Sports

To the victors go the spoils.

Few teams won more than Middleton’s girls golfers this fall, as the Cardinals rolled to the Big Eight Conference title and finished third at the WIAA Division 1 state meet.

So it was a no-brainer the Cardinals dominated when it came to postseason awards.

Junior Annika Jafferis was named the Big Eight Conference’s Player of the Year and earned third-team all-state honors. Junior Sydney Weiss and senior Emily Utter were both named first-team all-conference and honorable-mention all-state.

Senior Maddy Wilcox was named second-team all-conference and honorable-mention all-state. And senior Arya Wickramasinha was named second-team all-Big Eight.

Jafferis had 16 nine-hole rounds under 40 this season and had one nine-hole round under par. Jafferis averaged 40.7 per nine holes this year, down from 51.3 her freshman season.

SUN PRAIRIE — Nowhere to hide.

Middleton’s girls swimming and diving team is the defending WIAA Division 1 state champion, and with a talented roster once again, the Cardinals are every bit as capable of a repeat.

And everyone knows it.

So entering last Saturday’s sectional meet at Sun Prairie West High School, all eyes were on the Cardinals.

“We’re conscious of the fact that we’re probably a target for other teams, but if that’s pushing (them) to work hard, it’s pushing us to work just as hard, because we know what we can do,” junior Sulia Miller said. “We don’t want to lose. We want to keep pushing for the things that we know we’re capable of. There definitely is pressure, but it pushes us to work so much harder and to swim just that much faster.”

It showed at sectionals.

MILWAUKEE — Eight returning starters.

A sensational 16-person senior class.

And a state championship already in tow.

Résumés like these don't appear often.

So from the time Middleton’s boys soccer team assembled for its first practice on Aug. 19, there was one — and only one — thing the Cardinals believed would make their season a true success.

“Back to back,” dynamic senior midfielder Jimmy Murphy said. “That was really the only goal.”

Late Saturday night, as the Cardinals raced around Uihlein Soccer Park with another gold ball in their possession, the mission was complete.

Middleton got a goal from senior forward Riley Kann in the second minute and a highlight-reel blast from senior midfielder Sawyer FitzRandolph in the 61^st minute and downed Green Bay Preble, 2-0, in the WIAA Division 1 state title game.

GREEN BAY — They were just 24 hours away from playing for a boys state volleyball championship.

And a trio of Middleton’s top players were asked for a word to describe their path to the title game.

Caden Van Buren, the Cardinals’ brilliant junior outside hitter, called the ride “special.” Will Hoffman, Middleton’s terrific junior blocker, talked about the team’s “strong mentality.” And Vance Ferry, another junior outside hitter, discussed the Cardinals’ “unity.”

All of those qualities brought MHS to the brink of its second straight title. And even though Sussex Hamilton rallied for a 25-10, 23-25, 22-25, 25-21, 15-10 win last Friday at the Resch Center in Green Bay, the Cardinals knew their journey to the brink of a championship was certainly remarkable.

“This whole group has been special all year,” said Van Buren, whose team finished the year 34-5. “We didn’t know what we had … we came together. We’ve glued.

MILWAUKEE — Everything seemed familiar last Friday night for Middleton boys soccer coach Kevin Pauls and his Cardinals.

It had been 370 days since Middleton had walked off the field at Uihlein Soccer Park as WIAA Division 1 state champions. And now Cardinals found themselves back on the same field, facing the same opponent — Brookfield East.

Just like the last time MHS and East faced off at Uihlein, it took some late-game magic for Middleton to come out on top.

Middleton scored twice in the final eight minutes of regulation — both goals coming within 90 seconds of each other — and edged the Spartans, 2-1, in the state semifinals.

Third-seeded Middleton advanced to the state championship game against fourth-seeded Green Bay Preble, which upset top-seeded Marquette.

GREEN BAY — The WIAA and the WISAA merged back in 2000.

And in the 25 seasons since, Marquette’s boys volleyball program has been the state bully.

In the past quarter century, the Hilltoppers have won 10 state championship, have three runner-up finishes and been to the state tournament a whopping 22 times.

On Thursday afternoon, though, Middleton showed there might be a new sheriff in the boys volleyball world.

The Cardinals controlled the first two sets, held off a Marquette rally in the third, and downed the Hilltoppers, 25-19, 25-21, 25-23 in a state semifinal game held at the Resch Center in Green Bay.

Third-seeded Middleton, the defending state champs, improved to 34-4 and will take aim at a repeat when it faces top-seeded Sussex Hamilton in the title match Friday at approximately 7:30 p.m. Second-seeded Marquette finished its season 27-7.

GREEN BAY — Caden Van Buren shines at everything he does on a volleyball court.

Attacking. Defending. Setting. Leading.

Van Buren can certainly do it all.

Turns out Middleton’s junior outside hitter had one more trick in his large bag of treats — kicking.

During the Cardinals’ four-set win over Westosha Central in the WIAA Division 1 quarterfinals Wednesday, Van Buren was completely out of position on an early point in the first set. Van Buren threw out his foot — a completely legal play — and sent the ball back onto the Falcons’ side, where it fell just beyond the reach of two players for a winner.

“Luck,” Van Buren called it. “I just stuck my foot out and it went over and it was perfect.”

Middleton wasn’t perfect — but it was awfully impressive in rolling to a 25-14, 25-21, 19-25, 25-20 win over the Falcons.

MADISON — Tradition never graduates, or so the saying goes for programs with a history as rich as Middleton boys volleyball.

But 11 seniors did graduate off of last year’s team that punched the Cardinals’ 14th ticket to the state tournament en route to their first-ever championship.

And with only one returning starter — junior Caden Van Buren — a return trip to the Resch Center in Green Bay for a chance to defend that title seemed like perhaps a longshot.

Maybe so. But no one told that to the Cardinals.

Middleton gelled quickly and put together another memorable campaign, one that will continue this weekend following its 25-21, 25-13, 25-21 victory over third-seeded Madison West in Saturday night’s WIAA sectional championship match at Madison Memorial High School.

MADISON — The pressure was on Liev Schiffman.

Middleton’s senior keeper didn't flinch.

With a return trip to the WIAA Division 1 boys state soccer state tournament on the line, Schiffman came up large.

Schiffman saved three of four shots in a penalty kick shootout as top-seeded Middleton edged Big Eight Conference rival and second-seeded Madison West, 3-1, on penalty kicks in a sectional final at Lussier Stadium last Saturday.

Middleton, the defending state champions, now takes aims at the third state title in program history.

“They’ve been workmanlike. We’ve been talking about taking care of business,” said Middleton coach Kevin Pauls, whose team is making the 15^th state tournament appearance in school history. “Hey, last year was no fluke. We’re going to go back and try to do the same thing.”

It wasn’t supposed to end this way.

Middleton’s girls volleyball team was the No. 1 seed in their sectional. The Cardinals, won the Big Eight Conference championship, had rolled past Verona earlier this season and had the state tournament in their sights.

But the best laid plans often go awry and that was the case during the WIAA Division 1 sectional semifinals held in DeForest on Oct. 31.

Verona played one of its finest matches of the season, Middleton was far from its best and the Wildcats ended the Cardinals’ season with a 25-16, 25-12, 26-24 victory. Top-seeded Middleton ended its year 28-7, while the fourth-seeded Wildcats lost in the sectional finals to sixth-seeded Holmen two nights later.