Lake Country Lutheran’s dream comes true
ASHWAUBENON – When the dream becomes a reality, it still doesn’t feel completely real.
“It kind of feels like a fairy tale,” Lake Country Lutheran senior Brooke Andersen said.
It might take a while for it to sink with some of the Lutheran players, but Saturday the program won its first state championship in smashing fashion. After a slow start against Eau Claire Regis, the Lightning put forth a dominating display in a 23-25, 25-12, 25-17, 25-19 victory over the Ramblers in the Division 3 state final at the Resch Center.
The victory culminated of a four-year run in which the program did no worse than reach the sectional final each season and capped a season in which it was ranked No. 1 from start to finish.
After rallying from a 2-1 deficit and multiple match point opportunities by Waterloo in the semifinals Friday, Lake Country Lutheran took a set to settle into the final. Once Lutheran did, there was little Regis could do against the Midwest Classic champion.
Lutheran’s serving got tougher and its defense tighter. The Ramblers hit .360 in the first set but were held to hitting percentages of .167, .022 and .095 in the final three sets. Lutheran’s players, particularly senior libero Jillian Glyzewski, hit the deck many times to make saves that led to Lightning points.
“Jill was all over the court. I thought she did a great job of just picking up everything and never giving up on a play. The back row, Brooke and Jill and Riley (Vaughn), when they can get great digs then we are rolling. It gives us great energy.”
Regis, which reached state for the second time in three seasons, finished 26-7. Senior right-side hitter Sam Bergum led the team in kills (eight).
“We fought hard. That’s the most important thing,” Regis coach Travis Eichner said. “That second set wasn’t us, obviously. We came back and fought out the third. The fourth one we came back, but the whole was a little too much for us.”
Andersen, an Iowa State recruit, finished with 26 kills and hit an impressive .451 Junior outside hitter Jennifer O’Keefe was sharp as well, totaling 18 kills and a .433 hitting percentage.
Bahr said O’Keefe’s play was key to surviving Waterloo on Friday, and Saturday her play is what helped jump-start Lutheran in the second game. She had four kills out of five attacks as the team evened the match at one set apiece.
“The entire day I was thinking this is for is for Brooke, this is for Molly,” O’Keefe said, “this is for all the seniors and I wanted to give everything I had for them.”
Lutheran never trailed in the second set when it hit .522. It took over the third set with a 10-3 run that turned a 10-10 tie into a 20-13 advantage. Andersen had three kills during that run, including an impressive strike from the back row. In the final set, Lutheran never trailed after reaching double digits.
“It was really, really cool to achieve the goal,” said Bahr, whose team finished 45-5. “There was a moment after we had done it where I felt this relief like “Yes, we did this” and it was awesome. And it was great to see so many different people who had a part in it and touched it. It took a whole team to do it today.” DIVISION 2 Lakeside Lutheran 3, Luxemburg-Casco 2: The Warriors rallied from two sets down to win their first state title. Senior outside hitter Amber Rowoldt finished with 29 kills for Lutheran. DIVISION 4 Clayton 3, Oshkosh Lourdes 1: Junior middle hitters Allison Leslie and Selena Levendoski had 22 and 21 kills, respectively, to lead the Bears (32-2) to their first title since 1996.