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Health & Fitness

Wildcats Win First Volleyball Contest

University School's girls volley ball team won its first game of the season beating Heritage Christian 3-1,

The girls volleyball team began its 2011 season with a 3-1 non-conference victory over Heritage Christian Tuesday evening at USM.

“It was our first match and we won," said USM’s head coach Sue Baker. "We played well at times, but we still have many, many, many things to work on. But like I said, it’s early in the season.”

The Wildcats have a mix of veterans and newer players. The experienced players led them Tuesday night. Senior Kelly Brethauer led the Wildcats in two categories.  Brethauer had 13 kills and nine digs. Senior Claire Reardon added nine kills and led the team with four ace serves. Sophomore Amber Baker, who played on the varsity team as a freshman, contributed 29 assists.

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USM fell behind in the first game as Heritage Christian took a quick 6-0 lead. The Wildcats seemed stunned, but they slowly began a come back. They moved to within six points at 9-15 when Brethauer began her serves. While she was at the line, the Wildcats’ teamwork finally gelled. USM rattled off 11 straight points to take a 20-15 lead. USM won the first game by a final score of 25-18.

Brethauer’s serves helped the Wildcats establish a lead in the second game as well. She took the ball with the game’s score tied at 5-5 and led USM to an 11-5 lead. She recorded two aces during that span. The Patriots rallied and closed the gap to 18-15, but solid backcourt play by senior Elizabeth Bodalski, and good net work by Reardon, Brethauer, Baker, and senior Cori Walters, junior Giulia Ricca, and sophomore Lauren Gogan, kept the Wildcats’ lead intact, and they eventually won the game, 25-20.

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As they had in the first game, the Patriots used Julia Korban’s serves to give them a rapid 6-0 lead in the third game. The Patriots let USM get close at 15-13, but Holly Bjelland’s serves caused USM to make mistakes and Heritage Christian moved ahead at 23-13. The Wildcats attempted a comeback with Baker serving, but Heritage Christian had too wide a lead. The Patriots eventually won the game 25-20. 

The fourth game was close throughout. USM took a 13-8 lead but the Patriots pulled back in range. Reardon made some good plays at the net and at the service line and USM won the game 25-17.

USM is now 1-0. The Wildcats play again in an invitational tournament at Racine Prairie School on Saturday.

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