Sports

Middleton’s girls volleyball team is dealing with injuries and trying to tread water.

That led to an up and down week, that saw Janesville Craig top the Cardinals, 3-1, on Sept. 16 and Middleton down Madison La Follette, 3-0, on Sept. 18.

Middleton is now 11-5 overall and 4-1 in the Big Eight Conference.

Here’s a recap of the Cardinals’ week.

• Janesville Craig 3, Middleton 1 — The Cougars toppled the Cardinals, 29-27, 26-28, 25-21, 25-13.

Middleton played without reigning Big Eight Conference Player of the Year Sadie Newcomb, who is out indefinitely with an injury.

“We don't have a timetable on her return, so we are figuring out who we are as a team,” Middleton coach Ben White said.

Middleton had multiple set points in the opening set, but couldn’t convert and Craig rallied to win the opener.

Middleton’s girls tennis team competed at the Nicolet Sweet 16 tournament on Sept. 19-20.

Here’s how the Cardinals fared at each flight.

SINGLES

• No. 1 — Mira Russo lost her first match, 6-0, 6-0.

• No. 2 — Avery West posted a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Maddie Franz of West Bend West in her opening match. West then fell to Elizabeth Regan of Divine Savior Holy Angels, 6-1, 6-0.

• No. 3 — Nithya Uppala lost her opening match to Green Bay Notre Dame’s Kathryn Weiland, 4-6, 6-1, 12-10.

• No. 4 — Kaelyn Chen defeated Homestead’s Ellen Uttech, 6-1, 6-2, in her first match. Whitefish Bay’s Liz Krueger then toppled Chen, 7-6, 6-2.

DOUBLES

• No. 1 — Middleton’s Sophie Shi and Sarah Li defeated Notre Dame’s Maddie Wied and Madison Siminski, 6-4, 6-1, in their opening match. Shi and Li then fell to University School’s Lindsey Gardner and Haley Erlich, 7-5, 6-2.

Another week.

Another pair of impressive performances.

Middleton’s No. 1 ranked boys volleyball team notched Big Eight Conference wins over Fort Atkinson on Sept. 15 and over Madison West on Sept. 18.

The Cardinals improved to 19-0 overall and 4-0 in the Big Eight Conference. Middleton has also won 92 consecutive Big Eight Conference matches dating back to Sept. 29, 2011.

Here’s a recap of the Cardinals’ week.

• Middleton 3, Fort Atkinson 0 — The Cardinals rolled to a 25-13, 25-13, 25-13 win at Fort Atkinson before a festive and feisty crowd.

“The Fort Atkinson match was a pretty unique one for us, as it probably had the largest crowd of any match we've played,” Middleton coach Dylan Griffith said. “Their students brought a ton of energy and made the atmosphere really fun. We took care of business pretty handedly and we saw a lot of guys get some playing time.”

The challenges keep coming.

And Middleton’s boys soccer team keeps knocking them out of the park.

The Cardinals, who have won two straight WIAA Division 1 state championships, posted three quality wins last week and improved to 6-0 on the season.

Middleton defeated Madison Memorial, 2-0, on Sept. 9 and downed Sun Prairie East, 3-1, on Sept. 11. The Cardinals then edged Geneva (Ill.), 1-0, on Sept. 13.

“A tough week, but three gritty wins,” Middleton coach Kevin Pauls said. “I told the team this week, we're getting wins and we're still learning who we are and still haven't played our best soccer.” 

Here’s a recap of the Cardinals’ week.

• Middleton 2, Madison Memorial 0 — Cormac Carlson had a pair of goals and the Cardinals posted a hard fought win.

“As always, Memorial played us tough,” Pauls said. “They have a couple guys that seem like they have been there five or six years and are very good.”

Week by week, meet by meet, Middleton’s boys cross country team gets better and better.

And that was the case again on Sept. 13.

The Cardinals finished in second place at the 20-team Spring Green Invite, highlighted by a sixth-place individual finish by junior Zach Tang.

DeForest won the meet with 42 points, while Middleton was second with 64. Madison West (97), Richland Center (147) and Madison La Follette (151) rounded out the top five.

“I was really excited about our performance, and the team was thrilled to come away with second place at the invite,” Middleton coach Brian Finnel said. “Even with Madison West sitting out their top runner, I believe we still would have edged them out.

