Craig, Parker volleyball lose in Division 1 regional title matches

John Barry, The Janesville Gazette, Wis.
·3 min read

Oct. 24—Janesville Craig's volleyball team had no answer for Lauren Foerster on Saturday night.

The Westosha Central standout senior filled out the stat sheet with 27 kills, nine digs and three aces to lead her team to a 3-1 win over Craig in a WIAA Division 1 regional title match. The Falcons won 25-19, 16-25, 25-20 and 25-18.

Fifht-seeded Westosha plays top-seeded and Southern Lakes Conference rival Burlington in a sectional semifinal match Thursday.

Craig finished the season 24-9.

The Cougars tied the match at 1-1 by rolling to a 25-16 win in Game 2, but the Falcons quickly regrouped and raced out to a 10-2 lead in Game 3 behind Foerster, who was simply the best player on the court.

"We just couldn't find a way to stop No. 10," Craig coach Blake Budrow said of Foerster. "We did in Game 2 because we neutralized her by serving better and they didn't receive well, but that wasn't the case in Game 3. They were able to set her up because we didn't serve as well, and then that carried over to Game 4.

"What really hurt us was when they took a big lead early in the third game. That took all the momentum away from us."

Needing a win in Game 4 to set up a fifth-set tiebreaker, Craig led 14-12 before Foerster single-handedly took over. The Findlay College (Ohio) recruit had kills on four of the next five plays as Westosha took a 16-14 lead. She capped off a 10-0 run with her 24th kill to make it 21-14. The match ended on Foerster's 27th kill.

"It's kind of funny because two years ago, Lauren was our setter because our other one broke her foot," Westosha coach Megan Awe said. "But now she's blossomed into a full-set rotation player, and you saw tonight how she's capable of taking over a match."

Britten Bertagnoli, a four-year varsity player, led Craig with 15 kills, while another four-year player—Mckaylie Justman—had a match-high eight aces.

"It's a great group of seniors I'm losing," Budrow said. "I've coached some of them for five years because I had them in club in eighth grade. It's going to be really sad to see them go."

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WESTOSHA 3, CRAIG 1

Westosha Central;25;16;25;25

Janesville Craig;19;25;20;18

Leaders: Aces—Lauren Foerster (W) 3, Mckaylie Justman (C) 8. Kills—Foerster (W) 27, Britten Bertagnoli 15. Assists—Sydney Selburg (W) 44, Lily Campbell (C) 20. Digs—Foerster (W) 9, Abby Trapp 15. Blocks—Bertagnoli (C) 3

Fort Atkinson sweeps Parker

The season came to an end Saturday night for Janesville Parker's volleyball team.

Second-seeded Fort Atkinson cruised to a 3-0 win over the seventh-seeded Vikings a Division 1 regional title match. The Blackhawks won 25-11, 25-11 and 25-15.

"They're a really athletic team that makes it hard on you to get anything going offensively," Parker coach Andy Kimball said of Fort Atkinson. "We had a few spurts where we made a move, but they answered right back every time.

"But I'm really proud of the way this team battled all season long, especially my seniors. It's a great group that are going to be hard to replace."

Senior Kylee Skrzypchak had six kills, and senior Jayda Schober added six digs.

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FORT ATKINSON 3, PARKER 0

Janesville Parker;11;11;15

Fort Atkinson;25;25;25

Parker leaders: Aces—Kendall Buehl 3. Kills—Kylee Skrzypchak 6. Assists—Sydney Pajerski 15. Digs—Jayda Schober 6