Witt-Birn volleyball team wins third straight conference title

The Wittenberg-Birnamwood High School volleyball team took down Weyauwega-Fremont on Oct. 12 in a match that resulted in another Central Wisconsin Conference-East Division title for the Chargers.

“I am so proud of the girls,” said Witt-Birn coach Becky Rew. “They are strong girls who know what they want and go for it.”

The Chargers won by scores of 26-24, 19-25, 25-17, 25-15.

The conference title is the third in a row for Wittenberg-Birnamwood.

“It feels great to keep that streak going,” said Witt-Birn junior Reese Rogowski. “We really want to push for that next year too. We want to get four years in a row.”

Junior Kiara Deruchowski said that the team was able to win another conference title due to their ability to play together as a team.

“It feels great to show other teams that we worked hard for this,” said Deruchowski. “We worked hard in practice and worked as a team tonight. We talked and came together as one.”

Rew attributed the streak continuing to the strength of the program.

“It is so awesome to keep this streak going,” she said. “It shows how strong the program is and how strong the girls are.”

Rew added that due to the strength of the program, there is always a player ready to step up and succeed.

“It is awesome how the girls take that upon their shoulders and say this is my time to do it,” said Rew.

As the Chargers prepared for the match where they could win conference outright, Rew said that the team stayed focused and prepared the same way they do for every game.

“We prepared for this game like we did for any other game,” said Rew. “Weyauwega-Fremont is a great defensive team, and we prepared for that.”

Deruchowski added that it was just another week of practice for the Chargers.

“We wanted to show everyone that we could win,” said Deruchowski. “We worked hard in practice and just keep going,”

Wittenberg-Birnamwood started off the match with an ace from junior Lily Betry. After the two schools had traded points throughout the set, Weyauwega-Fremont went on a run to lead 24-20. Wittenberg-Birnamwood then rattled off six straight points, with two coming from senior Jadalynn Davids, to win the set 26-24.

“I am proud of how they fought back when the girls were down in the first set,” Rew said. “When I saw us coming back, I just thought, we got this.”

In the second set, Weyauwega-Fremont built a 19-17 lead and won the set, scoring six out of the last eight points.

Weyauwega-Fremont began the third set in the same manner that they ended the second as they scored the first five points. Witt-Birn came back after aces from Davids to take the lead 9-8. The schools then battled back and forth, tying the set at 16-16. An ace from Deruchowski sparked the Chargers as they scored nine out the next 10 points to win the set.

In the subsequent set, Wittenberg-Birnamwood took the lead early with three straight points. The Chargers never looked back, as they held the lead the whole set, winning 25-15, with four of those points coming from aces.

Witt-Birn sophomore London Metropulos finished the match with 13 attack kills, four block kills and 16 digs. Rogowski added 17 attacks kills. Deruchowski, junior Payton Foster and senior Faith Cummings combined for nine aces. Betry added 17 assists.

Davids, who is one of three seniors on the team said that this conference win felt a little more special.

“It is very exciting knowing that I gave it my all in my last conference game,” said Davids. “It felt heart touching, because I knew it was my last conference game.”

Rew said that the Chargers will use this momentum and excitement from winning conference to help them mount a playoff run.

“That is the biggest thing,” said Rew. “Our first-round matchup is with Menominee Indian, which is a conference game. Depending on results, we are probably going to be play another conference game. We are conference champs, so we can win these games. We don’t want to take teams for granted because it is always hard to beat a team 2-3 times in a season. We are confident, but won’t take games for granted.”

Rogowski added that with the conference win, the team will continue to stay focused as playoffs loom.

“We are really competitive in practice,” said Rogowski. “We take it seriously and have to work hard at the stuff that we need to be better at.”