Girls volleyball and tennis, and boys soccer teams play tonight
By Kevin Cunningham
Sports Correspondent
The Angel Invite is a cross country meet held each year with high meaning behind it because of the tough competition (multiple Division 1 teams) and sheer overall number of teams participating in it. This year, the Whippets were one of 29 teams competing.
For the girls, the Whippets finished ninth, with a total team score of 258. For the boys, the team took home a 20th-place finish, with a score of 578.
Allisan Barrett was the top Whippets girl, finishing in 14th-place. Sarah Ziolkowski followed right behind, with a 17th-place finish.
For the boys, Brodie Ruenz turned in the top performance, good for 52nd-place. Jacob Korf earned the No. 2 spot, and with a personal record time of 18:40, took home a 108th-place finish.
On both sides, over 190 runners competed in each race. The next race for the boys and girls is beginning at 9 a.m. on Saturday against Janesville Craig at the Blackhawk Golf Course.
Spikers improving play
Whitewater High School’s girls volleyball team had a match on Sept. 15 and Sept. 17 and fell in both, 3-0. Despite the 3-0 defeat, on Sept. 17, head coach Kathy Bullis said the team had a lot to be proud of.
The Whippets faced East Troy, who was a ranked team in the state, and lost (25-14, 25-14, 25-17). Bullis said the entire team saw solid performances and leadership shown by several players throughout the night.
“We played our best volleyball tonight,” Bullis said. “We competed with a state-ranked team and we didn’t back down. We fought to the end. I couldn’t be more proud of the progress, improvement, and determination the athletes brought to the floor tonight (…) Our team felt good about how we worked together, and this performance can jumpstart the remainder of our season.”
The next match on the team’s schedule will begin at 6:30 p.m. tonight when the Whippets hit the road to face McFarland.
Netters continue to win
On Sept. 14, the Whippets’ girls tennis team travelled to play Jefferson, and despite being on the road, came out with a 6-1 victory. No match went three sets, and No. 3 singles player, Amanda Kraayvanger won her match (6-0, 6-0).
“I was very pleased with how the girls played,” Whippets head coach Tim Nelson said. “Every girl got stronger as the night went on. [The] doubles teams played especially well. Both the No. 1 and No. 2 doubles teams were just consistent from start to finish. At No. 3 doubles, Andi Markham and Maggie Hough played one of their best matches of the year, especially their second set.”
A match was scheduled against Big Foot three days later, but got postponed, and is scheduled to start at 4 p.m. today at home. Another rescheduled match, that took place on Tuesday against East Troy, also went the Whippets’ way, but was much closer.
The match was continued from when it began because of the rain out, and the No. 2 doubles team of Emma Stutzman and Ali Ketterhagen clinched the victory with their (7-6 [2], 6-2) victory. Milena Maroske won her No. 2 singles match (6-2, 6-1).
The rescheduled match against Big Foot marks the team’s last until the conference tournament. The meet is set to begin at 4 p.m. Thursday at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.
Swimmers earn records
On Sept. 15, the Whippets’ girls swimming team went on the road and faced Badger High School. Badger’s varsity team ended up on top, 121-49.
Right after the meet, head coach Gina Foucault posted on Facebook, “Sometimes a final score doesn’t do justice to what really transpires…we may have lost to a tough Division 1 Badger swim team, but we went down swinging with 46 out of 50 best times!”
Standouts were Sydney Zimdars and Grace Fanshaw. Zimdars won the 200 freestyle with a time of 2:05.81, while Fanshaw won both the 200 IM (2:23.71) as well as the 500 freestyle (5:36.47).
Four different Whippets had one race in which they posted a best time, while 21 girls posted two best times in their races.
The team’s next meet is set for a 6 p.m. start on Oct. 6 at Burlington High School.
Kickers deliver shut out
The Whippets’ boys soccer team had one match this past week, on Sept. 15, and made the most of it on the road against Edgerton. By halftime, the team was leading, 5-0.
Head coach Rene Menager said he was pleased with his team’s strong performance, but also that the mechanics of each player’s individual play could’ve improved. Three more goals ensued, and the Whippets ended up with an 8-0 victory.
Xhonaton Shahollari scored four goals in the game, all of which coming before the 64-minute mark. Jonathon Caldwell also added two goals of his own.
Menager said he wasn’t expecting the level of scoring that took place against an improving Edgerton team, but he was pleased with how his team moved the ball throughout the match.
The team returns home for its next match against McFarland, starting at 6:30 p.m. tonight.
