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MAST WATER TECHNOLOGY ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Izzy Carroll
Platteville senior leads Hillmen to title at La Follette, third-place finish at 23-team Whitewater Invitational
Carroll
Platteville's Izzy Carroll finished the two-day UW–Whitewater Invitational with a team-high 62 kills and 98 digs, as well as 12 blocks and nine aces in eight matches to earn a spot on the All-Tournament team after leading the Hillmen to a 7–1, third-place finish.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The Swnews4u.com Athlete of the Week is a web-only feature that will publish each Thursday throughout the calendar year.

Izzy Carroll, Sr., MH, Platteville volleyball

     Senior middle hitter Izzy Carroll and the Platteville volleyball team are off to an extraordinary start to the 2019 season and is this week’s Mast Water Technology SWNews4U.com Athlete of the Week after leading the Hillmen to a 12–1 start.  

     Carroll, the reigning Southwest Wisconsin Conference Player of the Year, led the Hillmen to the championship of last Tuesday’s season-opening seven-team Madison La Follette Invitational, then powered Platteville’s third-place finish over the weekend at the 23-team, two-day UW–Whitewater Invitational. This Tuesday, Carroll posted six kills and 12 digs as Platteville open Southwest Wisconsin Conference play with a 25–16, 25–20, 25–16 sweep of their chief league rival River Valley.

     Carroll had 19 kills, 10 blocks and 51 digs in four matches last week at La Follette. Platteville swept Fond du Lac St. Mary’s Springs, 25–23, 25–16, 25–10, then defeated Fort Atkinson 25–20, 23–25, 25–23 in a close match to win their, then held off Sauk Prairie, 25–17, 23–25, 25–12 in the semifinals, and rallied past Milton 21–25, 25–23, 15–12 in the championship match.

     “It was a great way to start the season,” said Platteville head coach Danielle Duerst. “We played as a team and were smart with the ball.

     Friday, the Hillmen swept their way through pool play at UW–Whitewater with victories over Kenosha Indian Trail (25–14, 23–25, 15–8), Randolph (27–29, 25–10, 15–5), Milton (25–17, 25–16) and Tomahawk (25–9, 25–11). They opened championship bracket play Saturday morning with sweeps of Bloomer (25–16, 25–20) of McFarland (25–23, 25–21) before scoring a 25–23, 25–21 victory over Monona Grove in the quarterfinals. Platteville’s tournament run came to an end with a 25–19, 18–25, 15–7 loss to Waterloo in the semifinals. The Hillmen tied for third place with Lakeside Lutheran (6–2). 

     Carroll finished the two-day tournament with a team-high 62 kills and 98 digs, as well as 12 blocks and nine aces in eight matches to earn a spot on the All-Tournament team.

     Platteville (12–1, 1–0 SWC) will host Lancaster tonight before traveling to the Richland Center Invitational on Saturday.

 

HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order):

Nick Connolly, Jr., Iowa–Grant cross country

     Connolly, a two-time WIAA Division 3 state cross country qualifier, paced the Panthers with a fourth-place individual finish (17:32.87) to lead the Iowa–Grant boys to the team title at last Saturday’s 16-team Cashton Invitational. The Panthers (91) held off challenges from Brookwood (102) and the host Eagles (105) to win the season-opening event.

 

Easton Evenstad, So., RB, Darlington football

     Evenstad rushed for a pair of long touchdowns (65 and 42 yards) and finished with 122 yards rushing on just five carries in the Redbirds’ wild 27–26 overtime victory over #2 ranked Lake Country Lutheran.

 

Cayden Milz, Sr., RB/LB, Black Hawk/Warren football

     Milz rushed for 191 yards on seven carries, including a 72-yard touchdown run, and led the Warriors with nine tackles in last Friday’s 42–7 victory over Cuba City.

 

Kaelan Shetler, Sr., RB/DB, Benton/Scales Mound/Shullsburg football

     Shetler had 12 carries for 151 yards and two touchdowns and also had an interception in the Knights’ 28–0 non-conference win over Cambridge last Friday night.

 

Hailey Stitch, So., OH, Cuba City volleyball

     Stitch made the All-Tournament team at the Onalaska Great River Sprawl after recording 62 kills, 102 digs and 15 aces in the Cubans' 10 matches at the tournament. Her efforts helped the Cubans place second overall at the event with a 9–1 record.

 

Skylar White, Sr., OH, River Ridge volleyball

     White tallied a team-high 60 kills, 30 digs and two blocks in five matches to lead River Ridge (6–0–1, 1–0 SRW) to the championship of the eight-team Monticello Six Rivers Tournament last Saturday. White also had 20 kills, 12 digs and two aces in the Timberwolves’ 25–21, 25–17, 25–17 victory Shullsburg last Thursday to begin Six Rivers Conference play.