Suring volleyball team unable to get rolling in regional title game

Eagles fail to rebound after slow start
By: 
Morgan Rode
Sports Editor

The second-seeded Suring High School volleyball team started slow and couldn’t recover in a Division 4 regional title game against the top-seeded Green Bay NEW Lutheran/Providence Academy co-op on Saturday in Green Bay.

The co-op won by scores of 25-5, 25-9, 25-11.

“They served well. They passed well. They swing well. They are just a quality team,” said Suring coach Tonia Kruschke of the co-op.

Suring hoped to get off to a strong start to the match, but it was NEW Lutheran/Providence that scored the first seven points to force a timeout from the Eagles. The hosts continued to roll after the timeout, scoring seven more points before Suring earned its first point on a co-op serving error.

All five of Suring’s points in the opening set came after errors from the hosts.

The Eagles first kill didn’t come until early in the second set, when sophomore Christine Sleeter delivered the attack. Junior Kate Mahoney then served an ace to bring Suring within two, 5-3, but the co-op claimed nine of the next 10 points to take control and pull away.

“Green Bay did a good job keeping us off offense by moving the ball all over the court, which made it very hard to get any sort of control of the game,” said Suring senior Paige Krueger.

The third set started similar to the first two, with the hosts taking 10 of the first 11 points.

Suring responded with its best run of the match, winning five of the next eight points. Sleeter and sophomore Macie Reed earned points for the Eagles during the run, which also included a couple co-op errors.

The hosts regained control with a 5-0 run and soon built a 16-point advantage. Sleeter had a kill and Mahoney served another ace during a late push by the Eagles, but the co-op eventually finished off the set to sweep the match.

Suring was disappointed with the finish to the fall, but still proud of what it accomplished during a trying season.

“In my senior season, I am very happy that we made it to regional finals but I also feel that we deserved it with all the hard work we put into practice while we didn’t know when we were gonna play next and keeping a positive attitude,” said Suring senior Kelsey Smith.

“The most memorable part of this year was coming out of quarantine ready to play,” said Krueger. “Every moment spent on the court with the team was special because we almost didn’t have a season and it was almost taken away in the blink of an eye.”

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