JJ’s Match of the Week: Brookfield Central at Sussex
To go along with my tournament coverage I will be making stops at various high schools across Southeastern Wisconsin for my “Match of the Week”. While I would love to travel the state for storyline worthy matches, residing in Wauwatosa…
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Continue ReadingTo go along with my tournament coverage I will be making stops at various high schools across Southeastern Wisconsin for my “Match of the Week”. While I would love to travel the state for storyline worthy matches, residing in Wauwatosa will keep my focus in that general area. These write ups will be posted in the morning or early afternoon the day after the event. They will be including starting line ups, summary of each set with scores, each teams statistical leaders (if provided), and can overall recap of the match.
This week we start with a match that has huge implications on the Greater Metro Conference and Sectional 5 seedings. Scott Spiess and his Brookfield Lancers traveled to Sussex Hamilton to take on Traci Buhr’s Chargers. The pre-season conference and state favorites in Brookfield Central start conference play with a tough match up. Sussex and BC squared off last weekend at the Joust with the Lancers coming out on top in straight sets. Hamilton was easing Kaitlyn Lefler (Illinois State) and Riley Dahlquist (Prep Dig #15) back into the rotation last weekend, both will be key to a Chargers upset. McKenna Wucherer (Minnesota) will look for Maddie Weyker (Bemidji State) and their middles to shoulder some of the burden offensively in their quest to start the season 1-0 in GMC play.
Starting Line Ups
Brookfield Central |
Sussex Hamilton |
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#8 Maddie Weyker (Prep Dig #35) | #1 Janelle Stuempfig (Prep Dig #41) | ||
#11 Isabella Ledezma | #3 Ava Rebarchik (Kentucky Wesleyan) | ||
#12 Abby Wucherer (Southern Utah) | #7 Jessica Bagley (Prep Dig #177) | ||
#13 Morgan Daugherty (Prep Dig #4) | #11 Kayla Lewinski (Prep Dig #31) | ||
#14 McKenna Wucherer (Minnesota) | #13 Kaitlyn Lefler (Illinois State) | ||
#15 Tatum Kebisek (Prep Dig #26) | #16 Lakyn Graves (Prep Dig #32) | ||
Libero: | #5 – Cat Uczen | Libero: | #12 Megan Hawthorne (Prep Dig #90) |
**Rankings are within their respective graduation class**
Set 1
The first set started as a back and forth affair until McKenna Wucherer was able to keep the Chargers out of system for a 6 point service run. Rebarchik played a huge role in end Lancer runs throughout the set. A big block kill gave Sussex the serve at 4-8. Followed by another to end another 5 point run at 14-20. Graves also played a huge role keeping this set close with big swings in pivotal moments. However the 6 kills by McKenna proved to be too much as BC took Set 1 21-25.
Set 2
The second set would be much of the same for both sides. Sussex this time took the first lead using both middles early and often. Down 7-5 BC sent Abby Wucherer back to serve for the ever so stressful no libero lineup. However Wucherer kept the Chargers out of system and led her Lancers on a 5 point run to bring the score to 7-10. Both teams went back and forth until Meghan Hawthorne stepped back to serve down 13-14. Big middle play was again the difference as Hawthorne goes off for a 9 point run before Maddie Weyker terminates on the pin, 22-15 Sussex. Stuempfig finished an impressive set win with an ace, Chargers win 25-16.
Set 3
The crowd started to come alive after the teams split the first two sets. Junior Charger Night led to the stands being flooded with red t-shirts for the home team pushing BC fans to a small section against the side wall. Weyker opened the set with 2 aces and a 5 point run. After being down 1-7 the Chargers fought back to 6-9 on the shoulder of Graves in the middle. But that is the closest the set would be for its remainder. Aggressive serving had every BC serving go on runs of at least 3 before Sussex was able to side out. Sussex brought it back within 3 at 13-16 which led to Coach Spiess using his first time out of the set. McKenna Wucherer had a fairly quiet set until after that time out where she then led the offense with multiple kills to a 17-25 victory.
Set 4
Coach Buhr switched her line up a bit to get Megan Hawthorne on the outside, which enabled her to play middle back defense. However BC came out with some energy from their fans and pushed Sussex to an early 1-5 deficit. Serve receive got a little inconsistent for BC for a stretch allowing Hamilton to fight back to 7-7. The Lancers would go on 3 point runs the next two rotations with Sussex responding each time leading to an 18-18 score late. Weyker and M. Wucherer had 3 straight kills to give BC a 18-21 lead and cause a Sussex time out. But Kayla Lewinski quickly responded with a kill, followed by a Katelyn Lefler ace brought the set to 20-21. The overhead curtain took away a big middle-blocker dig by Abby Wucherer and gave the Chargers the serve at 21-23. A back row hitting error, and BC overpass took Set 4 to 23-23. Unfortunately for Sussex, miscommunication with the offense and then a Morgan Daugherty kill put the match away with the final 23-25 in favor of Brookfield Central.
Statistical Leaders
Brookfield Central |
Sussex Hamilton |
||
Kills | McKenna Wucherer – 21 | Kills | Lakyn Graves – 10 |
Digs | McKenna Wucherer – 13 | Digs | Kaitlyn Lefler – 16 |
Assists | Tatum Kebisek – 40 | Assists | Janelle Stuempfig – 29 |
Aces | Abby Wucherer – 6 | Aces | Multiple with 2 |
Blocks | Ava Rebarchik – 5 |
Brookfield Central 3 – Sussex Hamilton 1
(25-21) (16-25) (25-17) (25-23)
Brookfield Central walked into a packed Hamilton gym with a big target on their back. Everyone knew McKenna was going to get her kills, the Chargers just couldn’t let the rest of the offense beat them. Aggressive serving did just that keeping the Lancers to a .163 hitting percentage as a team. The biggest difference makers for both teams were their middles. In high school you are allotted more substitutions than club so you will often see someone serve for the middle. Abby Wucherer did her own serving and seemed to go on extended runs every time she went back to the service line. While she only had 3 kills on 15 attempts, she finished the match with an impressive 6 aces. When Ava Rebarchik and Lakyn Graves were able to touch the ball it often led to a Chargers point. Each time a Lancer run was ended, one of those two seemed to be the cause. They were number 1 and 2 on the team in both blocks and kills.
Ava Rebarchik with Kayla Lewinski
In the end Sussex threw everything they had at BC and just came up short. This will surely turn into a learning experience for both programs. The Lancers will not always play their best volleyball, but if they stick together and put forth max effort they are not out of any match. Sussex may have injuries and a rotating line up, but they can compete with the best in the state playing with heart. Both teams should walk away with some confidence gained after this GMC match up. Brookfield Central has off this weekend and goes to their home court next week against Wauwatosa East. While Sussex heads to New Trier’s hosted event in Illinois Friday and Saturday before they go to DSHA next Tuesday.