Chiefs advance, faced Trojans Thursday night
By Dan Truttschel
Correspondent
When the post-season arrives, the focus is simple – win or go home.
And for the Big Foot volleyball team, the latter wasn’t an option in its Division 2 regional opener Tuesday night.
The Chiefs took control early and never let it go in a 25-11, 25-16, 25-17 victory over visiting Monroe. Big Foot improved to 27-9-3 overall and advanced to a regional semifinal Thursday night at the state’s second-ranked team, East Troy.
Big Foot coach Caitlin Dowden was pleased with her team’s effort Tuesday.
“We came out ready to play right away in set one,” she said. “We took an early lead, which set tempo for the rest of the night. Overall, the girls played a great match and took care of business.
“We are very pleased with a win and happy to advance. The girls worked hard to get the team win and make sure their season (was) extended.”
Leading the way were Kennedy Hehr with 17 kills and 17 digs, Gloria Esarco with three aces, Kampbell Hehr with three aces and 35 assists and Kaiti Kelley with four blocks.
The win Tuesday came on the heels of a second-place finish at Saturday’s Rock Valley Conference Tournament.
“We had a great day overall,” Dowden said. “I don’t think there were many people who thought we would make it to the finals. A lot of people thought it would a North (Division) versus North finals, and we proved that wrong.”
Big Foot beat Evansville 18-25, 25-20, 15-6 in the opener and advanced to the finals with a 26-24, 25-17 win over Edgerton in the second round.
Leading the way in the win over Evansville were Kennedy Hehr with nine kills and 12 digs, Esarco with nine kills, Kelley with five blocks, Kampbell Hehr with 12 digs and 29 assists and Sophie Foster with 10 digs.
Against Edgerton, Kennedy Hehr had nine kills, followed by Esarco with nine kills and 11 digs, Foster with 18 digs, Alyssa Zillmer with 12 digs and 24 assists and Julia Gilstrap with 10 digs.
Zillmer stepped in for Kampbell Hehr just two points into the semifinal when she went down with an injury and couldn’t return.
“Alyssa stepped up in the situation and ran a very good match against Edgerton,” Dowden said. “The team rallied around the change and played probably one of our best matches to secure the win. It was a total team effort.”
In the finals, the Chiefs fell to East Troy, 8-25, 13-25. Big Foot leaders were Esarco with four kills and six digs, Kennedy Hehr with three kills and six digs, Gilstrap and Foster with four digs and Zillmer with eight assists.
