MCDONALD'S SWNEWS4U.COM GAME OF THE WEEK (Aug. 25–Sept. 1)
VOLLEYBALL: Platteville wins 14-team Warhawk Open
By Jason Nihles, The Platteville Journal
Huser notches 1,000th career assist as Hillmen roll to team title
WHITEWATER — The Platteville volleyball team had plenty to celebrate Saturday following the season-opening UW–Whitewater Warhawk Invitational.
The Hillmen went a perfect 7–0 over the two-day, 14-team event, winning the title with a convincing 25–16, 25–19 sweep of Milwaukee Heritage Christian in last Saturday’s champion math.
The was the first time in Hillmen have won the season opening Warhawk Open, which they began attending in 2014. Platteville previously reached the championship match of the tournament in 2019 under Danielle Duerst and 2015 under Lindsay (Neal) Nihles.
Along the way, senior setter Mia Huser passed out a team-high 118 assists over seven matches and surpassed the 1,000 assist mark for her career.
“This was a huge win for us!,” said Berntgen, who now has a career record of 128–76 in her seventh season as Platteville’s head coach. “Starting off this season with a tournament win, and having all the girls work together was really fun.
“Our entire team each did their part and it was just really fun to watch. The girls have put a lot of off-season work in, we have multiple hitters this year and Mia hitting 1000 was a huge accomplishment in her career. She is definitely the leader on the court.”
Huser finished the tournament with 118 assists, 12 digs, four aces and three blocks over the two days.
Platteville opened the tournament with a 25–13, 25–6 sweep of Palmyra–Eagle and a 25–11, 25–16 sweep of Shoreland Lutheran in Friday’s pool play before dominating host Whitewater 25–8, 25–6 and then again 25–7, 25–8 in back-to-back pool play matches.
The Hillmen (7–0) earned the top seed in the eight-team championship gold bracket and beat Jefferson 25–20, 25–13 in Saturday morning’s quarterfinal round, before a 29–27, 22–25, 15–7 semifinal win over New Berlin Eisenhower in their closest match of the tournament.
Senior outside hitter Avery Richard posted a team-high 36 kills and team-high 20 digs, while fellow senior middle hitter Rianna Dye added 32 kills, four blocks.
Junior middle hitter Quinn Temperly chipped in 30 kills, five blocks, and 14 digs, while junior outside hitter Soraeya Stone tallied 19 kills, a team-high 12 aces and 16 digs.
“We know that this team puts in the work and the results showed this weekend,” added Berntgen. “Our goals are still the same. We are going to take it one match at a time and enjoy playing volleyball.”
Platteville will begin defense of its Southwest Wisconsin Conference title in Thursday night’s SWC opener at Lancaster (0–1) before hosting Mineral Point Tuesday in a rare mid-week non-conference match.
UW–Whitewater Warhawk Open
(from Aug. 28–29 @ UW–Whitewater)
Gold bracket championship: Platteville deft. Heritage Christian 25–16, 25–19
Gold bracket semifinals: Platteville def. New Berlin Eisenhower 29–27, 22–25, 15–7
Gold bracket quarterfinals: Platteville def. Jefferson 25–20, 25–13
Platteville’s Friday pool play scores
Platteville def. Palmyra–Eagle 25–13, 25–6
Platteville def. Shoreland Lutheran 25–11, 25–16
Platteville def. Whitewater 25–8, 25–6
Platteville def. Whitewater 25–7, 25–8
Platteville individual stat leaders
Kills: Avery Richard 36, Rianna Dye 32, Quinn Temperly 30, Soreaya Stone 19, Maleah Temperly 9. Blocks: Q. Temperly 5, Dye 4, M. Temperly 3, Mia Huser 3. Assists: Huser 118. Aces: Stone 12, M. Temperly 9, Mikala Schnering 5, Huser 4. Digs: Richard 20, Schering 19, Stone 16, Q. Temperly 13, Huser 12.
