Volleyball: Oconto Falls eliminated by Lux-Casco

LUXEMBURG — The Oconto Falls High School volleyball team had its season come to an end after being swept by Luxemburg-Casco in a competitive Division 2 regional semifinal on Thursday.

The top-seeded Spartans topped the eighth-seeded Panthers by scores of 25-15, 25-13, 25-14.

“I think we just came into it not cocky, I guess,” said Oconto Falls senior Natalie Brauer on how the team stayed competitive in the season-ending loss. “We knew they’d be a hard team so we set our standards high. We gave everything like this could be our last game.”

Oconto Falls kept even with Lux-Casco to start every set, but the hosts put together several runs to pull away.

The Panthers came out with plenty of energy to match the Spartans’ intensity in the first set. Lux-Casco had a strong group of attackers, but Oconto Falls was able to block and tip several attacks.

Brauer earned her team a couple points before senior Samantha Coron got into the action to tie the match at four. A set error from the hosts briefly gave the Panthers the lead.

After a kill from Panther senior Kari Albrecht tied the match at six, the hosts grabbed the next two points and didn’t relinquish the lead again.

Oconto Falls cut the deficit to one several times before Lux-Casco went on a 6-2 run to take a 20-15 lead. A pair of Panther timeouts couldn’t slow the Spartans, as the hosts ended the set on an 8-0 run.

“What was it 15-16, 15-17? And we were in it. Unfortunately, they got a run on us. But we battled, I think we had them nervous,” said Oconto Falls coach Rochell Otto. “L-C is a very talented team. They’re fun to watch, not fun to play against.”

The visiting Panthers got off to a strong start in the second set after a kill from Brauer and ace from junior Amelia Rice, but the Spartans went on a 4-0 run to grab the lead and never gave it back.

Brauer and junior Jayden Arndt led Oconto Falls in the second set, tallying several points each, but whenever the Panthers threatened Lux-Casco’s lead, the hosts went on a run.

The Spartans used an 8-4 run to go up 17-11, and then after a kill from Rice, the hosts ended the set on an 8-1 run.

The third set started in a similar fashion to the second, with Oconto Falls winning the first two points before Lux-Casco went on a 4-0 run to take control.

The Panthers trimmed the deficit to two, 8-6, before the Spartans used a 10-2 run to take a commanding lead.

Albrecht, Brauer and Rice all earned points for Oconto Falls in the set, but the team could never put together a run of its own match Lux-Casco.

“I think we’d get in a rut, and once we got in a rut, it’s hard for us to come out of it,” said Coron on the Spartans’ runs. “We tried to keep the motivation up, but it’s hard when they keep spiking balls at us so hard.”

The loss brought an end to the high school careers of a talented senior class led by Brauer, Coron and Albrecht. Samantha Kollman, Caitlyn Krejcarek and Saffron Mears round out the team’s senior class.

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