East Troy volleyball team dominates the competition
By Derek Kiesow
Correspondent
With the gold ball firmly in grasp, East Troy High School head volleyball coach Jeremy Weis and his Trojans knew their hard work had just paid off.
In a Friday morning pep rally the 1987 volleyball team, East Troy’s last and only previous squad to make it to state, urged the Trojans to bring the championship home and that is just what they did.
East Troy used that motivation to easily dismantle the Panthers of Oconto Falls on Friday night moving them into the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Division 2 State Championship match.
The Trojans started slowly against Oconto Falls as nerves seemed to get the best of them early. The Panthers jumped off to a 1-5 early advantage over the Black and Gold. East Troy regrouped, taking their first lead of the match at 11-10. The lead was short lived as Oconto Falls once again used East Troy’s uncharacteristic errors to go up 14-18 forcing East Troy to take a timeout.
The timeout did wonders for the Trojans as they battled back and tie the set at 20 points apiece. From here it was all East Troy as two aces by Senior Alyssa Scuric and a solo block from Senior Bryzena Santos helped the Trojans score five of the last six points, taking the set 25-21. East Troy was never challenged again the entire weekend.
In the second set Brittney Jakscht kept the Falls players confused as she moved the ball all around the court. A powerful Santos slide kill as well as an ace from senior Mykie Olsen helped East Troy double Oconto Falls early at 10-5. The Panthers began to feel the pressure of East Troy’s dominate play and they soon started to go for too much, causing multiple hitting errors and extending the Trojan’s lead even more. The Trojans took the second set 25-14.
The Black and Gold swept Oconto Falls in the final game as Myranda Dallas showed off her strong serving. On the way to the commanding 11-0 lead Dallas tallied two aces and kept the Falls team off balance with her aggressive serves. With the outcome never in question East Troy was able to cruise to the easy 25-15 victory.
Myranda Dallas led the team with eight kills as Brittney Jakscht tallied 22 assists. Alyssa Scuric notched three aces as Mykie Olsen dug up a team high 19 balls. Bryzena Santos rounded out the leaders with five blocks.
Championship match
The championship match against Edgewood was less of a battle and more of a coronation for the Trojans as East Troy was never threatened.
Edgewood won the first point of the match and little did they know that the 0-1 lead over the Trojans would be their last and only lead of the entire championship. Katrina Santos put away an overpass kill to tie the score at 1-1 and the Trojans were off and running.
Midway through the set East Troy’s lead grew to 17-8. M.E. Dodge helped secure the set one victory as she served up two aces with her impressive jump serve. East Troy used their spread attack as six Trojans had two or more kills in the 25-11 set win.
Myranda Dallas took control in the second set as she once again used her serve to jump start East Troy to a 5-0 lead. The Trojans lead swelled to 10 points, 17-7, as Katie Hodges showed off her defensive talents in the back row.
Edgewood seemed overmatched in every aspect of the game as they were not able to handle the Trojan’s team speed or variety. Weis continued to motivate his team toward the victory as the Trojans took the second set 25-14.
East Troy could sense the finish line was near and the third set soon got out of hand for Edgewood. Midway through the set, East Troy had built a double-digit lead at 17-7. Edgewood’s feeble attempted to slow the Trojans down with a timeout did little.
The lead continued to grow as Edgewood was in no position to make a run at East Troy. Weis, not wanting this heavily one-sided match to slip out of his grasp, kept his starters in as they continued to pound the Crusader squad. Alyssa Scuric put the final point down at 25-11 and the midcourt celebration started for East Troy.
M.E. Dodge used 14 kills to lead the Trojans as Brittney Jakscht had 26 assists. Myranda Dallas served up three aces as Mykie Olsen has 16 digs. Bryzena Santos again led the team with three blocks.
After the match, Weis was awarded the WIAA Division 2 State Championship trophy, which the season had been centered around all year. He hoisted the gold ball high into the air before handing it off and allowing his team to join in the celebration at mid court, first by the six seniors, then followed by the rest of the Trojans.
The state championship capped off an impressive undefeated 44-0 record in which the Trojans lost only eight sets all season long. They also took home championships at five different tournaments, two of which are thought to be the toughest in the state.
Every Trojan player, coach, parent and fan alike, will have their own reason to remember this “golden” moment for years to come.
