Chargers volleyball team begins CWC-East title quest with win

The Wittenberg-Birnamwood High School volleyball team is hoping to win its second straight Central Wisconsin Conference-East Division title this fall, but needed some young players to fill in the voids left by graduated players.

The team’s young talent were up for the challenge Tuesday, when the team opened its season with a sweep of Bonduel by scores of 25-11, 25-16, 25-21 in Bonduel.

“That was the biggest thing I was saying in the (season) preview, is we got to start off strong right off the bat,” said Witt-Birn coach Becky Rew. “Our No. 1 goal is to win conference again.”

“We got six seniors but we also have a lot of sophomores and freshmen playing and there were some nerves. I saw it in warmups, the nerves were kind of there, but I was very happy with how they came together.”

It was the senior duo of Abi Fraaza and Emma Herb that combined for 15 kills to lead the way for the Chargers, but several underclassmen also stepped up.

Freshman London Metropulos finished with four kills, while sophomore Reese Rogowski also had four kills and added 10 digs. Sophomore setter Payton Foster had a team-leading 11 assists and chipped in six digs, with sophomore Lilly Betry contributing in multiple areas, finishing with two aces, five assists and three digs.

“I think (tonight) was a good turning point because we’ve been practicing so much. We’ve been having our open gyms but this was our first actual contact play we’ve had,” said Herb, who had five attack kills on the night. “I think it’s just exciting, especially coming out of quarantine since we didn’t get to play in our spring sports. So to come back and be able to play our first game and beat them as we did, it was pretty cool.”

Along with her 10 kills — four of which were blocks — Fraaza also came through as a server, finishing with 19 serves attempted and a pair of aces. Senior McKenna Foster tallied a team high 11 digs.

After falling behind early in the first set and never being able to bounce back, Bonduel was able to battle with Witt-Birn in the second and third sets, something that gave coach Abby Reinke some confidence.

“We’ve got a really good group of kids, I think sometimes it just takes them that game to get going but if we can figure out a way to start the first set that way, we have the talent,” said Reinke. “There’s a lot of opportunity to grow but I saw some fight and competitiveness there (second and third sets) so that’s good.”

Senior Halea Sporisky and sophomore Josie Hoffman each finished with six attack kills for the Bears, while junior Brenna Hertzfeldt had five. Hoffman topped the team with 11 digs, with Sporisky, Hertzfeldt and Allaina Robaidek all tallying six digs.

Robaidek and Sporisky racked up all but two of the team’s assists, finishing with 11 and seven, respectively. Robaidek and sophomore Nakiyah Henning each contributed three kills.

Masked up

The conference match was like none before it, as everyone that stepped into the Bonduel gym wore a facemask. Players and coaches were also masked, including during warmups and the three sets.

“It was pretty sweaty, but other than that, I think we all agreed that we’re just happy that we’re playing,” said Herb.

Volleyballs were rotated out after each point, and then wiped down and sanitized before being put back into play.

A limited crowd was in attendance, most of whom were parents or relatives of the players on the court. Only a handful of high school-aged fans watched the conference match.

sports@newmedia-wi.com