Stratford volleyball sweeps St. Mary Catholic to qualify for WIAA state tournament again

NEENAH – For the second year in a row, the Stratford volleyball team is heading to state.

Stratford dominated Neenah St. Mary Catholic 3-0 to win a WIAA Division 3 sectional final on Saturday night at St. Mary Catholic High School to advance to the state tournament for the second consecutive season.

The Tigers won 25-15, 25-14, 25-14, to improve to a perfect 43-0 this season.

Stratford will take on Living Word Lutheran of Jackson, north of Milwaukee, in a Division 3 semifinal at the 2018 WIAA State Girls Volleyball Tournament at Resch Center in Green Bay at 1 p.m. Friday, Nov. 2. LWL swept Howards Grove 3-0 in its sectional final Saturday.

Grantsburg and Lake Country Lutheran of Hartland will face off in the other state semifinal. The Division 3 state championship match is Saturday, Nov. 3, at 11:30 a.m.

Stratford went to senior Mazie Nagel early and often as she finished with 24 of the Tigers’ 38 kills. She also had 12 digs to lead the team.

Blaire Lindner added five kills, Jadyn Dahlke had 24 assists and a pair of service aces, and Brooke Petersen had 14 assists for the Tigers. McKenna Krall also had 11 digs and Taylor Wussow had nine digs defensively.

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Stratford lost 3-2 to Eau Claire Regis in last year’s state semifinals, and Regis fell to Lake Country Lutheran in the championship match, 3-1.

Play at the WIAA state tournament begins with four Division 1 quarterfinals on Thursday, Nov. 1. Semifinals in all four divisions will be played Nov. 2, and all four championship matches will be Nov. 3.