BRODHEAD - Brodhead's girls volleyball team is in unchartered territory. Not only has it stunned teams left and right throughout the postseason, the Cardinals now get to play the underdog role in the state spotlight.
Brodhead (35-7), which lost only one dual match all season, is regarded as a heavy underdog in Green Bay's Resch Center this weekend and has to take on private-school powerhouse Waukesha Catholic Memorial (37-11) in its first-ever state appearance. The Crusaders, in their third state appearance, won the title in 2006 and have been one of Wisconsin's best teams the past few years.
Should the Cardinals surprise again and survive their first-round matchup at 4 p.lm. Friday, Saturday's championship would be against either Rice Lake (30-6) or Waupun (47-5). Waupun, making its 14th state appearance, has won five of the past seven titles (and 10 total) and finished runner-up a year ago to Kettle Moraine Lutheran.
Rice Lake swept Medford - a state finals preseason pick by some - in the Medford Sectional to advance to state.
The Cardinals have come a long way since the beginning of the year, battling injuries and a changing rotation all season.
"We were injured a lot this year, but we are very healthy," head coach Eric Ebensberger said.
Midway through the season, star hitter and UW-Parkside basketball recruit Kristen Ruchti went down with a knee injury. Though the senior only was sidelined for a few weeks, Ebensberger's team had to do a lot of mixing and matching.
Courtney Mielke and Jordan Riese were asked to head to the net more often. Then, Ruchti's replacement, Dana Lewis, went down with an ankle injury against Orfordville Parkview on Sept. 24 - leaving Ebensberger's team without a tall presence in the middle.
"Basically we had to put something together. After basically losing our two big middles, we never really had a good rotation. We've had some players with some injuries and it's been rough. However, we have some girls who can play in some different spots that really picked it up and played some really good volleyball," Ebensberger said.
STATS MATTER
Senior setter Cassie Wymer has dished out an incredible 917 assists in just 109 games this year. Ruchti has logged 378 kills in under 100 games, with Mielke 249 and Riese 242 picking up the slack in Ruchti's absence.
For Catholic Memorial, sophomore hitter Aly Kujawa recorded a team-high 352 kills in 106 games. Senior setter Samantha Derynda has logged 961 assists for the Crusaders.
Rice Lake's Melissa Richie has dominated northwestern Wisconsin with 419 kills in only 97 games played.
Waupun's Bridget Nickel has recorded 430 kills this season, and as a team, the Warriors have slammed 1,265 kills in their 2008 campaign.
Brodhead (35-7), which lost only one dual match all season, is regarded as a heavy underdog in Green Bay's Resch Center this weekend and has to take on private-school powerhouse Waukesha Catholic Memorial (37-11) in its first-ever state appearance. The Crusaders, in their third state appearance, won the title in 2006 and have been one of Wisconsin's best teams the past few years.
Should the Cardinals surprise again and survive their first-round matchup at 4 p.lm. Friday, Saturday's championship would be against either Rice Lake (30-6) or Waupun (47-5). Waupun, making its 14th state appearance, has won five of the past seven titles (and 10 total) and finished runner-up a year ago to Kettle Moraine Lutheran.
Rice Lake swept Medford - a state finals preseason pick by some - in the Medford Sectional to advance to state.
The Cardinals have come a long way since the beginning of the year, battling injuries and a changing rotation all season.
"We were injured a lot this year, but we are very healthy," head coach Eric Ebensberger said.
Midway through the season, star hitter and UW-Parkside basketball recruit Kristen Ruchti went down with a knee injury. Though the senior only was sidelined for a few weeks, Ebensberger's team had to do a lot of mixing and matching.
Courtney Mielke and Jordan Riese were asked to head to the net more often. Then, Ruchti's replacement, Dana Lewis, went down with an ankle injury against Orfordville Parkview on Sept. 24 - leaving Ebensberger's team without a tall presence in the middle.
"Basically we had to put something together. After basically losing our two big middles, we never really had a good rotation. We've had some players with some injuries and it's been rough. However, we have some girls who can play in some different spots that really picked it up and played some really good volleyball," Ebensberger said.
STATS MATTER
Senior setter Cassie Wymer has dished out an incredible 917 assists in just 109 games this year. Ruchti has logged 378 kills in under 100 games, with Mielke 249 and Riese 242 picking up the slack in Ruchti's absence.
For Catholic Memorial, sophomore hitter Aly Kujawa recorded a team-high 352 kills in 106 games. Senior setter Samantha Derynda has logged 961 assists for the Crusaders.
Rice Lake's Melissa Richie has dominated northwestern Wisconsin with 419 kills in only 97 games played.
Waupun's Bridget Nickel has recorded 430 kills this season, and as a team, the Warriors have slammed 1,265 kills in their 2008 campaign.