“It was a solid step forward from last weekend at Verona. With most of the team feeling better after battling illness and some minor aches, we looked much sharper.”

The girls state swimming and diving meet is nearly two months away.

But a mini-state meet was held at Brookfield East High School last Saturday.

Many of the state’s elite teams competed at the Brookfield East Invite. And Middleton — the two-time defending state champion — showed it will be hard to dethrone.

The Cardinals finished with 520 points to outdistance runner-up Minnetonka (Minn.), which had 481.5 points. Verona was third with 347 and was the closest team from Wisconsin to Middleton, while Muskego (229) and Brookfield East (185) rounded out the top five at the 12-team invite.

“Our team did an amazing job of swimming fast and supporting one another,” Cardinals first-year coach Andrew Cotton said. “The energy and enthusiasm they have at each meet is bringing out the best in one another and I am excited for another great week. They continue to impress me both in and out of the pool.”

Middleton’s girls volleyball team enjoyed an outstandingweek, winning a pair of Big Eight Conference matches and faring well at the Kettle Moraine Invitational.

Here’s a recap of the Cardinals’ week.

BIG EIGHT CONFERENCE

• Middleton 3, Madison Memorial 0 — The Cardinals rolled to a 25-23, 25-21, 25-15 win over the Spartans on Sept. 9. Middleton hit at an impressive .214 clip.

The Cardinals finished the first set on a 4-0 run to take early control of the match. Middleton then rallied from a 12-7 deficit to win the second set, and was in control of the third set throughout.

“Big win for us early in the conference season,” Middleton coach Ben White said. “I was impressed with how the girls handled the match.”

Sadie Newcomb led the Cardinals with 18 kills and 13 digs, while Andrea Wipperfurth had 32 assists, four aces, three kills and nine digs.

The postseason is just around the corner for girls golf teams across the state.

And Middleton, ranked No. 3 in the latest Golf Coaches Association of Wisconsin poll, is playing awfully well at the perfect time.

Middleton finished in a second place tie at the 20-team Franklin Invite held at Tuckaway Country Club on Sept. 8. The Cardinals then won the 18-team Janesville Parker Invite held at Riverside Golf Course on Sept. 13.

“I feel good about where we’re at,” Middleton coach Becky Halverson said. “The girls are confident, they’re competing hard, and each week we’re tightening up the little things.”

No. 1 ranked Division Savior Holy Angels won the Franklin Invite with a 310, while the Cardinals tied for second with Brookfield East with a 330. Bay Port (342), Waukesha’s combined team (358) and Sussex Hamilton (362) rounded out the top six at the 20-team event.

Don’t let an underdog hang around.

That was the mentality of Middleton’s football team on Sept. 12, when the Cardinals hosted upstart Janesville Craig.

The Cougars had started the year 2-1, highlighted by a 47-0 shellacking of Madison La Follette in Week 3. And the last thing Middleton wanted to do was allow Craig to have any hope of pulling an upset.

Mission accomplished.

Middleton raced to a 21-0 first quarter lead, kept the Cougars at bay throughout and rolled to a 31-0 win.

The Cardinals improved to 3-1 overall and are tied with Verona atop the Big Eight Conference at 2-0. Those teams meet Sept. 27 in Middleton.

Craig fell to 2-2, 1-1.

“That was huge,” Middleton co-coach Joe Poehls said of the Cardinals’ fast start. “And a lot of the credit goes to (offensive coordinator) Zach Rast and his style.

“He has a certain expectation of what he wants the offense to be. And I always say, ‘That’s why we give you the big bucks.’ ”

In an era of designated hitters and pitch counts, Drew Farrell is as old school as it gets.

Affectionately known as ‘the Bulldog’ by his teammates, coaches and fans, Farrell lived up to his nickname when it mattered the most.

Farrell tossed a complete-game, five-hitter, throwing 145 pitches, and Alden Cleary provided all the offense the Middleton 29ers would need in a thrilling 2-1 victory over three-time defending champion Verona in the Home Talent League championship game at Sorenson-Bakken Field on Sunday.

It had been more than a decade since Middleton was able to hoist a Sunday Home Talent League championship banner.

But the 29ers completed a perfect 18-0 season on a crisp fall-like afternoon before an appreciative crowd that included members of their last championship team.