Sports

The Whippet Volleyball Team opened the 2019 season playing in the UW-Whitewater Tournament. To begin play on Friday, Whitewater took on Catholic Central that won a state title last year. The two teams battled and exchanged point leads numerous times which led to extending play to 27 points twice. The team was led by Kacie Carollo’s 8 digs, Hannah O’Brien’s 2.0 passing, Cora Linos’s 9 assists and 2 blocks and Emme Bullis adding 12 kills, 3 aces, and 2 blocks. Despite the evenly matched play between the two teams, the Whippets fell 2-0 by the score of 25-27, 25-27.

Up next for the Whippets was Lakeside Lutheran which lost in the WIAA semi-finals in 5 sets to East Troy, and went on to win another state title last year. Once again the Whippets played tough and kept Lakeside on their heels throughout the match. Although having 25 digs against a powerful Lakeside and running a more balanced offense, Whitewater fell in two sets by the score of 20-25 and 18-25.

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Photos Courtesy of Bob Mischka

On the rise, the Whippets’ next opponent was Tomahawk. Kiyla Kopecky used her powerful serve to ace the Hatchets 5 times and Kacie Carollo led the team with a hitting percentage of .500. She had 4 kills in 6 attempts with only one error and added 9 digs. Cora Linos led in the assist category with 17. Emme Bullis led with 12 kills and passing a 2.23. Additionally, Catherine Skindingsrude, Hannah O’Brien, and Amanda Tovar added pivotal digs to keep rallies alive. The combined efforts contributed to Whitewater’s first win of the day by the scores of 25-15, 19-25, and 15-10.

The last match Friday was against Milton. Milton dominated the first set and won 25-14. With the lopsided loss, the coaches decided to make a few adjustments in the lineup to match up better against Milton. Whitewater players have been coached over the course of their volleyball career to be versatile and not limit themselves or the team by being locked in to playing one position. Players need to be able to play multiple positions. All of the Whippets have embraced this mentality of doing what is best for the team. This selflessness became evident in the second set when the players were informed of the lineup changes and rationale for it. Cora Linos was asked to take on a hitting role in the front row to add more offensive weapons and to block the Milton setter when in the front row. Emme Bullis was asked to set in a few rotations and hit and block out of the middle. These adjustments rattled Milton. Whitewater went on to win the second set 29-27. In the third set Whitewater kept the pressure on but ended up losing, 15-17.

On the second day the Whippets opened up playing with confidence and passing well which led to two more wins against Beloit Memorial (2-1) and Evansville (2-0). Whitewater tallied 34 kills, 91 digs, 6 blocks, and 16 aces in the two wins. Maddie Arnett did a great job with adjustments she was asked to make. The team needed her to move to the outside to hit in a few rotations and she never batted an eye. The selflessness of this team is like no other I have coached in all my 20+ years. I am very proud of each player in the Whippet program.

In the second round of pool play the Whippets finished second and entered bronze bracket play, facing off against Lodi. Amanda Tovar recorded a personal best of 6 digs in the match. Amanda is a tremendous athlete who is a volleyball sponge right now. She is asking questions, making adjustments, and getting better each time she steps on the court. Hannah O’Brien and Catherine Skindingsrude are our key defensive and serve receive players who are asked to carry a load in the backcourt. They are raising the level of their play by being able to read opponents’ hitters, recognize holes in our block, and play scrappy defense.

Coach Kathy Bullis stated, “I’m very excited about the growth the team had this weekend and can’t wait to get back in the gym on Tuesday for another three days of opportunities to raise our level of play, before heading up to the Oshkosh Lourdes Tournament next weekend.”

Whippet Tennis opened up the start of their dual meet season with a 7-0 victory over Columbus on Friday, August 30. Whitewater is now 10-4 on the year as they head in to a tough conference season next Thursday against defending champion East Troy.

Coach Tim Nelson stated, “Every girl played solid tennis today, nothing flashy, just consistent basics. The Whippets did move some kids around today and were without one of their regulars, but everyone handled the changes with little difficulty. Senior Cassidy Laue led the way at 1 singles with a solid performance, and everyone followed that lead. Sophomore Anisa Dauti picked up her first ever varsity single’s win in a close three set comeback.”

The Whippet football team took on East Troy in a Rock Valley Conference matchup on Friday night, August 30. 

The Whippet offense struggled to get much going and fell to the Trojans 28-2. 

The defense showed moments of playing well highlighted by their lone score – a safety in the 3rd quarter and a 95 yard interception return by Dylan DuClos. 

