Teams from 2020 Returning to State

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">2020 was a bit of an odd year for everything, including high school sports. The WIAA had a fall and an alternate season in the spring and held a state championship for both. A lot of teams are returning this year to the state tournament!</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Here is a breakdown of teams who are returning to the state tournament after an appearance in 2020: </span></p> <h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">Division 1: </span></h3> <h4><span style="font-weight: 400;">Burlington (2020 Fall State Runner-Up)</span></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Burlington has one of the strongest long-running programs in the state. In fact, since 2010, Burlington has only NOT made it to state one time. This will be their 8th straight appearance in the state tournament. They have a large core of athletes at a variety of ages contributing in a major way. Right side <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="81301" first="Lydia" last="Biggin"]</strong> had 19 kills in the sectional final alone and leads the team in kills this season. Middle hitter <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="119434" first="Abby" last="Alan"]</strong> was right behind her with 16 kills in the sectional final match. Sophomore setter <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="122555" first="Ella" last="Safar"]</strong> runs this offense cleanly and efficiently. Pin hitters <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="57261" first="Morgan" last="Klein"]</strong> (2022) and <strong>Kenna Kornely</strong> (2023) also contribute in major ways on the court. </span></p> <h4><span style="font-weight: 400;">River Falls</span></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">River Falls also has a pretty long history of state appearances. Their first state appearance was in 2016 and they have not missed a state tournament since. Seniors <strong>Maddy Doerre</strong>, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="81259" first="Haley" last="Graetz"]</strong>, and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="81298" first="Dani" last="Lien"]</strong> are key players on the Wildecats offense. Junior setter <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="92019" first="Morgan" last="Kealy"]</strong> has a light and fast touch on the ball and keeps the offense moving at a fast tempo. Morgan also leads the team in aces and has over 100 kills on the season. There are a large number of highly impactful athletes on this team and they all contribute in major ways. </span></p> <h4><span style="font-weight: 400;">Appleton North (2020 Alternate Season State Champions)</span></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Appleton North had a heck of a run in 2020 and has not slowed down at all since. This team is overflowing with talent and has 6 athletes committed to play college volleyball. They include <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="119394" first="Kennedy" last="Martin"]</strong> (2023, Committed to Florida), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="81269" first="Bella" last="Van Lannen"]</strong> (2022, Committed to Northern Colorado),<strong> [player_tooltip player_id="91877" first="Karissa" last="Fortune"]</strong> (2023, Committed to Drake), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="81262" first="Berkley" last="Mischler"]</strong> (2022, Committed to Lipscomb), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="119395" first="Olivia" last="Lasee"]</strong> (2023, Committed to Lehigh), and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="57241" first="Brianna" last="Cantrell"]</strong> (2022, Committed to East Tennessee State). Other major impact players on this team include outside hitter <strong>Ella Demetrian</strong> (2024), setter <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="122566" first="Emerson" last="Van Lannen"]</strong> (2024), and libero <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="81261" first="Madisen" last="Miller"]</strong> (2022). </span></p> <h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">Division 2: </span></h3> <h4><span style="font-weight: 400;">McFarland (Competed D1 in 2020)</span></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">McFarland has had an amazing couple of years of volleyball. They made state appearances in 2019 and 2020 and are back now for a third year in a row. They have some huge offensive weapons including <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="91899" first="Gwen" last="Crull"]</strong> (2023), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="57273" first="Hannah" last="Rounds"]</strong> (2022), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="81270" first="Avery" last="Pennekamp"]</strong> (2022), and <strong>Ainsley Pennekamp</strong>. Setter <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="57284" first="Maddy" last="Fortune"]</strong> (Committed to UW-Stevens Point) runs the offense while libero <strong>Holly Casucci</strong> leads the back row. </span></p> <h4><span style="font-weight: 400;">Luxemburg-Casco (2020 State Champions)</span></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Luxemburg-Casco won the state tournament in 2019 and 2020 for Division 2 and they are back for more. Setter <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="81273" first="Emma" last="Johnson"]</strong> (Committed to UW-Green Bay) is a huge leader and energizer on this team. She has over 1,000 assists this season alone and leads the team in aces. Sophomore libero <strong>Brook VandeHei</strong> is scrappy, fast, and fearless in the back row. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="82915" first="Autumn" last="Flynn"]</strong> (2023), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="81279" first="Grace" last="Holschuh"]</strong> (Committed to UW-Green Bay), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="91907" first="Kylie" last="Hanson"]</strong> (2023), and <strong>Campbell Onell</strong> (2025) all have a huge impact on this team offensively as well as on defense. </span></p> <h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">Division 3: </span></h3> <h4><span style="font-weight: 400;">Howards Grove (2020 Fall State Champions)</span></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Howards Grove has won the Division 3 state championship for the past two years. They are incredibly dynamic and play a gritty and defensive style of volleyball. Impact players for Howards Grove include outside hitter/liberos<strong> [player_tooltip player_id="82282" first="Saige" last="Damrow"]</strong> (2023, Committed to Wisconsin) and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="22384" first="Karissa" last="Kaminski"]</strong> (Committed to Dayton). Both are huge assets on both offense and defense and both have trained with USA Volleyball in the High Performance/National Team Development Program. Setter <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="57252" first="Emma" last="Baierl"]</strong> (Committed to Truman State) has earned playing time on varsity since her freshman year and has 2,346 career assists. <strong>Mallory Godziewski</strong> (2024), <strong>Josie Larson</strong> (2023), <strong>Myka Roethel </strong>(2022), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="122508" first="Elle" last="Kennedy"]</strong> (2024), and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="122497" first="Olivia" last="Baierl"]</strong> (2024) all also see significant playing time and have a strong impact on this team. </span></p> <h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">Division 4: </span></h3> <h4><span style="font-weight: 400;">McDonell Catholic (2020 Fall State Runner Up)</span></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">2020 was McDonell’s first state appearance in 10 years and they are back again! There will be a number of familiar faces and impact players who were on the team last year including <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="119436" first="Marley" last="Hughes"]</strong> (2023), <strong>Kait Ortmann</strong> (2022), <strong>Destiny Baughman</strong> (2022), and <strong>Lauryn Deetz</strong> (2022). Sophomore setters <strong>Emily Cooper</strong> and <strong>Abby Bresina</strong> are other high-level players on this team who bring a lot of consistency.   </span></p>