Bluejays cruise to regional championship on volleyball court

The Three Lakes varsity volleyball team had the pleasure of playing in front of a home crowd during the regional rounds of the WIAA playoffs as a No. 2 seed in D4 play. The Bluejays beat Spencer in the regional semifinal on Oct. 22, and then swept Newman Catholic in Three Lakes to secure the regional championship on Oct. 24.

It was two big wins to move the Jays into the sectional round, which starts this Thursday, Oct. 29.
This is the first sectional appearance for the Bluejays since 2021, according to WIAA archives.

“I thought the Jays played really well both nights. The first round we played tight and showed some jitters, but Saturday night our team demonstrated a calm and confident demeanor from the minute they entered the gym,” said Three Lakes Head Coach Betsy Gruszynski.

A playoff-opening win kicked things off for Three Lakes late last week against a No. 7-seeded Spencer team.

The Jays won in four sets with set scores of 25-19, 26-24 and 27-25.

It wasn’t easy, but execution late in sets never allowed Spencer to win a set in the semifinal match.
The execution started in set one with the Bluejays already in front 17-12, and a block from Kate Koshuta on the defensive side pushed the lead to six. Isabella Kowalkowski finished off the opening set with a kill that deflected off a Spencer player at the net. A tight battle to start the second saw Three Lakes down 4-6 and later tied the set at 10-10. That competitive feel stayed for the remainder of the second set, as the two teams sat tied at 24-24 later on. Kaylynn Klein split the Spencer defense on a kill to take a 25-24 lead and then won the next point to take a 2-0 lead.

Three Lakes came out aggressive in the third in an attempt to close things out smoothly. The Jays separated early with a 10-2 lead, and later 18-10, but Spencer never went away. The visitors stormed back with a 14-6 run after that to again knot things at 24-all. After a few moments of trading points, Koshuta ended things with a kill and a 27-25 victory to secure the sweep.

Klein had a big night and did a little bit of everything in this win with 12 kills, one ace, one block and 12 digs.

The Bluejays then hosted No. 6-seeded Newman Catholic Saturday night for a chance at the regional title. The Cardinals came into this game off an upset win over three-seeded Phillips in the regional semifinal. Three Lakes didn’t let it deter the team and came away with 25-15, 25-21 and 25-14 set wins for a second consecutive playoff sweep.

Three Lakes now looks ahead to a sectional semifinal matchup at No. 1-seeded Edgar this Thursday, Oct. 29, at 7 p.m.