5 Set Thrillers from this weeks Thursday Night Matchups

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The first week of conference matches is well underway and they did not disappoint. On Thursday, September 2, there were no less than 18 reported 5 set thrillers across the state that dominated the spotlight.</span></p> <h3><b>New Berlin Eisenhower beat Greendale </b></h3> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This match was a battle from the very first point. These two teams traded sets all night and Eisenhower ultimately came out on top 15-13 in the 5th set. Both had athletes with dominating performances. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">On Eisenhower’s side, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="91946" first="Lexi" last="Bugajski"]</strong> (2023) had 24 kills, averaging nearly 5 kills per set. She also led the team in digs and was second in service receptions. <strong>Emily Daniel</strong> (2024) led the team in service receptions and also contributed 8 digs and an ace. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="118271" first="Natalie" last="Holzhauer"]</strong> (2022) had a whopping 40 assists during the game and was key to this smart and gritty offense. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">On Greendale’s side, freshman setter <strong>Billie Reiter</strong> had major impacts, contributing 38 assists, 17 digs, 2 aces, and 10 kills. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="81348" first="Emily" last="Ploszay"]</strong> (2022) led the team with 19 kills. And <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="151417" first="Hannah" last="Kos"]</strong> (2023) had 11 kills and 9 aces. </span></p> <h3><b>Catholic Memorial beat Arrowhead</b></h3> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It was an incredible match between these two powerhouse teams. Both have state titles under their belt and have incredibly deep rosters of top-level athletes. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Catholic Memorial’s<strong> Brooke Bielinski</strong> (2022) and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="61787" first="Emily" last="Clausen"]</strong> (2023) led the team offensively with 12 kills each and had a lot of influence on defense as well.  <strong>Addy Goedheer</strong> (2025) had 5 blocks. <strong>Katie Stomma</strong> was a major player on defense as well. Junior, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="91906" first="Elena" last="Dragani"]</strong> topped the charts in assists. This was a whole team effort to bring forth this win. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Arrowhead hasn’t uploaded stats for the match but does have past matches up.<strong> [player_tooltip player_id="22404" first="Madison" last="Tolzman"]</strong> is a key player for this team, leading the team in kills. Sophomore <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="153281" first="Keira" last="Ashenfelter"]</strong> and junior <strong>Annika Nielsen</strong> are both huge players in running this effective offense. </span></p> <h3><b>Kimberly beat Appleton North</b></h3> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Kimberly dealt Appleton North their first loss of the season in an incredibly reverse sweep. The defending alternate season state champs, Appleton North won the first two sets before dropping the final three to the Papermakers. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">On Kimberly’s side,<strong> [player_tooltip player_id="82921" first="Kaitlin" last="Schulz"]</strong> (2023) led the team with 16 kills closely followed by <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="91880" first="Kyla" last="Dunaway"]</strong> (2023) with 13. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="91914" first="Ava" last="Rank"]</strong> (2023) had an incredible 26 digs, 17 service receptions, and an ace. Setter <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="91855" first="Macy" last="Herman"]</strong> ran her offense with precision and speed contributing 33 assists and 14 digs. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">While Appleton North has not uploaded their stats from last night yet, they do have uploaded stats from the rest of their matches. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="57241" first="Brianna" last="Cantrell"]</strong> (2022) is dominating on the outside cranking out over 80 kills. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="122483" first="Ella" last="Demetrician"]</strong> (2024) and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="91877" first="Karissa" last="Fortune"]</strong> (2023) are also having huge impacts on the pins. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="81261" first="Madisen" last="Miller"]</strong> (2022) is one of the top liberos in the state and leads her team in aces, digs, and service receptions. </span></p> <h3><b>Whitefish Bay beat Port Washington </b></h3> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">These two teams traded sets throughout the match ultimately ending in a 15-10 win for Whitefish Bay. Every set was incredibly competitive and both teams are probably still amped from the intensity of last night. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Whitefish Bay put up some massive numbers including <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="61781" first="Zoe" last="Behrendt"]</strong> (2023) who had 31 kills, 3 aces, 31 service receptions, and 20 digs. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="122512" first="Georgia" last="Koscielak"]</strong> (2024) led the team in digs and contributed 26 service receptions. <strong>Teah Holbrook</strong> (2024) was also key on serve receive and offense for the Blue Dukes. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Port Washington spread the offense out a bit with<strong> Jennacy Wille</strong> (2023), <strong>Carolyn Lippe</strong> (2024), and <strong>Elyse Karrels</strong> (2024) earning a good number of kills. Elyse also had an incredible 12 blocks throughout the match. Setters <strong>Julia Schmit</strong> (2022) and <strong>Sydney Hoeft</strong> (2023) both were impactful in running a cohesive and effective offense. </span></p> <h3>Other great 5 set wins:</h3> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Whitewater beat Johnson Creek</span><b> </b></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Kohler beat Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">D.C. Everest beat Marshfield </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Veritas/Tenor beat University Lake School </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Kewaunee beat Green Bay N.E.W. Lutheran</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Kiel beat Brillion</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Pittsville beat Stratford </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Reedsville beat Hilbert</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Rice Lake beat Menomonie</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Marathon beat Wittenberg-Birnamwood</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ashland beat Duluth East</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Southwestern beat Boscobel</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Horicon beat Valley Christian</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Montello beat Markesan </span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p>