Catch up on 2024 WIAA boys volleyball state tournament updates

by Junna Base November 8, 2024

The WIAA boys volleyball state tournament gets underway Wednesday at the Resch Center in Ashwaubenon.

Quarterfinals are set for 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. Wednesday, with semifinals Thursday and the championship Friday.

USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin will be providing live updates throughout the day. Follow along here for the latest on all the action:

The GMC is representing at state. The conference will have three of the four semifinalists on Thursday after No. 4 Germantown swept Appleton North 30-28, 25-21, 25-17 to complete Wednesday’s quarterfinal round. Three Warhawks finished with 10-plus kills, including Parker Van Engen, who finished with a team-high 12. Nathan Ramus did everything he could for North with 13 kills and 13 digs.

Germantown now moves its focus to Hamilton.

“Hamilton is a really good team,” Germantown coach Brian Rushmer said about the next opponent. “They got our number twice so far, once in their gym. If you’ve been there, it’s a home court advantage from the special awareness and the size of the gym itself. They have a really talented outside you have to respect. The right side is big and strong. We do feel we match up well with them.”

Game, set and match. No. 1 Sussex Hamilton clinches the third of four semifinal spots on Thursday with a 25-18, 25-18, 25-11 sweep of Kenosha Indian Trail. They join Marquette and Middleton, who won their respective quarterfinal matches earlier in the evening.

“Definitely new atmosphere. We’ve never been here before. None of our guys have been here before. I haven’t been here before,” Hamilton coach Grey Little said. “Obviously, some pregame jitters to get things figured out. I think it showed a little bit in that first set. We turned it up. Found our stride, made some adjustments defensively, offensively and it got us through.”

Cole McCoy paced the Chargers with 12 kills, Henry Mrotek led the way with 33 of the 35 total assists and Ezra Mitchell led the team with 14 digs. Thyler Sioco was the lone Hawk to reach double-digit kills with 10 for Indian Trail, who finish 19-16 on the season.

Hamilton leads 10-5 in the third set on their way to a sweep of Indian Trail and now, Germantown moves to within a set of tomorrow’s semifinals after a 25-21 victory in the second set over Appleton North. Ryan Stelling is leading Germantown with eight kills, while Alex Rogowski has dished out a match-high 25 assists for the Warhawks. Rogowski also leads the No. 4 seed with eight digs tonight through two sets.

Back-to-back 25-18 victories in the first two sets tonight have top-seeded Sussex Hamilton on the cusp of tomorrow afternoon’s semifinal round. Cole McCoy leads the Chargers with nine kills. Henry Mrotek’s up to a match-high 22 assists. Evan Feudner leads Indian Trail with nine kills.

On the other court, Germantown holds a 16-13 advantage after winning the opening set against Appleton North.

No. 1 Sussex Hamilton got off on the right foot in the first set tonight against Indian Trail with a 25-18 victory. Andrew Steele and Tyler Breier each finished the set with four kills apiece, while Henry Mrotek dished out a set-high 11 assists.

On the other court, Germantown took the early lead in the 4-5 matchup with a wacky and wild 30-28 victory over Appleton. Nathan Ramus paced the Lightning with five kills and five digs in the first set. Adam Emerson racked up five kills to lead the Warhawks, who trailed 24-19 at one point before falling in Set 1. A huge momentum boost for the No. 4 seed heading into the second set.

After trailing 15-13 in the opening set, Appleton North has stormed back to force a Germantown timeout at 18-15. Sussex Hamilton is close to a 1-0 lead against Indian Trail with a 22-17 advantage on the other court.

The No. 1 seed Sussex Hamilton Chargers are off and rolling at state tonight. They lead Kenosha Indian Trail in the first set, 17-10. On the court next door, No. 4 seed Germantown leads Appleton North following a Lightning timeout, 13-11.

Getting ready for Germantown/Appleton North in a WIAA state boys volleyball quarterfinal. North is 24-12 on the season with Germantown at 35-9.

The two teams have met before early in the season at the Brookfield Clash with Germantown sweeping the Lightning 2-0.

Germantown advanced with a 3-0 sweep of Homestead in a sectional final with North outlasting Kimberly 3-2 in their sectional final.

Half of tomorrow’s semifinals are officially set. After dropping the first set, Marquette runs off three straight sets to move on with a hard-fought 17-25, 25-21, 25-17, 25-20 victory over No. 7 seed New Berlin United. Defending state champion Middleton did the same with No. 6 seed Westosha Central in the same session with a 25-14, 25-21, 19-25, 25-20 win to eliminate the Falcons.

