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Spencer 3, Grantsburg 2
Box Score

Spencer came into this weekend’s state tournament with very little pressure. After all, it had just received its first state ranking after months of Honorable Mention status. Yet Friday afternoon the Rockets took one step closer to claiming their ultimate goal in a huge way, knocking off top-ranked Grantsburg 25-22, 13-25, 25-22, ??-25, 15-12.

It was a classic tale of David versus Goliath, though determining which team is which character is open for debate--the much taller but less experienced Rockets versus the four-time state qualifier but incredibly undersized Pirates.

In this matchup, it was the inexperienced size who won, as Spencer’s pair of 6-foot athletes dominated the offensive side of the ball. Senior middle Courtney Schultz tallied a very impressive 26 kills, while junior outside Tara Matter added nine. Otherwise, the final statistics were pretty even across the board with Grantsburg actually tallying more kills (55 to 51) and a better hitting percentage (.170 to .167). Spencer tallied 20 more digs (87-67), which was ultimately the difference in the Rockets’ victory.

Set one was the Matter/Schultz show, as it was for much of the match, as the two players in opposite rotations overcame an early deficit took a 16-15 lead. Grantsburg senior middle Carly Larson got some nice swings out of the middle but the Pirate offense stalled at a bad time, giving up four straight points. Danica Johnson’s ace handed the first set to Spencer, 25-22.

Grantsburg, with an entire roster of players shorter than 5-9, surprisingly cranked up its blocking game in the second set as Larson had a pair in the Pirates’ 5-1 run. Grantsburg continued on a roll, causing Spencer head coach Buff Heller to take his second timeout of the set. The Rockets’ effort was to no avail though the rest of the set as the Pirates cruised to a 25-13 win.

Spencer used a 7-2 run early in the third set to go up 15-12 and held that lead until Grantsburg tied it back up at 22. An ensuing Pirate service error, some miscommunication in the front row and a Schultz kill broke that tie and gave Spencer a 2-1 advantage. Set four was much the same as set two with Grantsburg dominating from the get-go. The Rockets made a bit of a run late, but it wasn’t enough as this one was headed to a fifth.

Both teams traded points early in the fifth set before Grantsburg made a push on a kill from junior outside Sam Schwieger to take a 6-3 lead. Ensuing sideouts and three straight Grantsburg hitting errors—the third coming on a Spencer block—handed the Rockets their first lead of the set. Grantsburg senior outside Nikki Ticknor and Spencer junior middle Paige Johnson traded kills before Schultz rotated back into the front row. Schultz’s kill put Spencer up 11-9, but the Pirates responded with two points to tie the set again. Ticknor’s service error and a kill by Schultz gave Spencer a 13-11 lead, then after a Larson kill Schultz added two straight game winners to send the vivacious Spencer crowd into an uproar.

Grantsburg got 19 kills from Larson and 13 from Schwieger as well as a match-high 39 assists from junior Kylie Pewe.

Spencer’s five-set-thriller over the top-ranked team now pairs them against the second-ranked team in the state, Oostburg. That match is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. Saturday.

Oostburg 3, Southwestern 1
Box Score
Southwestern’s game plan coming into its state tournament semifinal was pretty obvious—ride the arms of seniors Katelyn Hoppman and Alyssa Iserman. And while those two put on quite a performance in their final season in a Wildcat uniform, it wasn’t quite enough as Oostburg pushed through with a hard-fought 25-21, 25-23, 23-25, 25-15 victory.

Oostburg was led by all-state shoe-in and sophomore setter/right side Jo-Leigh VerVelde who tallied team-highs with 18 kills, 29 assists and 15 digs for an outstanding triple-double. Senior outside Maddy Kaat chipped in 16 kills and junior right side Abby VanStelle added 13.

The Dutch took a 16-13 lead in a close set one on a VerVelde push over, and a few plays later Kaat and VerVelde added another kill apiece to take a 21-18 lead. The Dutch closed out the set on an ace by the Oostburg sophomore, winning it 25-21.

Sets two and three were very back-and-forth affairs as VerVelde’s tough serving held Southwestern out of system for much of the match. Strong swings from Iserman from the outside kept the Wildcats within striking distance, and a cross-court kill from Hoppman tied the set at 21. Tied again at 23 after another Iserman kill, VerVelde took over with a pair of kills from the right side to run out the set 25-23.

Southwestern used a 6-0 run to take a short lead in set three as its back was up against the wall. Hoppman tallied a kill and a block to give the Wildcats four set points at 24-20, but VerVelde answered with two straight kills of her own to pull to within one. Finally, Hoppman pushed the ball into the deep corner that just missed being successfully dug up, as Southwestern sent it into a fourth set. Unfortunately, that fourth set was pretty lopsided as the Dutch raced out to an early 15-8 lead and never looked back, taking the match in four sets.

Hoppman and Iserman combined for 43 of Southwestern’s 45 kills on the day as well as combining for 34 of the team’s 75 digs.

Oostburg will now play for the Division 3 championship Saturday at 12:30 p.m. against upset-minded Spencer.