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Living Word Lutheran’s magical run in their 1st ever state tournament appearance came to an end Friday in a Division 4 state semifinal game against Newman Catholic.  Two-time defending state champion Newman Catholic’s state experience showed in the 3-0 sweep of Living Word Lutheran (25-23, 25-21, 25-15).

Newman Catholic junior and Wisconsin recruit Mariah Whalen dominated the match with a heavy hand.  Whalen set a new Division 4 state record with 31 kills in only 3 sets, breaking the previous record set by by Megan Zimmerman (Hustisford) in 2000 with 30 kills.  Whalen also managed to break a state record that she held from the 2013 state tournament of 47 attempts in a 3 set match, with a new high of 51 total attempts in a 3 set match.

Newman Catholic started the 1st set a little slow, but it did not take them very long to settle in.  The Fighting Cardinals took the lead 5-4 on a hitting error by Living Word Lutheran.  The Timber Wolves would show resilience though.  They retook the lead 13-12 on a hitting error by Newman Catholic and held the lead until 22-21.  A back row kill by Whalen, double block by Taylor Jankowski and Taylor Hackel, and hitting errors by Living Word Lutheran would end the 1st set in Newman Catholic’s favor.

The 2nd set went back and forth between both team leaders Mariah Whalen and Living Word Lutheran’s freshman Keri Walker.  Living Word Lutheran would take their first lead of the set 19-18 after a hitting error by Newman Catholic.  After a Newman Catholic timeout, the Fighting Cardinals went on to score the final 6 points of the set to get the 2nd set win.

The 3rd set was pretty much dominated by Mariah Whalen, and they took the set 25-15.  Abbey Fox, of Newman Catholic, also finished with an impressive match with 28 assists.

Living Word Lutheran was held to only 29 kills as a team, with no players in double-digits for kills. Freshman, Keri Walker did have 9 kills, 10 assists, and a .250 hitting percentage for the Timber Wolves.

“It’s a great day to be a Wildcat!” said Southwestern head coach Jane Wills.  The Wildcats came to state with their sights set on a return to the state championship game, and they were not going to let Clayton stop them.  Southwestern will advance to their 2nd straight state championship game after taking down Clayton 3-1 (25-10, 23-25, 25-16, 25-19).  

Southwestern was lead by senior hitters Michelle Budden and Miranda Kemp.  Budden, who has drawn interest from UW-Green Bay, tallied 27 kills 5 solo blocks, and a .426 hitting percentage. Opposite from Budden was Miranda Kemp who accumulated 13 kills and a .480 hitting percentage.

Perennial state power, Clayton, featured a very young lineup that includes 6 freshman and only 2 seniors.  1st year coach, Sadie Schradle talked about the youth of the team in the postgame press conference, and that the young players can build from this experience to build for the future of the program.

Southwestern went on many long runs to capture their 4 set victory.  The Wildcats slip up in the 2nd set, dropping it to Clayton 25-23.  After a motivational talk from Coach Wills, Southwestern returned to form in the 3rd and 4th sets winning 25-16 and 25-19 respectively.

Clayton junior libero, Madysn Cardinal, had 16 digs in the match.  Junior, Jensyn Bussewitz finished with 10 digs and 16 assists.  Freshman middle hitter, Alison Leslie was the lone player in double figures in kills with 11.

The stage is set for a rematch of last year’s D4 state championship game between Newman Catholic (39-1) and Southwestern (27-1).  Last year Newman Catholic defeated Southwestern 3-1 (25-16, 25-12, 20-25, 25-19).  This year’s matchup should be a slugfest between Newman Catholic’s Mariah Whalen and Southwestern’s Michelle Budden, two of the state’s leaders in kills.