L-C volleyball left it all on the court

Megan Cannon walked into one of the final huddles of her high school career with some emotional words for her teammates Saturday at the Resch Center in Ashwaubenon.

Her teammates’ reaction spoke volumes of what was said in that special moment of time as they all looked up towards the crowd and smiled.

It didn’t matter that her team was trailing 10-4 in the fifth set, Cannon wanted to make sure her team didn’t lose sight of where it was and what it was playing for.

Not many high school athletes get to experience what it’s like going down to the wire when a state championship is on the line.

L-C didn’t squander that opportunity. They embraced it and took advantage of every second of being on that stage together as one heartbeat no matter how hard the final result hurt and ached.

The Spartans left it all on the court in falling to Lake Mills Lakeside Lutheran 19-25, 13-25, 25-22, 25-23, 15-10 in the WIAA Division 2 state championship.

“It was a great match,” L-C coach Jeff Frey said. “Everything you would want in a state final. I’m so proud of the way our girls played.

“You take your hats off to Lakeside. They played great. But I’m so proud of the girls in this room, and the girls on our team. It was an amazing season. The way they played and the way they battled, to fall behind 10-4 in Game 5 and not quit and keep going, says a lot about these girls. This is a team we’ll remember at Luxemburg-Casco forever.”

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The Spartans (41-9) not only came within an eyelash of winning a championship in their first state appearance in program history, but their performance marked the closest any Green Bay-area team has gotten to winning a WIAA state title since the girls volleyball tournament moved to the Resch Center in 2002.

L-C was only the third team to reach a state championship match over that time, joining Oconto (2012) and Green Bay Notre Dame (2016). It was the first to go to five sets in the state championship match.

Considering how a Green Bay-area team hasn’t won a WIAA state girls volleyball title since 1991, the Spartans have plenty to be proud of in a sport that has been dominated by schools in the southern part of the state. All but three of the last 48 D1 and D2 state champions have been from the south.

L-C’s run is further evidence of how things are looking up for girls volleyball in the north.

“It’s obviously something special,” L-C senior Alexis Dorner said.

Dorner ended her decorated career by resetting her single-season school record for aces with one in the state championship. The UW-Green Bay recruit also made 13 kills to go along with five digs and a block.

Junior Cassie Schiltz recorded a team-high 16 kills and added nine digs, while junior Peyton VandenBush made 12 kills. VandenBush was a catalyst to sparking L-C’s rally in the fifth set and ultimately played a key role in helping the Spartans win 33 of their final 35 matches following an 8-7 start to the season, according to Frey.

Cannon, a senior setter, totaled 49 assists and 12 digs as L-C won the first two sets on Saturday and won five consecutive sets at state overall. Senior Brianna Prevost added 13 digs.

“It’s more than we ever could have asked for,” said L-C senior libero Molly Wotruba, who made 27 digs and set a single-season school record with 780 this season. “It was amazing.”

What was amazing was the crowd L-C brought with it. Almost the entire half of its fan section at the Resch Center was filled, which is a true rarity for the state girls volleyball tournament.

Notre Dame coach Ben Wolf said it was the biggest crowd he’s seen from one school for a state championship match.

“I know these girls are hurting, and as competitors you should,” Frey said. “But when you look back at the end of the day, and you step back from today and the loss, to see those fans and to see the support we had and to see the way the girls played these two days and all year, it was amazing. No words can explain how amazing it was.”

Molly Wotruba, Amanda Smith, Annie Kinnard, Brianna Prevost, Megan Cannon, Alexis Dorner and Megan Thayse were the seven seniors on L-C’s team this year.

A North Eastern Conference title and D2 state championship runner-up is a pretty good way to go out.

“The experience was great,” Cannon said. “I never had an experience like this in volleyball before. I’m just glad I got to do it with my best friends.”