Falcons blast past Panthers to sectionals

PLYMOUTH – The Sheboygan Falls Falcons claimed their fourth consecutive WIAA Division 2 regional volleyball title, with a 3-0 sweep of the Plymouth Panthers Saturday, Oct. 24, at Plymouth High School.

Falls, which has faced Plymouth three out of the last four years in the regional final, came up victorious once again on game scores of 25-13, 25-17 and 25-16.

With the big victory, the Falcons improved their record to 23-11 overall.

The Falcons advance to the WIAA Division 2 sectional semi-final match against Kettle Moraine Lutheran Thursday, Oct. 29 at Grafton. Lutheran blanked Falls 3-0 in last year’s sectional semifinal match.

“Our team was focused and aggressive tonight,” said Falcons coach Deb Hasler. “They wanted to beat Plymouth bad. Losing was not an option.”

The Falcon ladies remembered losing 3-0 to Panthers in Eastern Wisconsin Conference action earlier this season.

“The loss was defiantly on our minds,” said Falcon senior Lauren Carman, a three-year varsity player. “It’s great to have been a part of this team and being regional champs every year.”

Falcons senior Alyse Hucke has also been a part of the Falcons success.

“We played really well tonight. We came out focused,” said Hucke.

Carman made some key kills in the first game, as Falls scored eight of the last nine points to notch a convincing 25-13 victory.

In the second game, the Falcons shot out to a 9-3 lead, but Plymouth cut the lead to 10-8 and 13-11 with some good stops from Emily Cecka and Michelle Hilke. However, Falls recovered to win the game 25-17.

Falcons junior Leslie Stadler came up with some huge kills to lead her squad back in the third game. Falls jumped out to a 6-1 lead, with some key serving from junior Cassie Quirt in game three.

The Panthers again made a big rally to close the score to 10-9, but Falls junior Brooke Buehler and freshman Staci Hasler made some big plays in the front line to lift the Falcons to a 25-16 victory to take the match.

“It was a battle,” said Panthers coach Peggy Huhn. “It was a tough regional and we knew that it wouldn’t be easy.

“We made too many mental mistakes and never got into a rhythm,” she said.

Falls was led by Hasler with 12-of-13 serving, three aces and had 28 assists. Quirt was 14-of-15 serving, with one service ace. Carman made 10 kills and Buehler had nine. Stadler led with three blocks and Hucke made 17 digs.

The Falcons were challenged early by the Chilton Tigers in round two of the Division 2 regional playoffs Friday, Oct. 23.

The Tigers came out strong to take game one 25-18.

Falls rallied back to win the next three games 25-17, 25-17 and 25-23 and notch a 3-1 match triumph.

Chilton had the edge early in the night by taking game one. The Tigers led 22-18 in the second game, but the Tigers committed four unforced errors to let the game slip away.

“That was an exciting comeback in game four,” stated coach Hasler. “We were able to get it together. The girls didn’t want a fifth game.”

“They hit us hard in that first game,” said Quirt. “Yeah, we didn’t want to go to five games.”

“We didn’t know much about Chilton,” said Buehler. “We started to play as a team after that.”

Buehler led the Falcons with 22-of-22 serving, four aces and 10 kills. Freshman Nicole Fenner was 20- of-20 serving, while Hasler had 30 assists and Hucke, Buehler and Quirt collected 18 digs each. In addition, Stadler had four blocks and eight kills.

Falls blew by the Mayville Cardinals to post a 3-0 shutout in first-round regional playoff action. The Falcons won the match on scores of 25-17, 25-21 and 25-20.

In each game, the Falcons controlled the scoring momentum, while Mayville struggled on receptions.

“We did what we needed to do,” remarked coach Hasler. “Our outside hitters did a fantastic job. Abby Grossen had a big night with 12 kills.”

Buehler led the Falcons in serving with 13-of-13 and four aces, to go along with 14 kills. Fenner was 18- of-19 serving, while Hasler posted 32 assists and Hucke made 19 digs.

“I feel the girls are peaking better at this point than last season,” commented Hasler.