After an upset victory against #1 seeded Sussex Hamilton in 4 sets (25-21, 17-25, 25-21, 26-24) in the Sectional Finals on Saturday, October 28th, the Arrowhead Boys Varsity Volleyball team headed back to the WIAA Boys Volleyball State Tournament for the 4th time in as many years.
The WIAA Boys Volleyball State Tournament as well as the Girls Tournament took place from Thursday, November 2nd to Saturday, November 4th at the Resch Center in Green Bay. Arrowhead’s first game was on November 2nd at 10 a.m against Kettle Moraine.
Tickets for the entire WIAA Boys and Girls Volleyball Tournaments were available online at State Boys Volleyball Tickets. They were general admission and sold for $11.50 including fees.
Arrowhead offered spectator buses for the Quarterfinal game on Thursday, November 2nd. The students that choose this option needed to purchase their ticket for the game as well as a bus ticket from Arrowhead which sold for $15.00. Bus tickets were available on Tuesday, October 31st from 7:20 a.m to 3:00 p.m in the South Campus Main Office and 7:15 a.m to 4:30 p.m at the North Campus Activities Office.
As decided by a poll on the AHS Gators Instagram, the theme for Thursday’s game was Black Out. The Gators also urged fans to “Skip school to come support….go full out and make the drive.”
Senior Right Side, Ethan Dassow says, “I am very confident and excited to play KM. We have seen them twice this year already so we have a good game plan going into the match. I also think the atmosphere with so many fans is going to be really fun.”
Thursday’s Quarterfinal against the Kettle Moraine Lasers ended in a 3 sets to nothing (25-19, 25-20, 25-18) victory for the Warhawks.
The Semifinals began Friday November 3rd, when the Warhawks faced the Marquette Hilltoppers at 5 p.m. The theme for students was Jersey.
Friday’s Quarterfinal against Marquette ended in a 3 set sweep (25-21, 25-15, 25-21) victory.
Junior Right Side, Hudson Maniscalco says, “My favorite moment of the tournament was walking out in front of many and sweeping Marquette to advance to the state finals.”
Senior Libero, Nikko Javier says, “My favorite moment of the tournament had to be the three set sweep over Marquette because it really encompassed what we’ve done as a team and how much we’ve improved and progressed to beat a team of that caliber.”
For the second time in as many years the Warhawks were headed back to the WIAA Boys Volleyball State Championship.
The Warhawks faced the #1 seeded Middleton Cardinals in the final on Saturday, November 4th. According to the AHS Gators and the Arrowhead Warhawks Boys Volleyball Instagram, the theme was Red Out.
After a tough battle with the Cardinals, the Warhawks fell in 5 sets (18-25, 25-21, 22-25, 26-24, 6-15).
The Arrowhead Warhawks Boys team ended their season with a record of 38-6 overall and a 2nd place finish in the Classic 8 Conference with a record of 10-1.
On Tuesday, November 7th the Classic 8 All-Conference honors were announced. 1st team: Charlie Andorfer. 2nd team: Ethan Dassow, Luke Heberlein, and Nikko Javier. Honorable Mention: Ethan Hein and Ezekiel Jalan. Coach Dennis Mechenich was named All Conference Coach of the Year.
Maniscalco says, “At first, I didn’t know what my role would be, but as the season progressed I found my role to be important for the team, as I consistently came in for Ethan Dassow, who’s a great player in our 6-2 that we ran. Each player on the court complimented each other very well and that’s what made our team so great.”
Later, on Wednesday, November 8th the Wisconsin Boys High School All-State list was announced. 1st team: Charlie Andorfer. 2nd team: Ethan Dassow. 3rd team: Nikko Javier. Honorable Mention: Luke Heberlein.
Javier says, “Being [a] part of Arrowhead Boys Volleyball for my high school career had a big impact on my life, it’s not just teammates, it’s more like a family and these last couple years just goes to show that the people willing to buy into the culture of Arrowhead Volleyball succeed and better everyone around them and that has shaped the program into what it is.”