L-C netters avenge loss, win regional title

Luxemburg-Casco knocked out Oconto Falls in a battle of Div. 2 heavyweights Saturday, earning a WIAA regional volleyball championship on the road and a chance to play another state-ranked team Thursday night.
L-C, 8th-ranked in D-2 coming in, lost the first set to the 7th-ranked Panthers 25-27 before netting three straight wins, 25-18, 25-20 and 25-18.

Falls had beaten the Spartans 2-1/2 weeks earlier at Luxemburg on their way to a North Eastern Conference title.

“We knew it was going to be a battle,” said L-C coach Jeff Frey. “Emotions are really high in a match like this.”

High enough that Frey received a yellow card warning early in the match, and a red card later.

The heated exchanges between the coach and officials on separate occasions didn’t seem to rattle the girls.

Instead of arguing with the refs, the players let their game do the talking.

“I’m so incredibly proud of the girls,” Frey said. “We should have won that first set, but we let ‘em back in and we didn’t. I challenged them to stay in the fight. Without selflessness and mental toughness, we don’t win.”
A turning point in the match came in the second set. The Spartans were leading 15-9, but the Panthers reeled off six straight points to tie it. Timeout, L-C.

“We were pretty fired up and frustrated,” Frey said. “I went into the huddle and said it doesn’t matter. The next ball is what matters most. And we went on a six-point run of our own.”

Senior libero Jenna Annoye said they didn’t let Falls’ run get them rattled.

“We just really focused on the next ball,” Annoye said. “We forget the past mistakes and just let it go.”
Sophomore Ali Jansen said it’s a “we over me” thing.

“We just remembered that we’re playing for the team, not just ourselves,” Jansen said.
“What happened in the past, happened in the past,” said senior Aubrey Frey. “All we can do is make the next ball better, so we kind of had that mindset, focus on the next point.”

Frey, L-C’s all-time career leader in kills (2,177) and digs (1,515), had 24 kills, 20 digs and two aces. Claire Schleis added 23 assists, 16 kills, eight digs and three aces; Stella Schleis 21 assists and seven digs; Jansen 11 kills and nine digs; and Annoye 18 digs and three aces.

The Spartans (24-15) play at sixth-ranked Fox Valley Lutheran Thursday night. First serve at 7 p.m.

In a regional semifinal at home last Thursday, L-C swept Seymour, all by identical 25-17 scores. Claire Schleis led with 19 assists, 10 kills, seven digs and three aces; Stella Schleis had 13 assists and 12 digs; Frey 20 kills, 10 digs and two aces; Jansen nine kills; and Annoye 13 digs.