<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Thursday night was a big night in volleyball. It was round two for Division 2 teams and there was some amazing volleyball. For #1 and #2 seeded teams it was their first game of playoffs. Here is who won big!</span></p>
<h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Wisconsin Lutheran Swept Martin Luther</span></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Wisconsin Lutheran is extremely hot right now in the volleyball world. They won their conference and beat out some top Divison I ranked teams to do it. Their offense was fast and spread out, with 7 different athletes clocking in kills throughout the night. Senior setter <strong>Grace Beyer</strong> (23 assists) moved the ball fast with amazing precision. Junior <strong>Julia Treichel</strong> (Prep Dig Rank #13) led the team on offense with 8 kills. Senior <strong>Meghan Smrz</strong> and 10 digs. Senior<strong> Carissa Sundholm</strong> had a huge impact with 7 kills, 4 aces, 9 digs, and 8 service receptions. The Vikings will face off against Thomas More on Saturday night. </span></p>
<h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Thomas More Took Out Pius XI</span></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Pius XI put up a good fight, but could not overcome the chemistry of Thomas More who won 25-18, 25-22, 25-20. Their team of juniors is a well-oiled machine who work hard and put up a great offense and strong defense. </span></p>
<h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Whitnall Beat New Berlin West in 4 Sets</span></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Talk about a game with huge momentum swings! Whitnall came out and won the first set 25-4 and the second set 25-14. But New Berlin West has a lot of grit and are basically unstoppable when they get on an offensive run. West won the third game 25-21 but Whitnall came back and won the fourth. </span></p>
<h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Catholic Memorial Took Out Racine Saint Catherine’s</span></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This was Catholic Memorial’s first game of the playoffs and they did not disappoint. Senior <strong>Jenna Weinfurt</strong> had 14 kills with a hitting percentage of 0.438. Sophomore <strong>Kaitlyn Riley</strong> (Prep Dig Rank #18) contributed 9 kills, 5 huge aces, and 3 blocks. Senior <strong>Jessie Connell</strong> had 8 digs closely followed by classmate <strong>Caroline Dragani</strong> (Prep Dig Rank #28, Committed to Portland State) who had 6. Caroline also led the team with 23 assists. Senior <strong>Kennedy Crain</strong> had 16 service receptions. Clearly, the Crusaders have a well-developed team that works well on the court together. They will play Whitnall on Saturday night. </span></p>
<h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Kettle Moraine Lutheran Kept Brown Deer Under 10</span></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Kettle Moraine Lutheran had a first-round bye but you couldn’t tell based on how they played Thursday night. Senior <strong>Ari Miller</strong> (Prep Dig Rank #11, Committed to UW-Milwaukee) currently the season leader in kills (415), blocks (112), and aces (60). Junior <strong>Gianna Feld</strong> has 396 digs while senior setter <strong>Carissa Egelsee</strong>r has 832 assists. Fellow senior <strong>Brooke Voigt</strong> leads the team in service receptions for the season with 546. This is a great team who is seamless in their playing. </span></p>
<h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Grafton Beat Sheboygan Falls in 4 </span></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Grafton won their second match in playoffs against Sheboygan Falls. After taking out Messmer in round 1 they came out swinging against Sheboygan Falls just two days later. They won set 1 quite easily but then lost the second set. Grafton then took sets three and four 25-22 and 25-23 respectively.</span></p>
<p>Round three of playoffs will take place on Saturday night!</p>