The Hilltoppers and Cardinals will meet for the fourth time this season. Marquette took two of the three meetings with Middleton, but the Cardinals took the most recent match in a 3-0 sweep back on Oct. 22 before the postseason started.

“We’ve had some good battles the last couple of years and been fortunate enough to schedule some dual matches with them towards the end of the season last couple of years and it’s been an awesome experience for both teams to play high level volleyball,” Middleton coach Dylan Griffith said on the matchup. ‘We are not at all surprised to be playing them in the semifinal, they’re a good team.”

“It’s going to be a fun match,” Marquette coach Jake Cosson said. “Caden (Van Buren) is an unbelievable player so you have to be ready for whatever he’s going to bring. The core around him is really, really good and they’re jelling at the right time. I don’t think they’ve lost in the last six weeks.

“This is boys’ volleyball at its finest.”

After trailing 17-12 in the fourth set, the Falcons take the next three points on a kill from Zac Hanusek, a Middleton error and an ace from Jude Gehrke to force a Cardinal timeout at 17-15. On the other court, Marquette and New Berlin United are locked in a 14-14 duel in Set 4. Things are getting tight on both courts once again.

The Hilltoppers are one set away from the semifinals on Thursday. Marquette downed New Berlin United in the third set, 25-17. Three different Hilltoppers have 10-plus kills in the match, led by Aidan Del Fava’s 11. Raj Dihora leads NBU with 11 assists. Marquette leads NBU in overall assists, 40-17.

On the other court, Westosha Central fends off a late Middleton comeback in the third set to win and keep their season alive, 25-19. Austin Rynberg leads with 10 kills, while Graham Foerster’s up to 21 assists for the Falcons. Caden Van Buren leads Middleton with 14 kills and Bryce Stuttgen still leads everybody with 25 of the Cardinals’ 27 assists in the match.

The Hilltoppers hold a 22-15 lead in the third, but after taking a 20-13 lead in their match with Middleton, Westosha Central’s trying to hang on and force a fourth set to keep their season alive with a 20-16 lead.

After trailing 7-5 in the third set, the Hilltoppers force a timeout from NBU as they take an 11-7 lead. Drew Blonski leads Marquette with 10 kills, followed by Aidan Del Fava and Sam Becker each with nine. Elijah Cannon and Devin McRae each have five kills for NBU.

They’re not dead yet. The Falcons win 10 of the 15 points of Set 3 to force a Middleton timeout with WC holding a 10-5 lead. Forerster’s up to 16 assists for Westosha Central and Nicki Virre has upped his kill tally to six. Meanwhile, on Court 2, Marquette holds a 10-7 lead over New Berlin United in Set 3.

Middleton’s in firm control now with a 2-0 lead as the two programs head to the third set. The wheels fell off for the Falcons after taking an 18-15 lead in the second set. They were outscored 10-3 to close the set and now face elimination heading into the third set. Austin Rynberg leads the Falcons still with seven kills and teammate Graham Foerster leads with 13 assists. Caden Van Buren is still the match leader with 10 kills. Bryce Stuttgen leads everyone with 18 assists so far.

It wasn’t easy, but the Hilltoppers are back in it. After New Berlin United took the first set and with the teams locked in a 20-20 duel late in Set 2, the Hilltoppers took five of the next six points to win, 25-21. Drew Blonski was massive for the Hilltoppers with three kills in that five-point stretch.

The Falcons are battling in Set 2. It’s tied at 18 as Middleton uses a 3-0 run out of a timeout that WC led 18-15 before the quick break. Austin Rynberg leads the Falcons with six kills. Caden Van Buren has 10 kills on 17 attacks so far today.

Both matches are tight in the second set. Marquette nabs a 16-14 on the back of a 4-0 push to force a timeout from NBU coach Nicholas Maske. It hasn’t been pretty for the Hilltopper offense who have committed 18 errors already in the match. Five different Toppers have kills, led by Aidan Del Fava. Raj Dihora leads NBU with six assists in total so far.

The defending boys volleyball state champions took the opening game from No. 6 Westosha Central, 25-14. Caden Van Buren paced the defending champions with seven kills, followed by teammate Vance Ferry with six. Austin Rynberg had four kills to lead the Falcons in the first set. Graham Foerster had eight assists for the No. 6 seed.

