KAUKANA — The mantra of the Brodhead Cardinals volleyball team was to treat every day they could step on the court as a gift, because with the COVID-19 pandemic, it could have been over in an instant.

The play on the court by the Cardinals was a gift to themselves, their school and hometown. Brodhead was able to not just reach its third state berth in program history — this year’s Cardinals made it to the championship — the literal last day of the season.

After defeating Royall in four sets (31-33, 25-16, 25-20, 25-18) at Beaver Dam April 15 in the state semifinal, the Cardinals guaranteed themselves hardware for the first time in the history of the program. Two days later at Kaukauna, Washburn traded some of Brodhead’s exciting cheers for tears, beating the Cardinals in four sets, 25-22, 25-17, 20-25, 25-21.

“The stage hadn’t caught us until this point, but we had a little bit of a problem dealing with the big show, and it showed in our body language and it showed in our confidence,” coach Erin Kammerer said. “It’s definitely something we know that we are going to pluck away with in the next couple of years. 

The ride was still worth it for Brodhead, however. The team has just three seniors, but the younger players made the commitment early on in the season to play for their leaders.

“I’m glad that my seniors got an opportunity to play — when this whole thing started we didn’t even know if we were going to have a postseason. We’ve been kind of doing it for them this whole time, and a couple of weeks ago they just kind of said, ‘no, let’s do this for the team.’ The fact that they could put the team first is really what led us to where we ended up today,” Coach Kammerer said.

Senior Sabrina Siegel scored the final two points in the semifinal win over Royall, and both Nataley Bump and Bailey Matthys made big plays along the way as well. 

The whole team came together in the tournament, cruising into the sectional final before a stunning 5-set win over top-ranked Laconia, which earned Brodhead, ranked second, the top seed in the state tournament.

“I just love this team,” sophomore Abbie Dix said, who added that the excitement and energy through the whole tournament increased with each higher level of competition. “It’s so much fun to be able to play other teams outside of our conference — because we play them all the time. We see what’s new and what’s out there and work to see what else is out there, too. It’s the best way to play.”

State Semifinal, April 15

Brodhead 3, Royall 1

Fans in the stands at Beaver Damn High School almost got a 2-for-1 special in the opening set. Brodhead held the only 3-point advantage in the entire set (at 9-6), and that lasted just one serve. At 10 different moments the frame reached game-point, with the Cardinals final block attempt called out of bounds.

“(Coach) said we just need to go out there and grit it out for each other; don’t get into your own island; just keep being tough and pushing forward point after point; and just keep everyone up and in a good place,” Dix said.

The energy — mental, emotional and physical energy — exhausted by both teams was noticeable. While Royall scored the early victory and went into the second set in elation, it was Brodhead that was refocused. 

After falling behind 3-0, Brodhead didn’t fold, instead opened with their own hammer — Dix, a 6-foot hitter. Dix became a menace to the Royall at the net, blocking shots and spiking balls at will. She went on to finish the match with 63 kill attempts, with just 9 errors — 23 kills fell for points while the rest were dug up or partially blocked. Dix added 9 blocks defensively.

“I think one of our team strengths has been learning once we see it — in game experience. They saw some things,” Coach Kammerer said. “We had to throw the ball around, we had to get our outsides off and out and come from a different angle.”

With Dix leading the charge at the net, Brodhead ran off an 8-1 run to go up 8-4 in the second set. It didn’t stop there. The Cardinals seemingly scored two points to Royall’s one the rest of the set, building the lead to 8 points and eventually winning by 9.

In the third set Royall was able to go up by four points at 12-8, only for the Cardinals to rally and tie it at 15 and eventually win 25-20 — a run of 17-8. In the fourth and final set, the score was even at 14, and Brodhead led 17-16 before a 6-0 run put control of the outcome firmly in the Cardinals’ hands. Siegel scored kills for Brodhead’s final two points to send the squad to the championship.

“Sabrina stepped up — both sides of our net did, actually,” Coach Kammerer said.

Alexis Kammerer had 41 assists in the game with 10 digs, two blocks and 6 quick tip kills. McKenna Young had five kills, 12 digs, four blocks and 3 aces. Dix added two aces, as did Onnikah Oliver. Addison Yates chipped in with 7 kills and 5 blocks. Kiarra Moe had 15 digs and Oliver added another 13. 

Royall freshman Marah Gruen had 22 kills and Emma Gruen added 18.

“I’ve got to give a lot of credit to those two. They were hard to stop, but once my kids were able to see where it was coming and make some adjustments on their own, it seemed to go in our favor that way,” Coach Kammerer said.

