Kaukauna overpowers Warriors at state

Muskego - In its first WIAA State Tournament appearance, the Muskego boys volleyball team battled hard but just could not overcome a tall, talented and powerful Kaukauna squad.

The Galloping Ghosts downed the Warriors, 25-19, 25-11, 25-23, in a quarterfinal match on Friday night at Wisconsin Lutheran College.

"Kaukauna is a very good team," coach Joe Arbinger said. "(The Ghosts) run everything extremely well. They pass extremely well, and they serve out of this world."

The loss ended Muskego's breakthrough season, while Kaukauna went on to the championship match, where it lost to Marquette in three games.

The Warriors actually controlled the early play, as they used a couple of kills from Joey Bandoszeski and one from Nick Spoerk to bolt to a 9-3 advantage in the first game.

Kaukauna coach Tom Belling called a quick timeout. Whatever he said worked, because the Ghosts responded with an 8-0 burst to take an 11-9 lead.

"During that run, we gave up a lot of serve-reception errors, and we weren't really able to pass that well," Arbinger said. "That's what hurt us. We knew we had to try to stop it, but they served that well."

Kaukauna extended that run to 18-7 for a 21-16 lead, then closed out the game.

The Ghosts controlled the second game from start to finish, but the Warriors were extremely competitive in the third contest.

They held leads of 11-9 and 12-10 before the Ghosts came back. The match was then tied six times, but Kaukauna took a slight lead and eventually prevailed on a booming kill by outside hitter Alex Judkins.

"I was happy with the way the guys fought back," Arbinger said. "We've been fighting back the entire time this last couple of weeks. To see the last game, what they did, to really come back and pull it that close, just keep pushing and pushing, I was proud of them.

"A couple things here, a couple things there, maybe we win a game. Either way, they kept fighting."

Bandoszeski finished with eight kills for Muskego, while David Mlachnik posted four digs and Tony Fugarino 14 assists. Judkins, who came into the tournament with 283 kills on the season, totaled 17 in the match.

"He's a stud - everything as advertised," Arbinger said. "He's a great hitter and he's smart. That entire team was smart. They got a lot of touches on everything."

The Warriors enjoyed a fine season, capped by the state berth.

"It's one of the best teams I've ever had the privilege of coaching," Arbinger said. "I'm glad to share this (state) experience with them."

Muskego will lose seniors Mlachnik, Spoerk, Fugarino, Bandoszeski, Nick Mantsch and Brandon Socher but will return some other key contributors next season.

"We'll have a lot of fun next year as well, and hopefully, we'll be back (at state)," Arbinger concluded.