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

By Jason Nihles, The Platteville Journal / Fennimore Times / Boscobel Dial

Rhiannon Nelson-Hahn, Sr., OH, Fennimore volleyball
FENNIMORE — Senior outside hitter Rhiannon Nelson-Hahn returned to the Fennimore volleyball lineup last week and it couldn’t have come at a better time.

Nelson-Hahn hadn’t played since a Sept. 16 five-set loss to Cuba City due to an injured right wrist, but looked like she hadn’t missed a beat in the five-week absence.

Fennimore beat Iowa–Grant, then won the Shullsburg Tournament Sept. 27 without its best hitter, but the Eagles struggled in October, going just 4–7 in their final 11 matches of the regular season with Nelson-Hahn.

In her welcomed return, the hard-hitting righty posted a match-high 15 kills on 34 attempts with just three errors and made seven digs to lead the top-seeded Golden Eagles (29–11) to a 25–11, 25–22, 25–18 sweep of No. 8 seed Iowa–Grant in WIAA Division 4 regional semifinal last Thursday night.

Nelson-Hahn then posted a season-high 20 kills, and junior Brooklyn Ritchie added 14 kills, 13 digs and 4 blocks as Fennimore swept No. 5 seed Bangor 25–18, 25–21, 25–14 in Saturday night’s regional final at FHS.

“The girls came out and started off playing very cautious,” said Fennimore head coach Micki Becwar. “After taking  the first set, they seemed to calm down and play more confident the next two sets.”

Fennimore volleyball last reached the regional finals in 2011 and hadn’t won a regional title since 2004.

Fun fact junior setter Brylie Zink’s mother — Whitney (Lenz) Zink was a starter on that 2024 team that reached the D3 sectional finals. The younger Zink has 27 assists and 11 digs in Saturday’s regional final win, and 27 assists in Thursday’s win over IG (9–25).

“Thursday’s win over Iowa– Grant was pure teamwork,” said Becwar. “I was so impressed how these girls came together and worked as one.

Fennimore advanced to host No. 3 seed Cashton (21–12) in a D4 sectional semifinal tonight (Thursday at 7 p.m.).

The winner will advance to face either Cochrane–Fountain City (26–9) or Blair–Taylor (18–9) in Saturday’s sectional final at Riverdale High School (Muscoda). 

HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order)
Abigail Foley, So., OH, Southwestern volleyball
Foley posted a team-high 17 kills to lead the No. 4 seeded Wildcats (15–11) to a five-set victory over No. 1 seed and #1-ranked Argyle (24–2) in last Saturday's WIAA D5 regionals finals. Foley also floored 18 kills in a hard-fought five-set comeback victory over No. 4 Potosi last Thursday night. 

Shawn Jahnke-Fiedler, Sr., WR/DB, Fennimore football
Jahnke-Fiedler scored three touchdowns in the first half to lead Fennimore to a dominating 50–7 victory over SWAL rival Mineral Point in a Division 6 first-round playoff game last Friday night. The win was an extreme bounce back from the previous week when the Pointers upset the Golden Eagles 39–36 on a field goal on the final play of the game. Jahnke-Fiedler scored on a 32-yard pass from classmate Dawson Crubel late in the first quarter, then answered Point’s only score with an 89-yard kickoff return. He added a 34-yard touchdown run to make it 42–7 with 5:18 left in the half and just for good measure intercepted a pass and recorded a team-high seven tackles on defense.

“SJF had a legendary first half,” said Rosemeyer. “It was most likely a Fennimore football first with a receiving TD, rushing TD, kick return TD and interception all in the 1st half. Truly a record-breaking individual performance from him and it was awesome to be a part of.”

Maddy Kabat, Sr., OH, Mineral Point volleyball
Kabat had 19 kills, 20 digs and three blocks to lead the No. 1 seed Pointers to a 20–25, 25–23, 25–22, 26–24 victory over No. 4 seed River Valley in a WIAA D3 regional final victory last Friday night. She also posted 17 kills, 11 digs and 3 aces in a sweep of No. 8 Lancaster in a D3 regional semifinal last Friday night.

Lilly Ritchie, Jr., OH, Darlington volleyball
Ritchie posted a season- and match-high 20 kills with just four errors, to go along with 21 digs and two aces to lead the No. 6 seed Redbirds (19–15) to a five-set upset of No. 3 seed Cuba City in a WIAA Division 4 regional semifinal last Thursday night. Ritchie also had 9 kills, 9 digs and a match-high 5 aces in a sweep of Prairie du Chien in the regional quarterfinals last Tuesday night. 

Tyler Saase, Sr., RB/DB, Platteville football
Sasse rushed for 174 yards and 4 touchdowns, including the game-winner on a 1-yard run with 43 seconds left to lead the No. 6 seed Hillmen to a wild 37–30 victory over No. 3 seed Lodi in a WIAA Division 4 first round playoff game last Friday night. Platteville trailed 14–7 early in the fourth quarter before erupting for 30 points in the final 8:23 to pull out a win for the ages.

Landry Stluka, So., RB/DB, North Crawford
Stluka rushed for 137 yards and 3 touchdowns, and caught three passes for 111 yards and one touchdown to lead the No. 2 Trojans to in a 60–12 second-round victory over No. 6 Hurley in a WIAA 8-Player playoff game last Friday night.

Kallie Timmerman, Jr., Setter, Shullsburg volleyball
Timmerman passed out 35 assists in a WIAA Division 5 regional semifinal loss to Shullsburg last Thursday night. In the process the Shullsburg junior surpassed the 1,000 assist mark in her two years as a starter. Timmerman helped the Miners post 17–9 overall record and a 9–3 second-place finish in the Six Rivers West.