A rough opening set for the Hilltoppers sees the upstart New Berlin United take the first set in the best-of-five matchup, 25-17. Jackson Susek hammers one home to finish off the opening set for NBU. Marquette committed 12 errors with 11 assists, 10 from Asa Kloss alone. Braden Brochardt registered a pair of kills in the set with three assists for Raj Dihora to give the co-op an early 1-0 advantage.

After Cosson burned his first timeout for Marquette, seven of the next 11 points went the way of New Berlin United to force another Hilltopper timeout. It’s been a rough start for the second seed with eight errors in their first 12 total attacks so far today. NBU leads Marquette, 14-6.

After the two sides exchanged the first five points of the contest, NBU goes on a quick 4-0 run to force the first timeout of the match from Marquette coach Jake Cosson with his team down five points in the opening set. This is the kind of start the underdog Eisenhower/West co-op needed against the state-experienced Hilltoppers. A service error from Aiden Del Fava and three attack errors have the 7-seed up early on.

Quarterfinals (Wednesday)

No. 3 Middleton (33-4) def. No. 6 Westosha Central (27-2), 25-14, 25-21, 19-25, 25-20

No. 2 Marquette (27-6) def. No. 7 New Berlin United (27-8), 17-25, 25-21, 25-17, 25-20

No. 1 Sussex Hamilton (37-4) def. No. 8 Kenosha Indian Trail (19-16), 25-18, 25-18, 25-11

No. 4 Germantown (36-9) def. No. 5 Appleton North (24-13), 30-28, 25-21, 25-17

Semifinals (Thursday)

No. 1 Sussex Hamilton (37-4) vs. No. 4 Germantown (36-9), 2 p.m.

No. 2 Marquette (27-6) vs. No. 3 Middleton (33-4), 2 p.m.

Championship (Friday)

Semifinal winners, 7:30 p.m.

It’s at the Resch Center in Ashwaubenon.

Tickets can be purchased at the gate for $11 per session or $13 online for individuals 3 and older. You can order tickets online here.

No. 1 seed Middleton defeated No. 2 Arrowhead in the state title match last season to win the program’s first state title in its 14th all-time state tournament appearance, 25-18, 21-25, 25-22, 24-26, 15-6.

For the first time in program history, the Chargers are one of the last eight at state. The week could be a special one for the Sussex community as both the boys and girls programs have qualified for state, with the girls seeded second in the Division 1 bracket. On the boys side, the Chargers have basically been the state’s best team all season with 36 victories in 40 total matches and will enter Wednesday’s quarterfinals as the top overall seed.

With their appearance this week at state, it marks the 23rd consecutive state tournament the Hilltoppers have qualified for, equaling the total appearance record set by Kaukauna. The No. 2-seeded Hilltoppers have only won the state crown twice since 2015, which feels like a tough stretch for one of the state’s historically great programs in any sport. A title this weekend would mark the 11th total in program history, extending their own record.

The Cardinals are the defending champions and are in their 15th state tournament and their fourth in the last five seasons. They reached the state tournament with a 25-21, 25-13, 25-21 victory over Madison West in the sectional final. Middleton is the Big Eight Conference champion.

For the first time since 2019, the Warhawks are back on the state stage. The last time before this week the Warhawks were at state was when they reached the tournament for three straight years from 2017 to 2019, winning their lone state title in 2018. Germantown is also the third of three Greater Metro Conference representatives playing this weekend, equaling the Classic 8 Conference’s total of three programs (Arrowhead, Kettle Moraine, Waukesha co-op) in last year’s state tournament.

The Lightning are making their ninth state-tournament appearance — and second in three seasons — after upsetting Kimberly in the sectional final, 25-19, 29-31, 26-24, 15-25, 19-17. Appleton North started the season with only one player — junior Nathan Ramus — having varsity experience. The Lightning, which won the state title in 2012, were third in the Fox Valley Association this season.

For the sixth time in program history and the first time since 2021, the Falcons are among the last eight teams playing. The last time they played in the state tournament, they finished as the tournament’s runner-up.

Could the seventh time be heaven for New Berlin’s co-op? They’re back at state this week for the seventh time overall and the first time since the 2020 tournament. It took all five sets last weekend, but the co-op eliminated 2023 qualifier Franklin in the sectional final to make it back to state. It hasn’t lost a match since Oct. 10.

For the fifth time — all since 2015 — Kenosha Indian Trail is back at state. The Hawks eliminated Oak Creek in straight sets in the sectional final to make it back to the final eight for the first time in three postseasons.

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