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Florence will enter the WIAA Division 5 volleyball tournament as the top seed in its 11-team region, opening at home Thursday against the winner of tonight’s match between No. 8 Goodman-Pembine and No. 9 White Lake.
Game time Thursday in Florence is 7 p.m. with a $6 admission for all.
The LadyCats finished third in the Northern Lakes Conference behind Three Lakes and Laona-Wabeno, but those teams will compete in WIAA Division 4. Traveling to play bigger schools throughout the regular season, Florence compiled an impressive 33-8 record.
On Thursday, the LadyCats swept conference foe Elcho and then swept their pool at the 12-team Green Bay NEW Lutheran invite in De Pere on Saturday.
The LadyCats posted wins against Kewaunee and Howards Grove before falling to defending Division 3 state champion Manitowoc Lutheran. “We played a little scared,” said Florence coach Teresa Chrisman. “I do think we could have given them more of a fight, but they dominated us from the start and were the eventual champions of the tournament.”
Florence also faced Green Bay NEW Lutheran, the Packerland Conference champions.
“This is a team we could see down the tournament trail,” Chrisman said. “It was great volleyball and we came up just short in the third set. But I think it will help motivate us moving foward. It’s win or go home time; and they are up for the challenge,” she said.
Niagara is the No. 4 seed in the region and will host No. 5 Elcho at 7 p.m. Thursday.
With victories, Florence and Niagara would square off Saturday.
Florence stats for the Elcho match and DePere tournament:
Kelsi Chrisman, 53 kills, 35 digs, 28 assists, 2 blocks, 1 ace
Miley VanDenHeuvel, 25 kills, 39 digs, 7 assists, 9 blocks, 4 aces
Julia Murrow, 57 assists, 18 digs, 1 ace
Naomi Millan, 17 kills, 19 digs, 6 aces
Emily Wolske, 10 kills, 23 digs, 2 aces
Addy Franz, 1 kill, 2 blocks, 3 digs
Quinn Cassidy, 1 kill, 6 digs, 1 ace
Leah Baker, 2 kills, 2 blocks, 3 digs
Sienna Schmoll, 2 digs
Taylor Pauley, 16 digs, 4 aces