Memorial looks to defend crown

Both Catholic Memorial and Kettle Moraine's boys volleyball teams struggled with their serve in the first set of Thursday's WIAA sectional final Thursday at KM, combining for 10 errors.

The team that came away from that set with a victory never let go of the momentum.

Defending state champion CMH rolled past the Lasers, 25-22, 25-20, 25-19, advancing to the state quarterfinal Friday against No. 1-ranked Marquette at Wisconsin Lutheran College in Milwaukee.

"Having that experience is so huge," said CMH coach Mike Hannemann, whose libero (Connor Braun), setter (Tim Heyrman) and top hitter (Novotny), all seniors, saw the floor last year at the state tourney when CMH swept all three opponents, including Marquette in the final. "We just need to focus on the task."

Marquette and Memorial have been the state's top two teams all year, with Marquette winning three of four meetings between the two during the regular season.

"They have so many weapons; it's hard to pick out a couple guys you can focus your block on," Hannemann said. "Peter Hutz is obviously the go-to guy to key on, but they have so much."

Lasers top West

Kettle Moraine's fierce block helped the Lasers take down Waukesha West in the Tuesday sectional semifinal, 25-21, 25-18, 21-25, 25-21.

"Their block was unreal tonight," said Waukesha West coach Dan Rogutich. "We didn't have the passing to run all our options, unfortunately, but they outplayed us. They made the adjustments blocking. It was a well-played match on both sides, but blocking was a big part of the game."

Alex Jelacic had eight kills for West, and Dan Callaway had seven in the season-ending setback.

"It was my first team ever coaching with five seniors, and it was a big deal to have them with me," Rogutich said. "We had a tremendous year. They definitely left a mark on this program."