HOLMEN — Holmen High School senior Charley Casey said tempo and a fast start to Saturday night’s WIAA Division 1 regional championship volleyball match against Monona Grove was going to be important.
The Vikings have spent their season identifying keys to victory and following up on them, so it was no surprise to see that come to fruition at the Bernie L. Ferry Fieldhouse.
Second-seeded Holmen took advantage of having Casey at the net early and often to make that happen and pave the way for a dominant 25-15, 25-20, 25-13 win over seventh-seeded Monona Grove.
“We wanted to speed things up and focus on our side of the court,” Casey said. “When they threw something at us, we just changed things up.
“We wanted to come out fast and make a statement tonight.”
The Vikings (30-0), who hadn’t played since closing out the season nine days ago, didn’t miss a beat in setting the tone and letting the Silver Eagles (17-21) know who was in charge.
Holmen had three players reach double figures in kills and controlled just about every aspect of the matchup on the way to winning its fifth straight regional.
The match was about the Vikings checking off boxes and qualifying for a sectional semifinal on their home court five days from now. Holmen will host third-seeded DeForest in the second of two semifinals on Thursday. Fourth-seeded Onalaska (21-9) plays top-seeded Waunakee (38-8) in the first match at 5 p.m.
After completing an unbeaten regular season and winning the MVC, a regional championship was up next on the list of goals.
“We definitely didn’t want to overlook them because they had the potential to be a good team, but we had our confidence,” senior Macy Line said. “We’ve worked hard for this.
“This was a confidence check for us, and we came together pretty well for it.”
Holmen, which is ranked fifth in Division 1 by the Wisconsin Volleyball Coaches Association, used its assortment of weapons at the net to earn its spot in the sectional.
Senior Brenna Schmidt had a team-high 13 kills, while Casey and junior Moira Linse added 10 apiece. Casey and Linse were also big parts of a block that made its presence known throughout the match.
Kline and senior Makenna McHugh each had 10 digs, and McHugh and senior Sadie Mayer both had 18 assists.
Casey was an integral part of the fast start and had a block and a couple of key kills in the third set. Schmidt finished the match with a kill and had two straight aces to help the Vikings pull away in the third.
Getting the chance to play another game in front of a home crowd was also motivation for Holmen.
“That’s the best part,” Kline said. “We have an amazing support group in the stands every time we play here.
“We really appreciate that because it’s huge for us.”
