All season long, Middleton boys volleyball coach Ben White has asked his team to develop a closer’s mentality.
On Tuesday night, the Cardinals resembled Mariano Rivera.
Middleton cruised past visiting Beloit Memorial, 25-18, 25-19, 25-17, in a WIAA sectional semifinal. And the Cardinals’ performance down the stretch in each game was extremely impressive.
“We played our best down the stretch of each set, and that’s the first time I can say that this year,” White said. “I was impressed at how we closed out the sets against Beloit. We haven’t had much success doing that this year.”
Middleton advanced to a sectional final against Kettle Moraine, a match the Cardinals will host Thursday at 7 p.m. The state tournament is Nov. 15-16 at Wisconsin Lutheran College in Milwaukee.
Middleton had an extremely balanced attack in beating the Purple Knights for a third time this season.