Sports

Adversity is something that strikes every team in every sport.

The great ones find a way to battle through various difficulties. The others fade to black.

Middleton’s boys volleyball team was struck with more misfortune last week than most teams encounter. The Cardinals learned standout senior outside hitter Nolan Schoonveld would be lost for the year with a knee injury.

But Middleton refused to feel sorry for itself. The Cardinals rolled past Madison La Follette last Tuesday, then had an extremely impressive second place finish at the Wauwatosa East Invite last Saturday.

“I can’t wait to see what these guys can do for the rest of the year,” Middleton coach Ben White said. “We had a couple of guys completely new to playing and they more than held their own. 

Lauren Cabalka loves to challenge her Middleton girls swimming team. And nothing poses a better test than the Waukesha South Invitational.

The star-studded event last Saturday included the state’s top-three teams. And even though Middleton hoped for better than a fifth place finish, the experience should help it down the road.

Hartland Arrowhead won the meet with 386 points, while Waukesha South/Mukwonago was second (260). Cedarburg (247), Verona-Mount Horeb (243) and Middleton (231) rounded out the top-five.

“This is typically a tough meet for the girls simply because of where in the season it falls,” Cabalka said. “They are physically and mentally tired and we know that the level of performance will reflect that. 

Adversity has struck for the first time this season.

Unexpected setbacks. Painful defeats.

Now, we’ll see how Middleton’s boys soccer team responds.

The Cardinals, who entered the week ranked No. 2 in the latest Wisconsin Soccer Coaches Association poll, went 1-2-1 last week. Middleton fell to 9-2-2 on the season, but still leads the Big Eight Conference with a 5-1 record and 15 points.

“We still control our own destiny in the Big Eight Conference as the sole leaders,” Middleton coach Ben Kollasch said.

That’s certainly true. But the path to the top of the league got tougher last week.

Middleton defeated Sun Prairie, 2-1, last Tuesday. But the Cardinals fell to second place Madison Memorial, 2-0, last Thursday.

Memorial’s win gave it 14 points in the league, and left it tied for second place with Madison West, one point behind Middleton.

The Middleton Invitational is one of the area’s top girls volleyball tournaments every season.

Elite programs and standout players invade Middleton High School. And it’s always a good opportunity for the host Cardinals to test themselves.

On Saturday, Middleton certainly passed the test. The Cardinals reached the semifinals of their own tournament, before losing to Platteville.

River Valley then defeated Platteville for the championship.

“Overall, we were happy with the performance,” Middleton coach Franco Marcos said. “We saw a lot of improvement.”

Middleton opened the tournament with a 25-20, 13-25, 15-10 win over West Allis Hale. Rachel Severson had 14 assists, while Logan Welti had nine kills and two aces. Audrey Hinshaw had six kills, Cole Jordee had seven blocks, Molly Zeinemann had six blocks and Andrina McNamer had three blocks. 

SUN PRAIRIE — The best player on Ashley Field was also the last to leave Friday night. And he didn’t go empty handed.

Sun Prairie’s massive defensive tackle Devin Webster exited with what’s called the “Hog Hammer” — a large sledge hammer that typically goes to Sun Prairie’s top offensive linemen.

On this night, though, Sun Prairie coach Brain Kaminski changed the rules and gave it to a defensive player. And the way Webster played against Middleton, they might want to rename it “Webster’s Hammer.”

Webster had four sacks, forced two fumbles, blocked a punt and had Middleton on its heels all 48 minutes. When Middleton couldn’t stop Webster, he stopped its march towards a perfect season and powered Sun Prairie to a 20-17 win.

“These last couple weeks I’ve been showing I can be really dominant, controlling the line of scrimmage,” said the 6-foot-2, 295-pound Webster. “Not just me, but our whole defense. But (Friday) was something else.”

The names changed. Boy, did they ever change.

Amazingly, though, the results never did.

And that’s why Middleton’s girls golf team was a giddy bunch Wednesday evening.

