MJS Names BOYS' POY, COY & AAOY

Not sure we'll be able to give this the attention it deserves until maybe tomorrow, but here's a link to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's all-area-of-the-year for boys. And here's a story about player of the year (Marquette's Alex Becherer) and coach of the year (Marquette's Eric Sullivan). Congrats to all and a fuller report is on our list of things to post.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Team of the Week

This week, it's none other than the state champion Milwaukee Marquette boys volleyball team. Congrats.

Look What WeFound on YouTube

Someone added about 30 seconds of footage of your 2008 boys state volleyball champions warming up and we thought we'd share with the state.

Marquette Hilltoppers Are Your Boys State Champs

Here's the box.  Nicely done. Big congrats. More later, probably tomorrow afternoon. Here's the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story. Sorry there's not more right now.

It's Nicolet v. Marquette for the State Championship

The words below are the updates we wrote during the matches: 

Nicolet wins first set against New Berlin United. New Berlin United wins the second. Nicolet answers back 25-23 and is up two sets to one. Nicolet to the finals 25-22 in the fourth set on a right side kill by Derek Riebau. Klingspohn also put up some big numbers. We'll link to them when they're available. Congrats to the Knights. Here are the stats.

Middleton wins first set against Marquette 25-22. Big block on set point. Marquette wins second set 25-15 on a kill by Becherer. In the third set, the game goes extra numbers, but Marquette prevails 27 -25 and takes a 2-1 lead. This is good stuff. Marquette wins the fourth set to advance to the championship against Nicolet. Here are the stats.

Finals at 3:30 p.m. There won't be any coverage on wiaa.tv. The announcer just said, "It's covered exclusively on tape delay on FSN Wisconsin." 

How Much Can You Read in 20 Minutes?

Here are a few stories we've found about the boys state tournament:

• "After slow start, Marquette assumes control" (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
• "Kaukauna Ghosts boys volleyball loses to Milwaukee Marquette in state tournament" (Appleton Post Crescent)
• "Surprising New Berlin United tops Kettle Moraine" (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
• "Middleton lets its hair down on way to semifinals" (Wisconsin State Journal)

Be sure to watch the action in 20 minutes on wiaa.tv.

A Plea to Those Who Haven't Seen a Boys Match Ever or Lately: Watch WIAA.TV Tomorrow at 10:30 A.M.

OK, so tonight you probably had an excuse. There was plenty of volleyball to watch here, there and everywhere, including your favorite team. And who knows, you might have a good excuse tomorrow morning as well.

But if you're anywhere near a computer at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, go to wiaa.tv and enjoy the rare opportunity to watch Middleton v. Marquette and Nicolet v. New Berlin United in the two WIAA boys state semifinals. 

These are good teams. This is serious volleyball. And spreading the word really can help promote the sport in the state for everyone. (Obviously, you're also more than welcome to head over to Wisconsin Lutheran College and see all of the above in person.)

Consider yourself begged.

Ticket to Tosa Update: First Semifinal Is Set

It'll be Middleton v. Marquette tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. Middleton defeated Wauwatosa East in three and it was Marquette over Kaukauna in four. 

The matches were live at wiaa.tv. And the next ones will be, too. So if you've never watched a boys match, why not watch the second session of quarterfinals at 7:30? It'll be Kettle Moraine v. New Berlin United and Nicolet v. Racine Horlick. 

Watch it. You won't regret it. 

State Tournament Talk From Around the State

Here's what we've found. Let us know if we've missed a story somewhere (a few of our own observations are in the post below):

• "Marquette senior always set to spike" (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
  
• "State boys volleyball preview" (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
• "Middleton looks to take next step" (Wisconsin State Journal)
• "Middleton's Maier all-state" (Wisconsin State Journal)
• "Kaukauna boys volleyball team ready to take on Milwaukee Marquette at WIAA state tournament" (Appleton Post Crescent)
• "County athletes continue state title push" (Racine Journal Times)
• "Red Raider make senior statement with third straight trip to state" (WauwatosaNOW)
• "Nicolet making state a tradition" (FoxPointNOW)

Soon, Real Soon: Random Thoughts Regarding the Boys State Tournament

We're not about to pretend that we know all there is to know about the boys state tournament that starts tomorrow at 5 p.m. But we do know that it's all gonna get real interesting really soon. And we will make this humble attempt to share a few things we found intriguing about tomorrow's matchups. Can't wait to see how it all turns out.     

