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DSHA completed the theme of the 2015 state girls volleyball tournament: repeat state champions.  The Divine Savior Holy Angels Dashers grinded out a 3-2 (25-20, 23-25, 25-27, 25-15, 15-12) victory over Oconomowoc to bring home their 2nd straight gold ball.

DSHA senior and Bradley University recruit, Annie Ertz rose to the occasion in the 4th and 5th set to help lead the Dashers to their state title.  Ertz had 25 kills during the match, 7 of which came in the 5th set alone.  Ertz was not only helpful on the attack, but also helped the defense out at critical times.  Ertz had 5 assisted blocks, 1 solo block, and 14 digs.  Senior right side hitter, Katie Arnold and junior, Katie Rolfe also both possess equally powerful swings; Arnold tallied 12 kills and 6 assisted blocks, Rolfe had 9 kills and a team high .381 hitting percentage, as well as a team high 7 assisted blocks.  

A 7-0 run by DSHA to bring the score to 12-6, in DSHA’s favor, was the key to the 1st set victory.  DSHA received major contributions from Ertz, Rolfe, and Arnold to help seal up the 1st set 25-20 for the Dashers.  

In the 2nd set the momentum swung Oconomowoc’s way.  A tip by senior, Heather Moutvic, a kill from sophomore, Amanda Garvens, and an ace from sophomore, Paige Jaeger caused DSHA to call a timeout with the score 10-6 Oconomowoc leading.  A slugfest between Annie Ertz, Katie Arnold and Heather Moutvic ensued.  It seemed like almost every point was decided by one of those three getting the ball down for their team.  After an Annie Ertz kill, the score was 24-23 Oconomowoc leading.  DSHA libero, Grace Novotny made a serving error though, sending the ball into the net, giving the Raccoons the 25-23 set win.

The 3rd set brought all the dramatics you look for in a state championship game.  DSHA held a slim lead for the majority of the set.  Jump ahead to the end of the set, the score is 23-20.  Annie Ertz committed a net violation that she was shocked about because she said it was an Oconomowoc player who hit the net, not her.  Ertz would then also have hitting error into the net the very next play.  Heather Moutvic would slam home a kill the next play and tie up the game 23-23, leading to a DSHA timeout.  Coming out of the timeout, Moutvic got another huge kill and gave Oconomowoc the 24-23 lead.  Ertz and Moutvic would exchange kills the next 3 plays.  With the score knotted up at 25-25, the Raccoons needed someone to make a big play.  Oconomowoc’s setter dumped the ball over the net, and then followed it up with a Leah Fenske kill to give them the 27-25 set win.

DSHA did not panic after the 3rd set; the team was still confident they would get the job done in crunch time.  Annie Ertz would come up huge in the 4th set, providing her team with many kills.  The set would end 25-15 DSHA after an Amanda Garvens hitting error into the net.

After all of the great games throughout the course of the 2015 state girls volleyball tournament, it only felt right to end the Division 1 state championship game in 5 sets.  When you only have to score 15 points to win the 5th set, even the smallest of runs can be the deciding factor.  A couple 3-0 runs by DSHA were what Oconomowoc could never recover from.  DSHA leaned on the experience of Maddie Yoss, Annie Ertz, and Katie Arnold to get the job done.  The 5th set did get very interesting when Oconomowoc brought in senior, Jazmyn Trudeau, who had only appeared in 22 sets prior to the state tournament, to serve.  Trudeau would serve up an ace on her first serve to bring the score to 13-12 DSHA leading.  Trudeau’s next serve sailed a little too long though and DSHA took advantage the next play.  It was only fitting that Annie Ertz ended the 5 set match with a kill to give DSHA the 15-12 5th set victory.

Heather Moutvic and Leah Fenske were Oconomowoc’s stars of the match.  Whenever Oconomowoc needed a big play, the setter would look to one of those two to provide the spark.  Moutvic finished with 23 kills and an astonishing new Division 1 state record for hitting percentage in a 5 set match with a .553 hitting percentage on 38 attempts, breaking the previous record held by Caity DuPont (Muskego) in 2004.  Fenske had 13 kills and 23 digs for the Raccoons.

FUN FACT: As mentioned earlier, all 2015 state champions went back-to-back, Newman Catholic in Division 4 (also won state championship in 2013), Waterloo in Division 3, Catholic Memorial in Division 2, and DSHA in Division 1.  Also every single match ended on a kill by a Division 1 college recruit.  Mariah Whalen (Wisconsin) of Newman Catholic, Madeline Mosher (Marquette) of Waterloo, Lexi Alden (Maryland) of Catholic Memorial, and Annie Ertz (Bradley) of DSHA.