On Thursday, November 3, 2016, the second-seeded Arrowhead boys volleyball team defeated the top-seeded Germantown team at Homestead in the WIAA sectional final. The fourth time was the charm for Arrowhead as they had lost three matches to Germantown earlier in the season.

By winning this match, the Arrowhead boys volleyball team earned their second WIAA state tournament in the past three years. The boys pulled off a victory with scores 25-18, 25-23, and 25-20.

Tanner Williams, an AHS senior outside hitter, said  to Lake Country Now, “We know what they bring, but our plan was to go out there and swing as hard as we could and destroy them. We have so many good hitters, and almost all of them play year-around. This was a goal from the beginning of the year. We knew we had the talent and we knew we could get them if we put in the hard work and the practice.”

The boys’ push rewarded them with the No. 4 seed in the state field, where top four teams earn seeds. Then, are randomly assigned opponents to compete against in the quarterfinal.

Jeremy Kirch, an Arrowhead junior on the team says, “The season had its ups and downs. We started with some injuries on our team so we did not start with the team we have now.”

On Friday, November 11th, at Wisconsin Lutheran College in Milwaukee, the boys will compete in a WIAA state quarterfinal match. Arrowhead will be playing against Wauwatosa East at 3 pm in hopes of making it to the semifinals that will occur the next day.

If the team succeeds the quarter final, the semifinal game will be against either Marquette or Kenosha Indian Trail.The other schools in the quarterfinals, Kenosha Indian Trail, Catholic Memorial, Middleton, Kaukauna, and New Berlin Eisenhower/West.  

If Arrowhead pushes another victory, they can be seen on Saturday, November 12th at 6 pm taking their chance at a state championship title.

Kirch says, “I along with the team feel confident about the match tomorrow [November 11th]. There are some nerves, but I am mostly excited.”

This will be Arrowhead’s sixth overall state appearance as a varsity boys volleyball team. The team’s opponents are no strangers to state as well.

Wauwatosa East, who Arrowhead plays on Friday November 11th, has been to state ten times from seasons in years 2000-2015. They even earned the title of state champs in 2006.  

Marquette is no stranger to the state championship finals either. Having appeared at state every year since 2003 for a total of 14 times from years 2000-2015. Marquette has also made 8 of those visits victories claiming the title of state champs.

Kirch says, “Marquette will mostly likely be the hardest game we play because they are first in the state.”