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Photos Courtesy of Bob Mischka

The Whippets take on Clinton this week on Friday, September 6. The game will also be Parents’ Night.

The Whippets took 2 out of 3 matches on Wednesday, August 28, to finish in second place at the Delavan-Darien Quad. Whitewater started the day with a 6-1 victory over Waterford, followed by a 7-0 win over Delavan-Darien, before losing 2-5 to Elkhorn. The championship match with Elkhorn was even closer than the score appears as the Whippets fell in two third-set tiebreakers to decide the match.

Coach Tim Nelson stated, “I was very pleased with the way we played today. Every player on the team improved with every match and won at least two, with Melanie Reyes and Mariana Cano winning all three and taking the championship at #2 doubles.”

Friday morning the Whippets will be traveling to Columbus to make up Monday’s rain out.

Billie Jo Parker, a native of Whitewater, WI, and graduate of Whitewater High School, will compete for the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater golf team during the 2019-20 season, which begins this weekend.

Parker, a sophomore at UW-Whitewater, is majoring in art (graphic design).

The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater golf team will compete for an unprecedented third consecutive Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship this fall as it begins play for the 2019-20 season this weekend.

The Warhawks claimed their second straight conference title last season and survived the 54-hole cut at the NCAA Championship for the second consecutive year, placing 13th in the nation.

UW-Whitewater begins the fall season this Friday and Saturday at Carthage’s annual Shootout on the Border at Bristol Oaks. After a trip to Prairie Links in Waverly, Iowa, for the Wartburg Fall Invite on Sept. 7-8, the team heads to Ironwood Golf Course in Normal, Ill., for the annual Illinois Wesleyan Fall Classic on Sept. 14-15.

The Warhawks host the UW-Whitewater Fall Classic on Sept. 20-21 at Riverside Golf Course in Janesville for the team’s final tune-up prior to the 54-hole WIAC Championship, which is slated for Oct. 4-6 at Reedsburg Country Club.

The fall season ends with the Golfweek Division III Fall Invite Oct. 13-15 at Sandestin Golf & Beach Resort in Miramar Beach, Fla.

The WIAC champion will qualify automatically for the NCAA Championship, which is scheduled for May 12-15, 2020, at PGA National Resort in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

Fourth-year head coach Andrea Wieland returns three of the team’s five participants from last year’s national tournament as well as other veteran players. UW-Whitewater also welcomes five freshmen to the program.

The team’s senior class includes Bella Barbiere (Mequon, Wis./Homestead), Kristin Bowe (Franklin, Wis./Franklin), Ashley Hofmeister (New Berlin, Wis./Eisenhower), CheyAnn Knudsen (Milton, Wis./Milton) and Kelly Storti (Deerfield, Ill./Deerfield).

Knudsen, the reigning WIAC Player of the Year and a member of the Women’s Golf Coaches Association All-Central Region team, led the team in scoring last season, averaging 78.3 strokes per 18-hole round. She led the team at the NCAA Championship with a 315, good for 34th place in the 81-player field.

Hofmeister, the 2017 WIAC Player of the Year, was named first team all-conference last season after leading the team with a runner-up finish at the WIAC Championship. She averaged a 78.9 for the season and seeks her fourth consecutive All-WIAC this fall. Hofmeister also finished among the top half of the field at the 2019 NCAA Championship, tying for 37th overall.

Storti and Bowe each enter the season with experience competing at both conference and national tournaments. Storti competed at the 2019 NCAA Championship, finishing third on the team and tied for 62nd overall, while Bowe was part of the 2018 NCAA Championship lineup, placing third on the team and 70th overall.

Barbiere played in six rounds last season and owns a career-best score of 86.

Billie Jo Parker (Whitewater, Wis./Whitewater), Ashton Sinak (St. Louis, Mo./Visitation Academy) and Lauren Winter(Johnsburg, Ill./Johnsburg) comprise the team’s sophomore class.

Sinak played in 17 rounds in 2018-19, averaging a score of 83.1 and recording a top-five finish at the UW-Whitewater Fall Classic. Parker competed in 10 rounds a season ago, and Winter played in four rounds after joining the team at the start of the spring semester.

Newcomers to the program include freshmen Jennifer Berardi (Highland Park, Ill./Highland Park), Jessica LaBerge (Bonduel, Wis./Bonduel), Madi LaPaz (Oconomowoc, Wis./Oconomowoc), Lily Sheppard (Sherwood, Wis./Kaukauna) and Grace Westerman (Oconomowoc, Wis./Oconomowoc).

