the Wisconsin Volleyball Coaches Association, have lost three sets this season and none since a four-set win over Central on Sept. 4. They also dropped one set to Fox Valley Lutheran — ranked third in Division 2 — and one to West De Pere (28-7) during the same tournament in Grand Chute, Wis.
If there is pressure that accompanies all of that, Rose said it isn’t reaching the players.
“This week was no different than last week or the previous week,” Rose said. “There are smiles on their faces.
“They understand that they’ve already done a really good job, and they are just taking one match at a time.”
But they also play like they have more to prove. The Vikings are scrappy, smooth and focused when working together. They are so familiar with each other and the task to be accomplished with each serve that it looks easy.
That’s made possible by the cast of characters that Rose can put on the court.
UW-Green Bay commit Macy Kline and senior outside hitter Charley Casey are players everyone in the area knows.
Kline’s ability as a libero might be unrivaled in the area or the state, and Casey’s power and accuracy create a sensible target for senior setter Makenna McHugh.
Casey leads the team in kills with 221, but senior Hadley Teff (146), junior Moira Linse (137) and senior Brenna Schmidt (129) help opponents never really know where the attack is coming from.
Teff, who plays on the right side, has become a bigger part of Holmen’s attack in recent weeks.
“When you have a great right side, that’s hard to stop,” Rose said. “The outsides get the majority of the chances, but Hadley has really picked up her consistency.
“Having her on the right side really helps.”
While the Vikings are looking at the tournament one match at a time, Rose is excited for the school to host the sectional semifinal round on Thursday. Beating Monona Grove gets the Vikings into that doubleheader. Central has to beat top-seeded and fourth-ranked Waunakee on Saturday to qualify, and Onalaska needs to beat fifth-seeded Middleton on Saturday to get there.
The first semifinal match that day begins at 5 p.m. with the second to follow at 7 p.m.
“It’s very exciting because we potentially can be there,” Rose said. “When we won the sectional in Onalaska last year, that was like a home match, and we have a great group of people that comes to watch.”
