Brillion wins regional title in five-set classic

By David Nordby

The Brillion News

VALDERS – For the first time since 1989, the Brillion volleyball team is a regional champion.

The No. 3 Lions beat rival No. 2 Valders 3-2 (16-25, 25-13, 22-25, 25-23, 15-13) in a five-set thriller in a Division 3 regional championship on Saturday night. The cumulative score was 103-99 in Brillion’s favor, with the close mark indicative of how competitive the nearly two-hour match was.

Brillion dropped the first and third sets but recovered in the second and fourth sets. The Lions’ biggest run of the night was at the end of the second with senior Kara Hedrich serving an 8-0 streak to close the set and tie the match and give the Lions new life.  

In the fourth set, neither team built a large lead. The Lions trailed 23-20 but were able to recover to tie the match again.

The Lions closed the fifth set, which was tied at 12, winning three of the last four points. Numerous Lions starred throughout the night including Emma Schuh, Ava Van Vamp, Reina Eijtjes and Carter Miller. Livia Van Camp, Cora Tamm, Madeline Miller and Natalie Schnell were also impactful in the rotation.

Maybe the most impressive part was how the Lions kept their composure during the emotional match.

“It was crazy,” Miller said. “I was holding back tears sometimes. I don’t know, you just get so in your head. There’s so much going on.”

“Very exciting and memorable and amazing,” Schuh said.

Cari Krepline is the head coach of the team with assistants Shelly Lau, Rachel Fischer and Kacie Innes. Noel Rataichek and Elleson Gipp are managers. Tyler Hietpas is the athletic trainer.

“It’s fricking awesome,” Krepline said. “Like we told them before we came out of the locker room, all we can do is put you in the right places to do the right things and call a timeout at the right time … It’s a matter of them playing the game.”

The Lions will play No. 1 Manitowoc Lutheran in a sectional semifinal game on Thursday, Oct. 30.

Complete volleyball coverage will be featured in the Oct. 30 newspaper.  

Editor's note: An earlier version of this article stated it was the first regional title in program history. We apologize to the 1989 team for the error.