Championship for Lasers is a first
BURLINGTON — This is a golden generation of boys volleyball players for Kettle Moraine.
It culminated in the Lasers claiming the first WIAA gold ball in school history.
Kettle Moraine’s mix of size and power-hitting overwhelmed previously unbeaten Marquette, 25-20, 25-13, 21-25, 25-14, on Saturday in the final match of a volleyball season unlike any other. The Lasers navigated through all the travails to celebrate the state championship on the court at Burlington High School.
“We won the conference championship in middle school,” said 6-foot-5 senior Matthew Schopf. “It wasn’t much of a championship. And since then it’s been our goal to win a state championship. The hard work paid off.”
Schopf had 12 kills and fellow senior Jacob Malak had 18 to lead the Lasers (17-2).
“When you have one guy working hard and hitting the ball hard, everybody is going to want to mirror that and for us that’s been Jacob Malak,” Schopf said. “It’s just continued and we all wanted to be as good as Jacob.”
The 6-foot-2 Malak is the guy who began putting the pieces together.
“I started in sixth grade,” he said. “And then I got Brandon (Morton), our setter, to play in eighth grade. And it just clicked.
“Nathan (Dishaw) joined, our libero. Then we got Matthew Schopf, our middle. And we all grew as friends and as family. I couldn’t have done it with a better group of guys.”
This was the final chance for the group to capitalize on its goal.
“I saw my group of seniors and I’m like, ‘This is the year where we could get a state champion,’” Malak said. “And I just knew where it could come into play. From the tryouts to the first practice, this whole team laid their effort out. I couldn’t wish for a better team and I love these guys.”
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, there was a chance that the season could have been moved to the spring. But with players and coaches wearing masks, and the state tournament moving from the Resch Center in Ashwaubenon to Burlington, the sport navigated through the chaos to the end.
“These kids had hope,” Kettle Moraine coach Tom Gulak said. “Because there was so much indecision when we started.
“But as the season started going and it’s like, ‘We’re still playing. We’re still playing.’ If we had not had a season, the kids would have been like, ‘Well, now we have to wait until spring. We have to wait for club season.’ So every day there was that genuine hope and kids would come to practice. We had more conference games during the week. We just didn’t have tournaments.”
The only losses for the Lasers this season came against Classic Eight Conference foe Catholic Memorial. But Kettle Moraine finally got revenge on its rival in the sectional final, advancing to the state tournament for the second straight season.
Last year, the Lasers fell to eventual champion Kimberly in the quarterfinals.
This year as the second-seeded team in the state tournament, Kettle Moraine earned a bye. They swept past New Berlin United in the semifinals to set up a date in the finals a few hours later with the Hilltoppers, who have made 19 straight state appearances.
“I said, ‘This is fun,’” Gulak said. “This is where you want to be, playing a good team to determine who the best team is in the state. You don’t want to be playing a team that got in by accident. The right two teams were here.”
Gulak knew Kettle Moraine would give Marquette (16-1) a battle.
“The ball is going to be put up and someone is going to swing smart,” he said. “They’re always thinking offense. Blocking is big because we’re a big team. Defense ... we had the right pieces on defense. I did lots of subbing to put the right kids in the back row. I thought we matched up well.”
How long has Gulak known this group was special?
“I’ve had these kids since about seventh grade,” he said. “And they were passionate about volleyball. And the right offseason, playing volleyball. I knew we had some size. I knew we had the right mix, we got 15 kids who can practice well. We just never knew how this was going to look. I think they knew they could get here.”
After a wild season, Kettle Moraine finally had its state championship.
“We started in the fall,” Malak said. “And we were like ‘OK, whatever happens, we’re going to put in our effort on the court and we’re going for that gold ball.’
“Everything clicked and we got it.”