WIAA DIVISION 3 STATE CHAMPIONSHIP
CUBA CITY (35-3) VS. GRANTSBURG (35-1)
FIRST SERVE: 12:30 p.m. Saturday at the Resch Center, Green Bay.
RADIO: WPVL-AM 1590, WGLR-AM 1280.
STATE HISTORY: Grantsburg (10 appearances, 2001 state championship); Cuba City (10 appearances, 1992, 2007 state championships).
COACHES: Cuba City: Keri Lawson (UW-La Crosse). Grantsburg: Bill Morrin (UW-Superior).
PROJECTED LINEUPS
CUBA CITY: MB Emily Kaiser (213 kills, 82 solo blocks, 69 block assists), MB Katie Langmeier (190 kills), OH Megan Pickel (382 digs), OH Maggie Timmerman (236 digs), RSH Danielle Matuszak, S Natalie Meckstroth (627 assists, 67 aces), L Sam Marti (188 digs).
GRANTSBURG: MB Lauren Romanowski (154 kills, 44 blocks), MB Kallie Thoreson (90 kills), OH Kortney Morrin (331 kills, 246 digs, 82 aces), OH Annie Palmquist (.474 attack percentage, 316 kills), S Larissa Wilhelm (317 assists), S Emily Cole (180 digs).
ALMOST PERFECT: Hayward is the only team to defeat Grantsburg this season.
BATTING AVERAGES: In a statistic that will have much to say on who wins the match, Grantsburg is statistically a better hitting team than Cuba City, with a .374-.279, advantage in attack percentage.
COACH’S TAKE: “This team just wants to play, and win.” (Keri Lawson, on the Cubans).
SCOUTING REPORT: Score one for the WIAA bracketologists. The WIAA’s playoff seeding and scheduling has set up what looks like on paper to be a matchup between the state’s two best teams.
The two title fighters have combined to drop just four matches. Cuba was more dominant in its run to the final, sweeping its way through its first five playoff foes. Grantsburg survived a 3-2 marathon with Washburn in the sectional final.
While the Cubans are built on the dominating 5-foot-11 senior SWAT team middle block of Emily Kaiser and Katie Langmeier, the Pirates’ focus their offense on the powerhouse outside hitting tandem of Kortney Morrin and Annie Palmquist. Cuba will try to keep the match at center net and rely on its cast iron defense to control the match.
TH PREDICTION: Could be a classic. Grantsburg in 5.