Middleton v. Wauwatosa East (Friday at 5 p.m.)

• Middleton has five hitters with triple digit kills for the season (seniors Joe Dean, Alex Harbour and Dane Maier, and juniors Will Kraus and Michael Owen)
• Wauwatosa East is the only team to have taken a set from Marquette in a dual match this season (Middleton beat Marquette in the Racine Invitational)
• Everyone in this match will be seeing red: Middleton's colors are cardinal and white, and Wauwatosa East's are scarlet and white
• Wauwatosa East will be playing approximately 1.7 miles from home 

Kaukauna v. Marquette (Friday at 5 p.m.)

• Kaukauna is making its 16th tournament appearance, but first since 2004
• Domenic Judkins of Kaukauna is averaging 3.50 kills per game
• Marquette's Alex Becherer is the 2008 player of the year, hitting better than 40 percent on the season
• As a team, Marquette is hitting nearly 40 percent (.396) 

Kettle Moraine v. New Berlin United (Friday at 7:30 p.m.)

• Tom Gulak, the head coach of Kettle Moraine, will be coaching approximately 781 miles from where he went to college (University of Manitoba)
  
• Kettle Moraine's Ean Reid is hitting nearly 60 percent on the season (.596)
• New Berlin's Jeremy Dejno has 69 service aces this season and is the only non-seniorto be named first-team all-state
• New Berlin freshmen and sophomores have recorded 202 of their team's 709 kills (freshmen Matt Neiberle and Nick Olson, and sophomores Mike Beeler and Mark Ropella)

Nicolet v. Racine Horlick (Friday at 7:30 p.m.)

• Matt Klingspohn leads Nicolet in kills with 227
• Nicolet has three players with triple-digit digs for the season (juniors Rob Mayer and Anatoli Berezovsky, and sophomore Patrick Bieser)
• Racine Horlick's Jamil Wilson has 300 kills for the season and is one of the state's top basketball prospects
• Racine Horlick's Kurt Larsen has 705 assists this season

Congrats to the Eight Teams That Are Tosa-Bound

All the No. 1 seeds in each sectional advanced to state with the exception of No. 2 Kettle Moraine's five-set victory over Catholic Memorial. Here are the brackets. And below are the stories we've uncovered so far (hopefully, more to come). Congrats to all. 

• Middleton over Burlington in three (Wisconsin State Journal)
  
• Wauwatosa East over Wauwatosa West in five (WauwatosaNOW)
• Kaukauna over Kimberly in four (Appleton Post Crescent)
• Marquette over West Allis Hale in three (still looking for story)
• Kettle Moraine over Catholic Memorial in five (still looking for story)
• New Berlin over Kenosha Tremper in three (NewBerlinNOW)
• Nicolet over Homestead in four (MyGlendaleNOW)
• Racine Horlick over Racine Case in three (Racine Journal Times)

Take a Deep Breath Because Tomorrow Is Prime Ticket to Tosa Time

The boys tournament features eight action-packed sectional final matches tomorrow night with the winners earning a coveted "Ticket to Tosa." Of course, we personally can't wait to see how we'll fare with the predictions we made last August. Here's where things stand at the moment:

• Sectional 1: We correctly predicted Kaukauna and Kimberly would meet in the finals. We further predicted Kaukauna would win in five. Time will tell.
  
• Sectional 2: We correctly predicted Homestead and Nicolet would meet in the finals. We further predicted Nicolet would win in four. Time will tell.
  
• Sectional 3: We incorrectly predicted Catholic Memorial and Waukesha West would meet in the finals (it's actually Memorial and Kettle Moraine). We further predicted Memorial would win in four. Time will tell.
  
• Sectional 4: We incorrectly predicted Middleton and Central would meet in the sectional finals (it's actually Middleton and Burlington). We further predicted Middleton would win in four. Time will tell.
  
• Sectional 5: We correctly predicted New Berlin and Kenosha Tremper would meet in the finals. We further predicted New Berlin would win in five. Time will tell.
  
• Sectional 6: We incorrectly predicted Racine Horlick and Racine Park would meet in the sectional finals (it's actually Horlick and Case). We further predicted Horlick would win in three. Time will tell.
  
• Sectional 7: We correctly predicted Marquette and West Allis Hale would meet in the final. We further predicted Marquette would win in three. Time will tell.
• Sectional 8: We incorrectly predicted Wauwatosa East and Shorewood would meet in the sectional finals. It's actually Tosa East and Tosa West. We further predicted East would win in five. Time will tell.

