Falcons soar to County Classic crown

SHEBOYGAN – “We have arrived,” exclaimed Sheboygan Falls Falcon senior Cassie Quirt as she raised the Sheboygan County Classic trophy high in the air.

Quirt said it all, after helping lead her team to its first County Classic girls volleyball title since 1997 Saturday at the Sheboygan South Field House.

Falls had finished second place in 2006 and 2008, but this time the girls wanted it all and finished in an exciting comeback championship win over Oostburg 23-25, 25-16 and 15-13.

“I had faith in this team all day. I knew we could do it,” said Quirt. “We are just starting to put it all together as a team now.”

After falling behind losing the first game to Oostburg, Falls rallied to win the second game with some inspired front line play.

In the final rally scoring game, the Falcons fell behind 10-5. After they cut the lead to 13-12, freshman Nicole Fenner finished off the Flying Dutchmen with three great serves for the win.

“I was nervous, but I knew I had to make good serves and the team was behind me,” said Fenner.

Plymouth, Howards Grove and Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah also competed in the tournament with none of them advancing to the semifinals. The top-two teams from pools A and B moved into the semifinals.

PHS finished fourth in Pool B with a 2-3 match record. Howards took third in Pool A at 2-3 and Elkhart was last at 0-5. Sheboygan Lutheran won Pool A at 5-0 and Sheboygan North took Pool B at 5-0.

“Somewhat of a rough weekend for us,” said PHS head coach Peggy Huhn. “We came out slow against Oostburg then struggled a bit with North, and lost in three.

“We did get better as the day went on, the girls did a good job of pulling together and fighting through the game to the finish.”

Plymouth statistical leaders were unavailable at press time.

The Howards Tigers played Falls tough, losing only 23-25, 19-25.

“We were up 17-9 against Sheboygan Falls and took Sheboygan Lutheran to three tough games [Tigers fell 25-15, 19-25, 13-15],” said Tiger head coach Brett Damrow.

“If there is such a thing, our losses were good ones. We have gained a lot of confidence and understand that we can compete against the top teams in the area.”

The Tigers’ leaders in statistics for the tourney included: Kasey Latham, assists with 62; Ali Benning, spike kills, 35, digs with 27 and blocks at five; and Emily Schuh in ace serves with 12.

Despite Elkhart going winless, head coach Terri Huether saw bright spots.

“Throughout the course of the day, the girls showed improvement,” Huether said.

“The best match of the day for us was against Sheboygan Christian. We were able to set up our offense on several occasions. Now we have to work on finishing a volley.”

The Resorters lost to Christian, 22-25, 14-25. Elkhart’s statistical leaders were Beth Merten in assists with eight and digs, 14; Katie Starnitcky and Abbey Neils, spike kills, four each; Starnitcky and Katelyn Winkel, ace serves at three apiece; and Morgan Voigtlander, assists, with six.

The Falcons advanced to the semifinal round with a 4-1 record, finishing second place in pool play. Oostburg also was second in its pool.

“We have come so close while I’ve been here,” said Falcons coach Deb Hasler. “Yes we have arrived. Everyone played an important role today. They all stepped up.”

Falls defeated Sheboygan North 25-18, 16-25 and 15-10 to advance to the title game. Oostburg made the title match with a sweep against Lutheran.