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[size="2"]The opening session of the Division 1 State girls volleyball tournament is in the books, with a Muskego and Burlington recording a pair of sweeps. The Warriors and Demons will move on to play Friday night at 7:30 p.m. in the State semifinals.



Muskego 3, Nicolet 0[/size]



Box Score



Muskego's seniors came to play in the opening match of the WIAA Division 1 State volleyball tournament in Green Bay Thursday evening. Behind strong play from all six seniors on the varsity roster, the Warriors swept Nicolet 25-18, 25-13, 25-22 to move onto the State semifinals.



Muskego had four players finish with double-digit kills, as senior Right Side Hitter Katie Ellerson led the way with 13 and hit at a blistering .579 clip. Senior Middle Blocker Rachel Neuberger added 12 kills with senior Outside Hitter Alli Glisch and junior Hannah Blanchard tallying 11 and 10 respectively.



The Warriors hit a session-high .380 as a team against Nicolet, which couldn't find the defensive answers for a fired up Muskego team.



Nicolet came out in battle mode and hung with Muskego for most of the first set. It was definitely a set of runs, as Nicolet owned a four-point lead midway through the first set before Muskego came roaring back to finish off the Knights.



Nicolet looked sluggish in the second set as passing errors plagued the Knights. Muskego's powerful hitters often saw an open net and hit .483 as a team in set two as the Knights' blocking game was equally as absent.



Muskego saw a refreshed team on the other side of the net in set three, as Nicolet was able to create some momentum with solid net play from a pair of sophomores in Middle Hitter Krystalyn Goode and Right Side Hitter Dana Kennedy. Yet defense again failed the Knights down the stretch as the Warriors were able to hit the holes hard to earn the three-game sweep.



Sophomore Outside Hitter Marissa Morello was the only Knight with double-figure kills with 12.



Game Ball: Muskego senior Setter Kate LaTour has amazing hands and distributed the ball about as evenly as possible to give four teammates double-digit kills. And thanks to a very solid defensive team that picked up 47 digs, LaTour didn't have to work much to turn those into 43 assists.





Burlington 3, Divine Savior Holy Angels 0



Box Score



Down as many as six points in the third set, Burlington shut down Divine Savior Holy Angels' hitters to pull out a come-from-behind three-set sweep in a Division 1 State quarterfinal Thursday evening at the Resch Center. The Demons won by scores of 25-20, 25-18, and 25-22.



Burlington was led by a pair of Outside Hitters in freshman Ciara Capezio and seniro Mandi Baumeister who totalled 13 and 11 kills. The Demons ran the 6-2 to a tee, as senior captain Kayla Uhlenhake and junior Rachel Thomsen put up 22 and 10 assists.



Burlington's apparent height disadvantage actually worked in its favor as solid passing allowed the Demons to quicken up its offense and run the ball through the Middle. Junior Taylor Tuinstra may be just 5'7", but she and fellow Middle Hitter Katie Drohner were able to get on top of the ball, catching the Dasher defense on its heels.



The Dashers managed just 27 kills in their three sets, led by Outside Hitters Kathleen Brennan and incredibly athletic senior Kelly Brandenberg with seven apiece. The Dashers had four players register double-digit digs, but the DSHA offense was overmatched.



Both teams played neck-and-neck through much of set one, but Burlington was able to pick up some major momentum points toward the end thanks to Capezio and Baumeister.



The second set was dominated by the Demons, as they led by as many as 8 points midway through. The Dashers battled back a bit, but couldn't overcome the late deficit.



I am unsure what head coach Darrell Frank told his team before the third set, but DSHA came out firing. The Dashers took advantage of some Burlington miscues and finally got its offense in system to start, jumping out to a six-point lead early. Yet it was Burlington who responded promptly with some big kills from freshmen Kaycie Shebeneck from the Right Side and Capezio once again, pulling out the come-back victory and earning the sweep.



Game Ball: Senior Setter/Right Side Hitter Kayla Uhlenake is an obvious captain on this team chocked full of young players. The Demons start two freshmen and a sophomore, and Uhlenake's leadership in this match--primarily in set three--is a big reason why this team has been successful this season.



Semifinal Preview



Muskego and Burlington are no strangers to one another. Muskego owns the season series 4-1, but Burlington won the most recent clash at the Warriors' own invite, 2-1.  Burlington surely will want this match badly, but Muskego is hungry for the state title. The Demons defense will be put to the test against Muskego, as it must establish its block early and often. Muskego meanwhile, will need to feed off its impressive sweep over Nicolet Thursday to qualify for the title match.