GREEN BAY — The Onalaska Luther High School volleyball team had trouble getting on track Thursday morning at the Resch Center.
Top-seeded Watertown Luther Prep was thrilled to take advantage of that and posted a 25-17, 25-20, 25-13 victory over the fourth-seeded Knights in a WIAA Division 3 state semifinal.
“Luther Prep is a super team that was really good with its serving and keeping us out of system,” Onalaska Luther coach Dan Larson said. “Staying is system more would have helped us, and we probably could have done a better job with serve-receive, but that can be an adjustment in a new place and big place like that.”
The Phoenix (37-3) advanced to their first championship on Saturday afternoon, and Luther — making its first state WIAA appearance — had its season end with a 21-11 record.
Sophomore Audrey Clark had a team-high eight kills, and sophomore Cara Unke added seven, but the Knight finished the match with 26 kills and 21 errors for an attack percentage of .050. Luther had six kills and six attack errors in the first set.
The Knights enjoyed their most successful stretch in the second set. A four-point run capped by a kill from Clark gave them a 7-5 advantage and they let the lead slip away just once before another run midway through the set.
A kill from sophomore Tessa Gloede was followed by another from Unke and a service ace by Clark. That gave Luther a 14-10 lead that was maintained for several points. Another kill by Clark made it 18-15 before the Phoenix seized control.
Luther Prep scored 10 of the final 12 points for the 25-20 victory.
“Obviously, they fought the entire time,” Larson said of his players. “But (that stretch that produced those leads) was nice. We had some good momentum, and our passing was a little better.
“I think (Luther Prep) also let off the aggressive serving, and that helped us get back into what we wanted to do.”
The Phoenix then scored 14 of the first 16 points in the third set for a dominant finish. Sophomore Lorelei Candler had 12 kills, 21 assists and nine digs for Luther Prep. Emma Neyhart and Lydia Vasold had nine lkills each, and Neyhart led the way with five blocks.
Junior Addie Schaper had a team-high 19 assists and senior Marlie Krause a team-high 11 digs. Sophomore Carsyn Krause added eight digs and senior Kayla Schiebel five kills for Luther, which gained some valuable experience.
“It’s super exciting because there is a lot of potential for the future,” Larson said. “We had some really good senior leadership this year, and for this group to have the opportunity to come here has been great.”
