Burlington goes home with another trophy
ASHWAUBENON – No Division 1 volleyball team in the state has done it better than Burlington this decade.
The Demons arrived at the WIAA state tournament with seven appearances in the last eight years, three runs to the final and two championships. Getting their third crown Saturday proved to be their hardest of the bunch.
It took two hours, five sets and a late swing in momentum for Burlington to knock off previously undefeated River Falls in the Division 1 champion match at the Resch Center.
Senior Abby Koenen’s kill through a Wildcats blocked sealed the 25-20, 2515, 22-25, 17-25, 15-13 victory and allowed the Demons’ 15 players to join the ranks of the 2011 and ’12 teams as state champions.
It also allowed Burlington co-head coach Teri Leach to finally breathe a sigh of relief.
“I felt like we were battling until we got that 15th point,” she said. “I don’t think there was a moment of, ‘oh we’ve got this.' I think that moment came when we put that final ball away.”
Koenen, a UW-Milwaukee recruit, finished with 26 kills, posted a .367 hitting percentage and had 10 digs. Brooklyn VandeHei, a senior outside hitter, added 10 kills and had two aces in the final set. Burlington also got timely swings from sophomore middle hitter Emily Alan (eight kills) and junior outside hitter Coley Haggard.
And it nearly wasn’t enough. River Falls (43-1) led, 13-11, in the final set before Burlington closed the match with a 4-0 run. The first of those points came on a Falls service error. The next two were credited as attack errors, though, on one of the points, the presence of Burlington's block had something to do with the off-the-mark attack.
That set the stage for Koenen, but before she put down the final ball, the 5-11 Alan and 5-8 sophomore setter Kaley Blake (51 assists) teamed up to block River Falls senior Marissa Stockman, an Illinois State recruit who had been dominant in the middle.
The block caromed into the River Falls backcourt where the team’s libero made a diving save on the ball. The Wildcats, however, had to send a free ball back to Burlington and the Demons made them pay by getting the ball to their best hitter.
The match not only marked River Falls’ first loss of the season, but the first time it had allowed more than one set to an opponent all year.
“To be honest with you, going into the fifth set, I thought we were going to win this,” River Falls coach Sara Kealy said.
The dramatics of the final set wouldn’t have been possible if Burlington had not come out blazing. The Demons hit .335 in the first set when Koenen and VandeHei had six and four kills, respectively. The squad was even better in the second set when a 9-2 run gave it a 15-7 edge. The Demons led five times by double digits in that set before closing 25-15 win.
River Falls controled the next two sets, but Burlington reasserted itself when it counted most.
“I’m just beyond thankful for the coaches and players and everyone who’s helped along the way,” Koenen said. “Starting off in Burlington Elite, a little club and end as a state champ is a big win for me.”