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Home International Divine Savior Holy Angels volleyball team wins WIAA D1 state championship

Divine Savior Holy Angels volleyball team wins WIAA D1 state championship

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ASHWAUBENON – The Divine Savior Holy Angels volleyball team walked off the Resch Center floor last year not only unhappy, but almost downright angry, that its string of three straight WIAA Division 1 state championships ended with a loss to Hamilton in the title match.

The players were forced to wait 364 days, but they finally got their redemption.

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The Dashers are state champions again after a 26-19, 25-11, 25-23 win over Bay Port in the D1 title match on Nov. 7.

It was the program’s seventh state championship, tying it with Abbotsford and Burlington Catholic Central for the third-most in state history since the WIAA started sponsoring a tournament in 1973.

“Coming off last year, even straight after that loss, it was remember this feeling, remember this for next year,” junior outside hitter and Xavier University commit Harper Wendlick said. “I think we took that with us into this season, remembering how it felt last year when we did get swept.

“We wanted to come out here and prove what kind of team we are and this group of girls and how awesome we are.”

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See photos from WIAA Division 1 girls volleyball state championship

Divine Savior Holy Angels High School’s Aubrey Olson (7) and Marley Connor (6) celebrate after winning match point against Bay Port High School in the Division 1 state championship match during the WIAA state girls volleyball tournament on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026, at the Resch Center in Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin. Divine Savior Holy Angels won the match, 3-0.
Tork Mason/Green Bay Press-Gazette

(Tork Mason/Green Bay Press-Gazette)

The Dashers (45-4) finished the season winning their last 12 matches and lost just one set at state.

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They did have some adversity to overcome while here.

DSHA dropped the first set and trailed 17-9 in the second to Wisconsin Lutheran in the semifinals before roaring back to win that set and the following two, taking all that momentum right into the title match against Bay Port.

“We kind of knew that we had a point to prove this year with what happened last year,” junior setter and Louisville commit Tegan Loechler said. “I think we did just that.”

Bay Port took the first two points of the opening set, but it was mostly all Dashers from that moment.

They scored six straight points and eight of nine to take control, with a kill by Loechler finishing off the set.

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That was nothing compared to the second set, which was the most dominant one DSHA had during any of its three matches at state.

It scored the first three points, and after a kill by Bay Port senior Brenna Derousseau got the Pirates on the board, the Dashers responded by scoring 10 straight to go up 13-1.

It’s going to be difficult for any team to come back from that deficit on the big stage, but it’s all but impossible against a squad that’s as loaded with talent as DSHA.

“Our second set was really awesome,” said DSHA coach Caitie Ratkowski, who finished her 12th season with the team and has won more than 450 matches during that span. “The match overall against Wisco, that battle back that we had, I think that was probably our best match. But I think the second set of the match tonight was our best set.”

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Bay Port (26-9) did not go down quietly.

There were five ties in a back-and-forth final set, before a service error by Bay Port gave DSHA a 21-20 lead it would not relinquish.

Divine Savior Holy Angels High School's Harper Wendlick (3) tips the ball over the net against Bay Port High School in the Division 1 state championship match during the WIAA state girls volleyball tournament on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026, at the Resch Center in Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin. Divine Savior Holy Angels won the match, 3-0.Tork Mason/Green Bay Press-Gazette

Divine Savior Holy Angels High School’s Harper Wendlick (3) tips the ball over the net against Bay Port High School in the Division 1 state championship match during the WIAA state girls volleyball tournament on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026, at the Resch Center in Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin. Divine Savior Holy Angels won the match, 3-0. Tork Mason/Green Bay Press-Gazette

A kill by Wendlick a short time later ended the match and kicked off the championship celebration.

“We knew that Bay Port was going to be a tough opponent, and they have been playing really great this weekend,” Ratkowski said. “So, we wanted to make sure we executed our game plan and we were ready for them. I’m really proud of our team for doing just that.

“That second set, especially, we were firing on all cylinders. Bay Port really fought back in that last one, so it was good we were able to buckle down and put that one away.”

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Wendlick had 20 kills and a .500 hitting percentage in the win, Loechler had 22 assists and junior libero Marley Connor added 17 digs.

Senior setter Meghan Bruss led Bay Port with 28 assists, while Derousseau had a team-high 14 kills and 18 digs.

“Not the start we wanted in the match, but DSHA came out ready to go,” Bay Port coach Mackenzie Hurst said. “We were a little bit slow to start, found our fight in the end. Unfortunately, it was a little too late.

“But that’s a great volleyball team. We knew it was going to be a fight like that. Hats off to them. Congrats.”

It wasn’t what Hurst or her players were hoping for when the night started, but it’s difficult to be too disappointed when looking at the entire campaign and that the Pirates were part of the final match of the WIAA season.

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Bay Port was making the second state appearance in program history and arrived having never won a set, let alone a match, on the big stage after being swept by Menomonee Falls in a quarterfinal in 2024.

This trip was far different.

Bay Port was dominant in its first two state matches, sweeping both Chippewa Falls and Kimberly for the right to play DSHA.

The players now get to add some hardware to the school’s trophy case.

“I think from the beginning of the season, a lot of us were talking, we didn’t even expect to get this far,” Bruss said. “Knowing that I got to do it with all these girls is amazing to me.”

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For Bruss, Derousseau and the other seniors on the team, it was a memorable way to end high school careers that have been anything but normal.

They had three coaching regimes since August 2025, after one coach quit a few days before practice was set to start and was replaced by the duo of Ben Alexander-Wolf and Denise Kapalko. They spent one season with the team before Hurst took over as the leader.

That’s a lot of changes in a short amount of time, but they just kept winning.

“We do support each other, on the court and off the court,” Derousseau said. “There are going to be changes in coaching styles and how the coach wants the job done, but to have that consistency within each other, like I know I can look to Meghan and she has my back.

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“The consistency really helped us.”

Hurst said before state that while she didn’t feel pressure taking over as coach, she did feel responsible for making sure her team did justice to the 2027 class.

Justice was most definitely served.

“I was asked at the beginning of the year what success would feel like, and it was this,” Hurst said. “Helping them realize how talented they are, that they could do this together if they wanted to and try to change a little bit of some culture talk.

“I hope they feel like we did them some justice this year. Everything they poured into this program, I wanted to pour back into them. I’m hoping they are leaving feeling that way, but yeah, what an outstanding way for them to end their careers.”

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Divine Savior Holy Angels volleyball team wins WIAA D1 state championship

Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com

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