Back-to-back regional titles

By Casey Krautkramer

Marathon’s varsity volleyball squad has won back-to-back WIAA Division 3 regional championships, after defeating Marawood South Conference foe Stratford in straight sets on Saturday night.

The Red Raiders controlled the regional finals match, winning by scores of 2513, 25-20 and 25-8 against the Tigers.

Marathon senior Allison Wokatsch commented on the magnitude of her team winning its second straight regional championship.

“It’s really special because us seniors have played together since we were in fourth grade,” said Allison, who is the daughter of Jim and Sue Wokatsch.

Red Raiders alum Nicole (Pilgrim) Schneider, who is co-head varsity coach with Lynelle Love, said winning back-to-back WIAA Division 3 regional titles is a huge accomplishment for the players.

“This group of senior girls are tremendous, so for them to win back-toback regional championships is just amazing,” Schneider said.

Senior Alyssa Hall led Marathon with nine attack kills in the regional finals victory against Stratford, while sophomore Ava Krueger added eight and senior Vanessa Krueger had seven. Ava Krueger paced the Red Raiders with four ace serves and Ava Krueger had two.

Ava Krueger led Marathon with two block assists. Junior Ashley Phakitthong paced the Red Raiders with nine digs on defense, while Vanessa Krueger had eight and Ava Krueger six. Wokatsch led Marathon with 15 pass assists and Phakitthong added 10.

Senior Megan Weise led Stratford with seven kills and senior Hailey Chapel added five. Senior Ally Zuleger and Chapel each achieved an ace. Chapel paced the Tigers with six digs and Zuleger had five. Senior Kylee Manecke led Stratford with 11 pass assists.

Stratford concludes the 2021 season with a 15-23 match record, while Marathon improves to 26-6. Marathon will play against Stanley-Boyd, 26-5, at 7 p.m. this Thursday, Oct. 28, in the Marathon High School gym. The winner will play against the winner of the other sectional semifinals match between Oconto and Wittenberg-Birnamwood in the sectional championship at 7 p.m. this Saturday, Oct. 30, in Amherst.

Marathon won a thrilling first set, 32-30, against Cadott in Thursday’s home WIAA Division 3 regional semifi nal match. The Red Raiders rode the momentum they gained from winning the first set to easily beat the Hornets in ensuing sets by scores of 25-17 and 25-18.

Wokatsch explained why she and her teammates started out slow against Cadott.

“It’s been a while since we’ve had this many people in the gym, so I think a lot of it was maybe nerves,” she admitted. “Then we started to get hot so we just needed to fight through the nerves. We gained some momentum after winning the first set, because scoring 32 points is unusual.”

Co-head coach Schneider commented on the significance of Marathon pulling out the close first set against Cadott.

“That was a huge win for us because we knew if we’d lost the first set that it would be a long night,” she said. “Cadott came ready to play so give credit to them, but we just needed to keep getting one point ahead of them, and although it took us a while our players pushed through to get the win.”

Vanessa Krueger led Marathon with 18 kills in the match victory against Cadott, while Ava Krueger added 14. Alyssa Hall and Ava Krueger collected two aces each. Ava Krueger paced the Red Raiders with four assisted blocks. Vanessa Krueger led Marathon with 25 digs, while Ava Krueger added 13 and Phakitthong had 11.

Stratford pulled off the road upset by defeating Westfield in straight sets by scores of 25-21, 25-13 and 25-11 in Thursday’s WIAA Division 3 regional semifinals match.

Megan Wiese led Stratford with nine kills, while Hailey Chapel and junior Tessa Berg contributed six apiece. Chapel recorded six aces, while Ally Zuleger and Wiese had two each. Zuleger paced the Tigers with 18 assists and Chapel had 13. Ava Weix, Berg and Zuleger led the Tigers with six digs apiece.

SISTER DUAL ATTEMPTS A COMBO BLOCK- Marathon sisters, Ava Krueger (4) and Vanessa Krueger (1) rise up for a block try against Cadott in Thursday’s home WIAA Division 3 regional semifinals match. Marathon defeated Cadott, 3-0, before downing Stratford, 3-0, in the regional championship match on Saturday night in Marathon.STAFF PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER