Verona volleyball opened the 2009 season last week, narrowly edged at home before defeating Madison Memorial on the road.
Madison La Follette 3, Verona 2
After winning the first game, momentum was riding high for the Wildcats in their season opener against Madison La Follette.
But the momentum was quickly stolen by the Lancers, who won the second and third game before holding off Verona in a five-set battle, 3-2.
"It was exciting, it was tough, we knew we'd have our hands full," head coach Tran Le said. "We were getting complacent, certainly that was a factor, it's easy to feel pretty good after winning the first game and it's hard to maintain focus in the next two."
The Wildcats won the opener 25-21 on a kill by Rachel Burke, before losing game two by a narrow margin, 25-23.
The Lancers began taking advantage of Verona mistakes in game three, as the Wildcats could never sustain a string of points and dropped the game, 26-24.
Game four saw Verona battle back, pull the momentum back on its side and hammer La Follette 25-14.
In game five, the Lancers looked to their standout in 6-foot, 3-inch outside hitter Crystal Graff, a University of Wisconsin recruit, who hammered home nine of her game-high 34 kills as La Follette won the deciding game, 15-12.
"It's something we prepared for, but it's hard to control her," Le said "You can slow her a little bit, but it's hard to stop her."
Sophomore standout Jillian Bauer led the Wildcats with 13 kills, while Jamie Vareka tallied three blocks, Brooke Richardson had five aces and Grace Anbouba had 15 digs to lead Verona statistically.
Verona 3, Madison Memorial 0
Burke racked up 13 kills and six blocks Tuesday evening, as the Wildcats picked up their first win of the season in straight sets, 3-0 over Madison Memorial.
Verona was dominant throughout the evening, winning the first game 25-18, the second 25-17 and the third 25-12.
Nina and Grace Anbouba each tallied three aces in the victory, while Grace Anbouba had 14 digs to lead the Wildcat defense.
Verona (1-1 Big Eight) hosts another conference favorite in Middleton Thursday evening, before traveling to the Fond du Lac Invite on Saturday. The Wildcats play at Janesville Parker Tuesday evening.
