Greendale girls spikers grab East title

Greendale - As the Woodland Conference Tournament and WIAA playoffs approach, the Panthers appear to be peaking.

They won the Brookfield East Tournament on Saturday, downing Manitowoc Lincoln in the semifinal, 25-21, 25-22, and topping Brookfield East, 25-21, 25-17, in the title match.

Abbie Scheidt collected nine kills and a pair of aces in the championship match, while Sydnie Swittel totaled 10 assists.

"The girls really played together as a team and stepped up their defense," head coach Katie Matel said.

Greendale next opens Woodland Tournament play at 4:30 p.m. Oct. 11 at home in a three-team pool with New Berlin Eisenhower and Cudahy.

Greendale is the top seed of that pool, and the other top seeds are Pius XI, Greenfield and Whitnall. The Panthers are also the overall third seed in the tournament, while Eisenhower is the sixth seed and Cudahy the 10th.

The champions of today's pool play will meet in the semifinals starting at 9 a.m. Oct. 13 at Greenfield High School. The championship match will follow.

The Panthers finished 8-1 in Woodland Conference duals, trailing unbeaten Pius XI (9-0) in the Woodland West standings. Their only loss came in a tough three-set match to the Lady Popes.

Greendale closed out dual play last week by beating Brown Deer, 25-15, 25-13, 27-25, on Oct. 3 and St. Francis in three games on Oct. 2.

Against Brown Deer, Stephanie Kramer tallied nine kills, Lauren Litzau 13 assists and six aces and Olivia Surita 10 digs. In the St. Francis match, Scheidt and Ally Bialo each had seven kills, Surita 16 digs and Litzau 15 assists. Scheidt, Litzau and Swittel each served three aces.