HOLMEN — The Holmen High School volleyball team just completed a pretty important five-day stretch in its season and probably handled it better than anyone — maybe even the players themselves –could have expected.
Beating Aquinas in three sets at the Bernie L. Ferry Fieldhouse in front of a boisterous crowd on Tuesday night was certainly impressive, but the Vikings are confident they can reclaim the MVC title that the Blugolds ripped away from them last season.
Holmen is experienced, talented and deep. That has resulted in plenty of success locally over the past eight years, and that is reflected by its 73-15 conference record and five outright or co-championships since the start of the 2017 season.
But a bigger picture is now in play after making its first two appearances at the WIAA Division 1 state tournament. Holmen is trying to expand its reputation, and a weekend performance at the 32-team Beast of the Northeast in Grand Chute will help that that effort.
The Vikings beat all seven opponents at the two-day competition — only two pushed them to a third set — and knocked off some impressive programs along the way with a group that is understanding how to win better with each match it plays.
“It was huge,” Holmen coach Nicky Rose said. “It was almost like winning the sectional last year.
“We knew we were playing well, but then we won one and another and another, and it just kept going.”
The Vikings put a dangerous team on the court, but teams from this area have always had a fair amount of trouble winning big matchups with teams outside it.
That has started to change with deep tournament runs by Aquinas, Holmen, Caledonia and West Salem, but the Vikings (9-0 overall, 2-0 MVC) are in position to ramp up that success after beating a couple of teams ranked in their division’s top 10 by the Wisconsin Volleyball Coaches Association.
Holmen received honorable mention in Division 1, but it beat sixth-ranked Fox Valley Lutheran (Division 2) on the way to a championship win over third-ranked Mosinee (Division 2). The Vikings needed three sets to beat the Foxes but took care of the Indians 25-20, 25-19.
“It’s a big deal because I think it gives us a lot of confidence,” senior libero Macy Kline said. “It makes us realize that we are capable of so much more than our minds let us think.
“The hard work we put in shows when we play like that, and I think we know how to step up to the challenge of playing a great team. We can meet them at that high level.”
While the Vikings showed off their hitting depth and wicked success with the serve in beating Aquinas — the Division 3 state runner-up and MVC champ last season — by scores of 25-17, 25-15, 25-21 on Tuesday, Kline was a critical piece to the winning puzzle with her dives to the floor and control of many spikes that would have led to points against another team.
The Blugolds have at their disposal senior hitter Sammy Davis, and she has one of the most powerful swings that can be found at the net. Aquinas set her up repeatedly, and she finished with just nine kills, mostly because of Kline and her 19 digs.
“Sammy is an amazing hitter,” said Kline, a UW-Green Bay commit. “She kept coming across at me, and I like that challenge. She’s an amazing player, and I love playing against her.”
Rose, while happy her team withstood the challenge that Davis presented, said watching that unfold added tremendously to the match.
“I said at one point to Macy, ‘She’s going after you,'” Rose said with a smile. “She said, ‘I know.’ That was kind of fun, right? Two great players.”
Holmen showed its hitting depth with 11 kills from senior Brenna Schmidt, six from senior Charley Casey and four from junior Moira Linse, and Linse anchored the serving attack with six aces.
The Blugolds only led briefly a few times, and Kline broke her team away from a 16-16 tie by serving seven straight points — one of them an ace — in the first set.
Aquinas also had a 14-9 lead in the third set before Holmen scored before a 7-1 run capped by a Schmidt kill to take the lead for good.
“We have a lot of hitters, but we work together to find who might be on or who is hitting the right tempo ball for us to get a kill on the other side,” said Casey, who leads the team with 56 kills and is followed by Schmidt (39), Linse (36) and senior Hadley Teff (36). “Especially a first-ball kill, which really gets our offense going. We work with whoever is on.”
It was a good way to follow up a big weekend filled with big victories. Kline and Casey were thrilled with the tournament victory and seemed especially happy about the 25-16, 18-25, 15-12 win over Fox Valley Lutheran.
“They had a really big front row and a very good back row,” Casey said of the Foxes. “We had to find our way around that block along with the back row, so it challenged us to use some different shots and find ways to score.”
