Xavier girts volleyball slams past Winneconne in WIAA Division 2 sectional semifinal
Xavier’s Rose Kendall slams a kill attempt during the Hawks’ 3-1 win over
Winneconne in a WIAA Division 2 girls volleyball sectional semifinal Thursday
at Xavier High School. (Photo by Paul Lecker/AppletonSportsPage.com)
By Paul Lecker
AppletonSportsPage.com
APPLETON – The Xavier girls volleyball team stands just one win away from another trip the state tournament after an impressive 3-1 victory over Bay Conference rival Winneconne in a WIAA Division 2 sectional semifinal Thursday night at the Torchy Clark Gymnasium at Xavier High School.
The Hawks won 25-20, 25-17, 20-25, 25-18, to advance to a D-2 sectional final against Luxemburg-Casco, a 3-1 winner over Fox Valley Lutheran, on Saturday at Seymour High School. The match begins at 7 p.m. Click here to view the statewide sectional scoreboard & schedule
The winner moves on to the 2025 WIAA State Girls Volleyball Tournament at the Resch Center in Green Bay, a place the Hawks are very familiar with. Xavier won back-to-back Division 2 state titles in 2022 and 2023, and will be searching for its seventh state tournament appearance. Luxemburg-Casco is no stranger either, as it was the Division 2 runner-up last season and the state champion the three seasons prior to Xavier from 2019-21.
The Hawks used a red-hot offense to propel them to the victory as senior setter Sydney Neilitz dished out 37 assists, with Braelee Kiepert and Rose Kendall each finishing with 13 kills, and Lexi Allen adding 11.
“We came in with a really good game plan,” Xavier coach Luke Herriges said. “We really executed well the first and second set, and had so much energy and momentum. Things started going Winneconne’s way in the third one, they are a good team and can make a lot of things happen, but in between the third and fourth, we readjusted to our pregame scouting report. We had already unlocked it once, we just need to be disciplined and execute.”
Four early service errors from Winneconne, and a pair of aces by Bella Velasquez, helped Xavier jump out to an 11-5 lead in the first set before the Wolves turned the tables.
Winneconne ripped off 11 of the next 13 points to take the lead before Xavier regrouped.
Three-straight kills from Kiepert gave Xavier a 19-17 lead. After The Wolves tied it again, Xavier scored six of the final seven points to finish out the 25-20 victory.
The Hawks were never threatened in the second set, rolling out to an 8-1 lead, which eventually ballooned to 17-4 as Kiepert had five kills and Allen three in the early going.
Winneconne got as close as seven at 21-14, but again Xavier finished strong as Kiepert and Allen had kills on the way to a 25-17 win and a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five match.
Playing for their season, the Wolves looked dominant in the early going of the third game, taking a 13-7 lead after six-straight service points from Neela Gardner.
Xavier eventually tied it at 16-16 on a kill by Kendall, but could never pull in front. An ace from Bailey Church and a Xavier hitting error ended it with the Wolves staying alive with a 25-20 victory.
In the fourth set, Winneconne plain ran out of gas following a strong start. The Wolves led 8-3 before Xavier ripped off 13 of the next 14 points as Kiepert had two more kills, and Allen had a block kill to put the Hawks on top 16-9.
Two kills from Bella Daley and two more emphatic smack downs by Kendall finished off the match with a 25-18 win, sending Xavier to the sectional finals again.
“I can’t say enough about Syd,” Herriges said. “I’ve been coaching her since she was a little 13-year-old in club, and it’s fun to see this come together for her and all the seniors. This team has some pretty lofty goals and we’re just taking it one match at a time.”
Grace Hackl and Lily Renz led the Xavier defense with 13 and 11 digs, respectively.
“We’ve had some of the best practices of our season the last two weeks, we’re still getting better and we haven’t peaked yet,” Herriges said.