Windthorst Makes It Six In A Row, 15-11, 5-15, 15-7

For the fifth consecutive year, Windthorst and Round Top-Carmine met in the finals of the 1A state championship - with the same results. Windthorst's 6'0" middle tandem of sophomore Kandis Schroeder and freshman Danielle Veitenheimer overpowered RTC, giving the Trojanettes their sixth straight state title and their ninth championship overall.

Schroeder finished with 12 kills and Weitenheimer added 8. Allison Schreiber also had 10 kills for Windthorst.

"Our blocking was pivotal that third game in winning the match," said Windthorst coach Stacy Wolf . "We touched a lot of balls, knocked some down and we were able to get them out of their offense."

The loss overshadowed an outstanding tournament by RTC 5'4" senior Haley Goebel, who never backed down from the taller Trojanettes. Goebel had 12 kills in the match, giving her 24 kills for the tournament. Jillian Graham led RTC with 13 kills.

"Haley was definitely the MVP," said Wolf. "She's an outstanding player."

Windthorst, which finished the season 36-3, had leads of 6-1, 9-2 and 12-5 in game one. RTC fought back each time, but could never pull any closer than 3. Game 2 was another story as Round Top-Carmine, which finishes at 35-5, jumped to a 12-3 and was never challenged. Windthorst rebounded, however, jumping to a 7-0 lead in game 3. When RTC cut the lead to 7-4, Schroeder took over with three blocks and a kill to help extend the lead to 13-4. At that point, it was only a matter of time.

"I told the girls we had to focus and we had to have intensity," said Wolf. "We're young, usually on two seniors on the floor at any one time. The second game our intensity dropped off. I stressed before the third game that we had to run an offense or it was going to be a struggle."

It was the second time this season that Windthorst had beaten RTC.

"Their serving really picked up since last time we played them," said Brittany Schroeder. "The blocking was key. We would get one block and that would get us going."

"It would have been really depressing if we hadn't won," said senior Kalynne Meurer, one of five seniors on the team who finished her high school career without losing a playoff game.

Statistical leaders

Windthorst
Kills - Schroeder 12, Schreiber 10, Veitenheimer 8, Sales 7
Blocks - Schroeder 3S,3A; Schreiber, Veitenheimer and B Schroeder 2A
Assists - B Schroeder 19, Schreiber 12
Digs - Schroeder 13, Teichman 11

Round Top-Carmine
Kills - Graham 13, Goebel 12, Stockton 5
Blocks - Siptak and Graham 2, Goebel 1
Assists - Cordes 28
Digs - SIptak 11, Etzel 9, Goebel 8