“We’ve been taking it one step at a time. We knew it was our one step into getting some hardware. That was our goal. These kids have grinded it out this season.”

State Championship, April 17

Washburn 3, Brodhead 1

In the state championship, Washburn finished with three players recording at least 15 kills, while Dix (18) was the only Cardinal with more than 5.

“They were tough. They had a good outside and a good middle. It was really hard to block them. Their serves were really tough, too,” Matthys said.

Washburn opened with the hot hand, jumping out to a 10-3 lead after a Lexi Barningham ace. Despite the deficit, the Cardinals continued to grind and eventually took a brief 22-21 lead toward the end of the set. A kill by Caitlin Wheeler gave the Castle Guards possession with the tie, and Lily Wheeler aced home a shot to put Washburn ahead 23-22. Meghan Dougherty dropped two points in a row on spikes to close the set.

“They did a really nice job of changing tempo with the ball coming at us. We found ourselves on our heels so much, we didn’t dig quite as well as we usually do,” Coach Kammerer said.

In the second game, the teams were even after 14 serves, but Washburn pulled off an 8-4 run to go up 15-11. A few serves later, the lead increased to 21-14. 

“She wasn’t very happy, I will say that,” Siegel said of her coach’s statement to the players in the huddle between sets.

It was the third set that the Cardinals showed they wouldn’t be pushed over. After dropping the first three points of the set, Brodhead ran off a 9-0 run thanks to the elite serving of Oliver.

“Onni Oliver served enough to give us momentum, and that was a huge breath for us, to be able to get that, because we needed a few more kids to be able to step up into that lane and do the same thing, and that just didn’t happen,” Coach Kammerer said.

Washburn eventually pulled the frame even at 15, but the Cardinals dug deep to earn the set victory.

The momentum unfortunately didn’t carry over into the fourth set. Both teams traded side-out after side-out and were tied at 1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 14 and 19. That’s when it ended, as the Castle Guards closed the match on a 6-1 run.

“The energy felt great that we had. But for some reason, it just wasn’t us. It definitely wasn’t us — not sure why,” Siegel said. “But we tried. We can’t really be disappointed in ourselves.”

Before receiving their individual medals and the silver ball for the trophy case, the team huddled on the court, sharing one last moment alone.

“We all kind of hugged each other — everyone was crying,” Matthys said.

Dix led Brodhead with 18 kills. She also had 10 digs and six blocks. Alexis Kammerer had 29 assists, 5 kills, an ace and 3 blocks. Kiarra Moe finished with two aces. Oliver had an ace and 12 digs, and Madison Kail finished with an ace and 12 digs. Matthys had 3 blocks. 

One of the positives of the extended postseason run was the return of so many fans. The state semifinal had nearly half the gym decked out in all-black for Brodhead, while the championship game was nearly a 3:1 margin of fans in Brodhead’s favor. The support — and noise — were welcomed returns to normalcy to the team and community as the COVID-19 pandemic continued into its 14th month.

“I can’t say enough about our fans. The energy that our fans brought is amazing and it makes this stage even bigger. We were definitely feeling the love,” Coach Kammerer said.

Seniors bid farewell

Bump, Matthys and Siegel all stepped on the court for the last time together. It was bittersweet, Matthys said, being sad for the loss but bringing home the silver trophy.

“It was bittersweet to end my senior year with a ball — even silver is still good,” Matthys said. 

“It doesn’t feel the best, but we were still one of the two teams left playing in the state,” Siegel said. 

Bump said she and her teammates have loved playing with each other all year, and that their individual relationships with each other were “good.”

“It was always pretty scary knowing COVID was a thing and not taking every practice or game for granted,” Bump said. “I am happy to have been able to play with such a great team. It’s such a nice team to play with. We made history in Brodhead.”

Bump was a reserve defensive player, but always had to be prepared for the moment her name was called upon. 

“You just always have to be ready to keep cheering people on and have that mindset to be ready to play,” Bump said. “I always try to talk a lot, and that tends to help in practice and in games.”

Matthys said that the entire team banded together, which is what made the playoff run so special.

“Just like Coach Kammerer always told us in practice, each day could be our last. We had to work as hard as we could and make sure that we made our game ‘our game’,” Matthys said. “I’m going to look back especially to this year. With all the negativity with COVID, we just came out with a trophy.”

Siegel looked to the future — not for herself, but for her teammates. She said she’ll remember her bond with her teammates and all the support they gave each other. She also knows the younger classes have the potential to learn from the playoff run and build on that success.

“Now they know what state will be like, so hopefully the younger girls can get here again,” she said.