Luxemburg-Casco went undefeated in its own 12-team invitational Saturday, beating a pair of highly-ranked teams along the way.

Jeff Frey’s squad opened pool play in the Spartan Invitational with a 25-15, 25-23 win over Shawano before defeating Sevastopol, 25-18, 25-18.

After lunch, L-C opened gold bracket play with a first-set loss (19-25) to the state’s fifth-ranked team in Div. 1, Wisconsin Lutheran. But the Spartans rallied to take the next two sets, 26-24 and 15-7, to advance to the championship.

That title match against Mosinee — ranked #2 in the state in Div. 2 — was an epic, back-and-forth battle. The Spartans would win both sets, 26-24 and 25-21, avenging a loss to the Indians in the Beast of the Northeast tournament championship last month.

“It was a total team win,” said Frey. “We’ve been talking a lot about staying on the attack, having confidence and handling bad better. We got contributions from a lot of different people. The girls were scrappy, and played with a lot of confidence, composure and grit.”

L-C improved to 22-15, with most of the losses coming to Div. 1 opponents. Wisconsin Lutheran is 32-9, and Mosinee 29-6. Even after beating both higher-ranked opponents, the Spartans remained in the eighth spot in this week’s D-2 rankings.

Stat leaders Saturday were Claire Schleis with 68 assists and 21 kills; Aubrey Frey with 56 kills, 29 digs, four blocks and five aces; Stella Schleis with 36 assists; Jenna Annoye with 33 digs; and Ali Jansen with 23 kills.
Freshman Caydence Hruska stepped in to play libero, and Jansen played back row.

“That’s the mark of a good team,” Coach Frey said. “When someone’s not in their normal spot, and someone else can step up. It was fun to watch them compete. We’ve been doing a lot of stuff in practice that we’re trying to grow on, and a lot of it showed up today. It’s a great way to go into the tournament.”

Luxemburg-Casco received a two-seed and a first-round bye in the WIAA Div. 2 regional tournament. They hosted Seymour Thursday for the right to play for the championship Saturday, likely at Oconto Falls. The Panthers are the top-seed, and at 34-5, the state’s seventh-ranked team in Div. 2. In conference play at L-C two weeks ago, Falls lost the first set, but came back to win three straight.

“We’ve got to get after it,” said Coach Frey.

If the Spartans can win the regional, they’d likely meet another top-seed in sixth-ranked Fox Valley Lutheran next Thursday. The sectional championship is on Halloween in Seymour.

Frey tops in kills, digs

Frey, a 5-foot-9 senior, is L-C’s all-time career leader in kills (2,133) and digs (1,485). So far this season, she has 540 kills, 287 digs, and 55 aces. Her 233 career aces is second-most in school history.

She’ll be attending college and playing volleyball at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas, located on the eastern edge of the state between Houston and Texas.