The Three Lakes volleyball team is set for another round of D4 playoffs for the second time in as many years after the WIAA moved from four divisions to five. The Bluejays are the No. 2 seed in 2026 after another 25-plus-win season is in the books.

Three Lakes played in D5 competition for one season in 2024, when the change was made, before bumping up to D4 for the last two seasons.

Coming off a No. 1 seed last year and losing a five-setter in the regional final, the Bluejays are back and ready to attack the new season with a similar roster.

Regular season play ended late last week and early this week, as Three Lakes went for a perfect 12-0 conference record against Crandon last Friday and had a competitive regular-season finale against Prentice this past Tuesday. Prentice is a No. 2 seed in the D5 bracket this season. That game geared the Bluejays up for the regional semifinal played this Thursday, Oct. 22, at 7 p.m. Three Lakes will play the winner of No. 7 seed Spencer and No. 10 seed Abbotsford in that contest.

How they got here

A season of new beginnings, with a large part of the roster returning, put Three Lakes ahead of the curve. That didn’t mean things would be easy, as the team had to work around losing two impactful seniors, including its four-year starting setter. The transition went smoothly, even while battling injury and sickness throughout the season. Despite dropping five of the first 12 matches this season by late August, it took little time to bounce back, as the Bluejays have only lost four times since then and only once since Sept. 3, as of this writing.

Season leaders

The Bluejays have many ways to attack the opposition and are consistent in multiple facets of the game. As of Oct. 14, Three Lakes has three players with 175-plus kills this season and over 450 attempts. Junior Malia Szews leads the squad with 296 kills, while Kaylyn Klein and Kate Koshuta have 221 and 176 kills, respectively.

Serving success has also been in Three Lakes’ recipe for success, with 279 kills as a team. Klein is the leader with 68 kills, with Cora Johnson getting into the mix with 61. The Bluejays have a strong rotation of defensive athletes, with the team holding six players with over 100 digs, with the most being Szews with 277. A pair of juniors took the reins of playing setter this season. Ava Muetlein is the main setter with just over 552 assists this season, while Johnson sits with 116.

Three Lakes is locked and loaded for the postseason and can potentially advance to host a regional final match like last season. The Bluejays are hoping to use the regular season momentum to make a deep run in the playoffs for 2026.