Good luck to everyone. It should be a great night of volleyball.

Ticket to Tosa Picture Getting Clearer

The match of the night had to have been Burlington's 15-13 fifth-set thriller over Westosha Central. Without injured star Harris Jorgenson, Burlington has been turning to Kyle Ketterhagen to supply offense and he has delivered. According to the Racine Journal Times, he had 29 kills in the victory and junior Mike Porcaro added 46 digs.

Here are how the brackets are shaping up. Stories are also online at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the first one covers Wauwatosa East's victory over Brookfield East and the other provides details about other Milwaukee-area teams.

And here's the story of Middleton's victory on Tuesday night that appeared in the Wisconsin State Journal.

Preview, Praise & Proceeds

1. Preview There's a good article in the Wausau Daily Herald about D.C. Everest's upcoming quarterfinal match (rematch, actually) against Pius XI in the Division 1 state quarterfinals.
2. Praise The Racine Horlick boys volleyball team was recently named team of the week by the Racine Journal Times. Jamil Wilson, Kurt Larsen and the rest of the Rebels take on Racine St. Catherine's tonight in Sectional 6 playoff action.
3. Proceeds The UW-Eau Claire women's volleyball team announced that more than $6,300 was raised during their October "Dig for a Cure" fundraiser. Local high schools that participated included Elk Mound, Cameron, Pepin and Cadott. As the No. 1 seed in the WIAC tournament that starts tonight, the UW-Eau Claire Blugolds will face No. 8 UW-Stout.

"Play Every Play Like Your Last Because You Will Not Get This Opportunity Again"

If you've ever spent time reading the Volleyball Magazine Wisconsin boys volleyball discussion thread, you know it's a unique world of its own. There's usually a fair amount of friendly (and occasionally less-than-friendly) banter between players about who's the best at each position, which players are over- or underrated and, of course, who's a lock to win state.

Heartfelt emotion is rare. This is not a critique. It's just not how the thread is typically used. So we found it curious (and inspiring) this evening when someone identified as "Park Hi" with a "Northridge Volleyball" logo at the bottom of the post wrote these words:

"Remember to play your heart out every single play, whether you're down by 10 or up by 10. Play every play like your last because you will not get this opportunity again."

Fine stuff. Really fine stuff. Good luck to all the boys competing tomorrow night. And if you're free, you might even think about catching a match.

West v. East Matches of the Season (One Last Night and One Tonight)

We think it was Rudyard Kipling who once said, "East is east and west is west and never the twain shall meet." Not sure what that chap was thinking because here in Wisconsin, Wests and Easts meet all the time. And it's never more exciting than when a meeting between the "twain" occurs right smack dab in the middle of the playoffs.

Exhibit A: Appleton East defeated Appleton West last night in five sets in the first round of the WIAA boys playoffs. According to the Appleton Post-Crescent, Appleton East's 6'6" junior middle Noah Mader and teammate Tom Moriarty had big nights, combining for 29 kills. Appleton East will face Kaukauna on Tuesday night. 

Exhibit B: West Bend East will battle West Bend West in yet another classic meeting between two teams that not only share the same state, city, conference and sectional, they even share the same building. Last year, East reached the D1 state finals with a single senior on its roster. This year, West has the younger team (their only senior is Aleisha Bagin and they're getting huge contributions from freshman Sara Blasier). 

Should be plenty loud. 

Ticket to Tosa Tonight

The boys tournament started tonight and there was only one mild upset when No. 5 seed Fort Atkinson defeated No. 4 seed Madison La Follette in Sectional 3. Next matches are Tuesday and things should start to heat up then. 

Early Reports on Tonight's Boys Matches

The Volleyball magazine discussion board has these reports:

• Wauwatosa West over Greendale to claim the Woodland Conference crown
• Marquette over Catholic Memorial in three

Interesting Perspective on Friday Night's Appleton West-Appleton East Boys Playoff Match

There's s a great story in the Appleton Post-Crescent about how important volleyball is in Hmong culture. Give it a read.

"Not Having Any High School Matches Between Now and Thursday..."

Yeah, right. Our last post included the above words and they're 100 percent not true. Someone correctly brought to our attention the fact that Marquette will be playing at Catholic Memorial on Tuesday night in what should be a great boys match between two top contenders for a Ticket to Tosa. Our bad. It's now officially on our radar.