Xavier beats Kettle Moraine Lutheran for Division 2 state championship

ASHWAUBENON – A late surge in the fourth set lifted the Xavier girls volleyball team to the WIAA Division 2 state championship Nov. 7 at the Resch Center.

The Hawks (31-11) beat Kettle Moraine Lutheran 25-21, 25-18, 20-25, 27-25 to capture their third title in program history, all coming in the last five years.

Bella Daley had 12 kills and Kayla Fournillier added 10 to lead a balanced Hawks attack. Raya Zurfluh had 36 assists and Hope Kaufman and Rose Kendall had 15 and 14 digs, respectively. Lily Renz added four aces.

Daley was in the Resch Center stands when the Hawks, led by her older sister Madison, captured back-to-back titles in 2022 and 2023.

"Watching this made us feel like little kids again," Daley said of the Hawks' championship run. "We were talking about before the [semifinals] that it was like waking up on Christmas. We were so excited and it's been like a dream for all of us."

Xavier bolted ahead 2-0 but KML battled back to win the third set and led for most of the fourth set as it appeared the match might go to a fifth set.

Xavier made its move down 18-14, getting kills from Lexi Allen, Kendall and Daley and an ace from Kaufman to pull to within 21-20. Xavier tied the game at 24 on a block kill from Allie Gioffredi and used a kill from Daley and an attack error to pull out the set win and match victory in thrilling fashion.

Ana Degner had 12 kills and Mya Mayer chipped in 11 to lead KML (31-11). Brooklyn Luehring had 22 assists and Addison Swaney had 13 digs in support for the Chargers.

Renz, Gioffredi, Bryce Hietpas and Kellan Kaufman were the only seniors on the roster and Xavier is primed to make a second championship run next fall.

This story will be updated.

This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Xavier beats Kettle Moraine Lutheran for Division 2 state championship