For more than 150 years, UW-Whitewater has provided students with the education and training to begin their careers with a solid foundation behind them. The UW-Whitewater is committed to the development of the individual, the growth of personal and professional integrity and respect for diversity and global perspectives. These are met by providing academic and co-curricular programs that emphasize the pursuit of knowledge and understanding and a commitment to service within a safe and secure environment.

The Whippet Football Team opened up the 2019 season with a hard fought contest against the Beloit Turner Trojans on Friday, August 23. 

After a scoreless 1st quarter, the Trojans took advantage of a few Whippet mistakes and took a 21-0 lead into the half. 

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Photos Courtesy of Bob Mischka

The Whippets came back and held Beloit Turner scoreless throughout the entire 2nd half of the game, and Whitewater running back Will Leibbrand found the end zone twice in the 4th quarter on runs of 14 and 57 yards.  Unfortunately, the first half deficit was too much to overcome, and the Whippets fell 13-21.

The Whippets will look to rebound on the road at East Troy on Friday, August 30th. 

The Whippet Girls’ Tennis Team just returned from the Altoona Invite which was played in Altoona and Chippewa Falls. Whitewater went 4-1 over the two-day tournament.

On Thursday, the Whippets opened with a 2-5 loss to Ashland. Picking up wins were Josie Hintz at 4 singles, and Katelyn Lashley and Emily Scherer at 3 doubles. There were close matches at 2 singles, and 1 and 2 doubles, but the Whippets just couldn’t quite pull them out.

Coach Tim Nelson stated, “We continued to improve throughout the rest of the day and were able to carry it over into the next day as well. One of the things that we need to work on is starting out. We are notoriously slow starters, and if we are to continue to improve, this will become a key area. Most of our remaining matches are dual meets; we only play one match, and thus can’t think that we can use the first match of the day to get into it.”

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Photos Courtesy of Greg Stewart

The Whippets took 11 players to the tournament, so there was quite a bit of moving positions from singles to doubles and changing of doubles teams. Several kids had a very successful tournament; Josie Hintz was 5-0, Tessa Papcke, Sophie Olson, and Katelyn Lashley were all 4-1, and Anisa Dauti was 2-0 in her varsity matches.

 Whitewater is right back at it on Monday morning, August 26, with a dual meet in Columbus.

Team Scores
Whitewater 2, Ashland 5
Whitewater 5, Chippewa Falls 2
Whitewater 7, Mondovi 0
Whitewater 4, Altoona 3
Whitewater 5, West Salem 2

The Whitewater Invite on Tuesday, August 20 was a rather long day with many logistical problems. In order to help out a couple of teams that had some schools back out of their quad, the Whitewater Quad ended up with six teams. In order for this to work, it was going to require some schools moving back and forth between Whitewater and Fort Atkinson. The weather decided to make things even more difficult with a few rain delays in Whitewater, which forced even more teams to move to Fort. Of course a half an hour after teams moved to Fort it rained at the Aquatic Center courts, but not over at the Fort Atkinson High School courts. With all of the delays and moving around there were a few teams that were only able to get two matches in, and others were able to get all three in.

Whitewater was one of the schools that only finished two of their matches with 6-1 wins over both West Salem and Fort Atkinson.

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Photos of Kaitlyn Partoll Courtesy of Bob Mischka

Coach Tim Nelson stated, “I was quite pleased with how we played today. We showed improvement from yesterday’s quad and continued to make the strides that we need to. The match of the day was between Kaitlyn Partoll and Olivia Granec of Fort. The two girls played a number of incredible points in a match that went back and forth before Kaitlyn was able to pull it out with the closest of super tie-break scores.” Wednesday the Whippets headed up to Altoona to participate in the Altoona Invite on Thursday and Friday.

The Whippet victories secured the 300th career win for Coach Tim Nelson.

The Whippets started their 2019 tennis season at the East Troy Quad on Monday, August 19, facing some very solid competition. East Troy went 3-0 on the day taking the championship followed by Union Grove at 2-1, Whitewater at 1-2, and Monroe at 0-3.

Coach Tim Nelson stated, “We are going to face some growing pains to begin the season as we have several new players and many others that have had to move up quite a bit in the line-up. Today I felt that we were moving in the right direction. Every match the kids played better;  they started making strides in many areas and did what we needed to do to start improving. We definitely have things that we need to work on, but that is what these early matches are good for, showing where your strengths and weaknesses are and what you need to do to get better.”

The team was right back at it on Tuesday with three more matches in the Whitewater Quad.