The Cardinals won the Beloit Triangular with a team score of 166. Sun Prairie was second at 194, while the host Purple Knights didn’t have a full team and had an incomplete score.

Middleton finished Big Eight Conference play with an 8-0-1 record, tying for the league title with Verona.

For a Middleton team that lost four of its top five players from a year ago, tying for the conference’s dual meet title was a rewarding moment.

“Coming into the season, I didn't know what to expect,” Middleton coach Becky Halverson said. “I did know that our goals were not going to change.  

“The girls really stepped up and showed me that they could compete with the best in the state. I'm so proud of them and how far they've come.”

Ben White couldn’t wait to start getting answers.

When he did, Middleton’s boys volleyball coach liked what he discovered.

The Cardinals went to the power-packed Racine Invite last Saturday and met some of the state’s elite teams. Middleton more than held its own, going 2-1-1 on the day.

“We found when healthy we can go toe-to-toe with most of the best,” White said.

Middleton opened with a 21-10, 21-15 win over Homestead, then cruised past Kenosha Indian Trail, 21-11, 21-14. The Cardinals split sets with Kettle Moraine, 21-15, 12-21, then lost to Germantown 23-21, 21-15.

James Caldwell led the Cardinals with 23 kills, 12 digs, six blocks and four aces. Nolan Schoonveld had 19 kills and Derek Kalvin had 45 assists. Blake Sprecher added 11 blocks and Thomas Robson had 14 digs.

The lone dark cloud came when Schoonveld suffered a knee injury against Germantown and didn’t return. His status moving forward was uncertain.

Progress. Growth. Improvement.

That’s what Franco Marcos is hoping to get with his extremely young Middleton girls volleyball team. And that’s exactly what the Cardinals gave their head coach last week.

Middleton opened the week with a tough, 3-0, loss to Verona last Tuesday. But the Cardinals rebounded with a 3-0 win over Madison East last Thursday, and a second place finish at the Appleton West Invite last Saturday.

“It was a good week and we showed a lot of improvement as the week went on,” Marcos said. “I am really excited about this team.”

Marcos was excited about his team, even after it lost to Verona, 25-19, 25-18, 25-22. That’s because he saw his team get better as the match went on.

Logan Welti had 11 kills and 12 digs for Middleton, while Rachel Severson had 12 assists. Amber Karn had nine digs, while Cole Jordee had six blocks and seven kills.

Middleton’s girls cross country team finished second at the star-studded River Valley Invitational last Saturday.

Sun Prairie won the large schools competition with 56 points, while Middleton (71), McFarland (98), Dodgeville-Mineral Point (129) and Freedom (161) rounded out the top five.

The Cardinals competed without their top runner, Bobbi Patrick, who was taking her ACT test.

“Sun Prairie ran an excellent race placing three runners before our top runner,” Middleton co-coach Cindy Bremser said.

Middleton junior Sam Valentine finished 10^th overall in 20 minutes, 1 second. Freshman Charlotte Sue was 12^th (20:13), senior Rachel Wians was 13^th (20:14), senior Jenny Launder was 17^th (20:31) and senior Jennifer Phillips was 19^th (20:35).

There was plenty of enthusiasm from Day One.

There was excitement, eagerness, anticipation.

But even for the greatest optimist inside Middleton’s boys soccer program, the Cardinals’ remarkable start has to come as a surprise.

Middleton won two more Big Eight Conference games last week, rolling past Madison East, 4-2, last Tuesday and besting Madison La Follette, 5-0, last Thursday. The Cardinals improved to 8-0-1 on the season and 4-0 in the Big Eight Conference.

After losing 15 seniors, no one inside the program knew exactly what to expect. How about a magnificent start that has the Cardinals ranked No. 2 in the latest Wisconsin Soccer Coaches Association poll.

“We were optimistic coming into the season, but never expected to find success this quickly,” Middleton senior defender Jordan Grapentine said. “We lost a ton of seniors. Replacing that many players is never easy.