Today is Saturday, October 10, 2026
The Whippet Volleyball Team finished 4th at the RVC Conference tournament to place 3rd overall to finish the season behind McFarland and Brodhead. The Whippets saw East Troy first in the tournament and beat them in a 2 set sweep 25-17, 25-17.
Next up the Whippets saw Brodhead and fell in 2 sets 20-25 and 11-25. To finish the playoff round, the Whippets battled Evansville for third place. In a hard-fought match, they fell in three sets 25-21, 23-25, 10-15.
Points from finishing the conference play 8-1 and then tournament play in 4th, has the Whippets placing 3rd in the RVC behind McFarland and Brodhead.
Statistical leaders included Caleigh Yang with 24 digs, Aidyn Amundson with 5 blocks, Cali Kopecky with 4 aces, Calli Grosinske with 40 assists, and Kindyl Kilar with 41 kills and 5 blocks.
“With the conference play and tournament behind us, we look to extend our season against Monroe on Tuesday. This team has battled all season, and we want nothing more than to extend our time on the court together. We hope many will join us in the gym on Tuesday!”
The Whippets will now host Monroe to begin playoffs on Tuesday, October 18th at 7:00 p.m. Hope to see you there!
Article Submitted by Mary Kilar
Whitewater High School Head Volleyball Coach
mkilar@wwusd.org
Photo Courtesy of Bob Mischka
Emilia Houwers finished her season in the WIAA State Tennis Tournament at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium in Madison on Thursday, October 13. Emilia, unfortunately, lost in the first round to Sophie Vande Slunt of Saint Mary’s Spring Academy 4-6, 1-6.
What is not lost is that Emilia became one of the few WHS tennis players to qualify for the State Tennis Tournament in singles two times and is only a Junior! Congratulations, Emilia, on a great season!
On Thursday afternoon, before the team left for Madison, Whitewater High School began the tradition of the “Whippet Walk” which will be repeated for any individual or group that advances to a state-level competition in academics, athletics, the arts, or activities. The tennis team was followed through the student-lined hallways by the Whitewater High School Marching Band playing the school song.
Article and Photos Submitted by Greg Stewart
Whitewater High School
gstewart@wwusd.org
Additional Photos Courtesy of Justin Crandall
By Angela Kelm
Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Information
University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
The No. 3 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater football team topped No. 19 UW-Oshkosh 17-3 in front of a record crowd of 18,951 fans. The audience broke the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference record and breaks the old Perkins Stadium mark previously set in a game against Oshkosh during Family Fest.
The Warhawks opened the scoring in their second drive of the game. Preston Strasburg capped the 11-play, 59-yard run, punching it in from two-yards out. Jeffery Isotalo-McGuire added the extra point for a 7-0 UW-W lead with 5:41 on the clock.
UW-Whitewater added three more on their next drive that extended into the second quarter. Jaylon Edmonson opened the drive weaving through traffic for a 35-yard scamper up the middle. Isotalo-McGuire made it 10-0 capping the drive on the second play of the second quarter with a 27-yard field goal.
The defenses came up with some big plays the rest of the quarter. Kyle Koelblinger registered the highlight. The Warhawk defense chased the Titan quarterback out of the pocket. He heaved the ball deep with Koelblinger and the UW-O receiver both going up for the jump ball. It was Koelblinger coming down with it for the interception.
Following a three-and-out in their offensive possession, the Warhawks got the ball right back, jumping on a muffed punt with Zach Sherman on the recovery at the Oshkosh 45. The Titan offense responded with a pick off in the end zone later in the drive to take over at their 20 with 40 seconds remaining. The UW-W defense held to go into the intermission with the 10-0 advantage.
UW-W forced a punt on Oshkosh’s first drive of the second half and Tyler Holte gave the Warhawks great field position with a 31-yard return to the UW-O 43. Strasburg registered his second touchdown run of the night bouncing it up the middle from nine yards out. The kick made it 17-0 Whitewater with 8:08 left in the third.
The Titans got on the board with a field goal with 8:25 in the fourth capping an 11-play, 41-yard drive.
Holte came up big in the fourth with his longest reception of the season, 59-yard grab that gave the Warhawks first down at the UW-O 14. The play setup the Warhawks for a scoring opportunity but they were unable to capitalize.
The defense held the rest of the way for the 17-3 final.
Edmonson bolstered the run game with 107 of the team’s 165 yards on the ground. Defensively, linebackers Ryan Liszka and Egon Hein combined for 19 tackles including 2.5 tackles for a loss, two pass breakups and a quarterback hurry.
Box Score
The Whitewater Volleyball Program hosted Johnson Creek at our Dig Pink home finish on Thursday, October 13. It was an incredibly emotional night as Cali Kopecky and Kindyl Kilar began, “During our Dig Pink event last year, we had the honor of celebrating three of our moms who were breast cancer survivors. One of our moms, Angelica Verduzco, had JUST finished her final chemotherapy treatment and rang the celebratory bell in front of our Whippet Volleyball community. Little did we know that her battle wasn’t over yet. Over the last year, Angelica continued to fight the cancer with radiation, chemotherapy, and multiple surgeries. Her grit, tenacity, and positivity never dwindled as she battled day in and day out. Sadly, Angelica lost her battle to cancer in September of this year. Her beaming smile and love will be greatly missed, but never forgotten.” Peyton Clark gave a tribute to her grandmother who is a breast cancer survivor, and Aidyn Amundson and Calli Grosinske gave a heartfelt tribute to their moms, also breast cancer survivors.
The Whippets concluded with highlighting all in the stands who have been impacted by breast cancer and presented them a pink carnation and hugs.
This team, this program, understands that there is more to volleyball than the win-loss column. We are supporting each other through the toughest of times; we are playing for causes and people whom we hold dear to our hearts. Athletics brings people together, and this team understands the impact we have. They are a true team!
The Whippet Varsity squad (8-1 conference, and 20-6 overall) then took to the court and continued their win streak against the visiting Johnson Creek Blue Jays and swept them 25-14, 25-11, 25-16.
The Whippets controlled their side of the net and were able to stay in system most of the night. “Controlling the ball to stay in system is key to running a fast offense. I felt we ran the middle well tonight, with Jenna Pope and Aidyn Amundson getting some nice swings. CC Alexander also had a solid night on the right side and had some key blocks for us. Kindyl Kilar and Cali Kopecky had great nights on the outside, and both Calli Grosinske and Marina Linos set consistently for us. Caleigh Yang continued to be a force defensively in the libero position. Everyone got some playing time, and it was great to see Caroline Skindingsrude get some key serves and digs, and Cara Yang, our lone freshman, came in hot and played some great defense!”
We are now heading into our conference tournament on Saturday. Following, we begin the playoff run seeded fourth in our regional. We will host Monroe on Tuesday, October 18th at 7:00 p.m. We hope we can pack the gym with fan support!
We have been so thankful to our fans this season. They have come and supported us and created an awesome playing atmosphere!
Statistical leaders on the night included Ella Spear with 6 digs, Cali Kopecky with 6 digs and 5 aces, Calli Grosinske dished out 20 assists, and Kindyl Kilar had 21 kills and hit an outstanding .875 on the night.
Hope to see you Tuesday in the gym!
Article and Photos Submitted by Mary Kilar
Whitewater High School Head Volleyball Coach
mkilar@wwusd.org
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