New Berlin United Volleyball vs. WAC – 9/28:
New Berlin United Boys Volleyball Stays Hot, Beats West Allis Central With Ease
On Monday night, the New Berlin United Boys Volleyball team took on West Allis Central in their first of two matchups of the night. Right out of the gate, United looked sharp and focused in their warmups, and you could tell they looked ready to build on their already-strong start to the season. Coming into this matchup, United was undefeated in conference (3-0) and hadn’t dropped a single set in those games. In their matchup with WAC, the trend continued.
Incredible Serving Dominates First Set
In the first set, WAC had very little resistance to United’s serves. Over half of the points scored by United in the first set were aces, and the set was only an astonishing 14 minutes long. Sam Ludwig started the set with 6 points in a row early on, and on the ones that WAC were able to return, hitters Noah Daniels, Sid Blessington, and Will Gottschalk were easily able to spike it for points anyways. In a dominant performance, United won the set 25-5.
More Resistance from WAC in Second and Third sets
Despite their poor performance to start the match, WAC looked much better in the next two sets. However, it wasn’t enough to stop United’s incredible play, as they continued to roll on through the next two sets 25-12, 25-11. With the help of great serving from Jacob Wisniewski and Sid Blessington (Blessington at one point served 9 points in a row), as well as top-level hitting by Daniels and sophomore Seth Aiello, United cruised to another win, improving their record to 4-0.
United looks to continue this level of play for the rest of the season, and with how they looked last night, good things are coming for this group.
New Berlin United Volleyball vs. Whitnall – 9/28
New Berlin United Stays Hot with Another Conference Victory
After New Berlin United won against West Allis Central in straight sets, United had to take on Whitnall High School. It started out as a quick first set for United winning the first set 25-15. Soon after that, the impact that United had throughout the game clearly showed in the second set, also winning that 25-13. After a 2-0 lead United started out a bit slow in the third set. Whitnall had a big lead throughout the 3rd set, but United held on and came back. The outside hitter, Seth Aiello, ended up winning the game for United, 25-21, giving them their second straight set win of the night.
United has been on fire to start the season, and this win improved them to a 5-0 start without having dropped a single set. As they enter the heart of the season, they look to continue this momentum in their upcoming crucial conference matchup against Greendale next Wednesday.
New Berlin West Boys Soccer vs. Wisconsin Lutheran – 9/30
New Berlin West Boys’ Soccer Ties Second Game in a Row
New Berlin West Soccer continued their slow start to the season last Wednesday, with a tough 2-2 tie against Wisconsin Lutheran. Their record now falls to 0-4-3, which is only one loss shy of their overall record last year.
Unfortunate Start
The first goal scored could be considered a lucky one. Freshman Giarley Gonzales of Wisconsin Lutheran nailed a kick from around midfield that floated over Goalkeeper Nate Jocz as it caught West by surprise. Although Wisconsin Lutheran scored first, New Berlin West held possession for the majority of the first half.
West “Gets the Ball Rolling”
West got on the board late in the first half on a goal by Senior and Team Captain Owen Spitz, which was assisted by Keegan Riesen. There were many opportunities for West to score in the first half. One of those opportunities was a free kick from Riesen at around the 30 minute mark, but a great save prevented another goal. Also, with around 20 seconds left, midfielder Matthew Sundarajan missed off the crossbar from inside 10 feet which would’ve given West the lead.
Slow Second Half
For the first 20-ish minutes of the second half, neither team scored, although West had multiple shots and promising opportunities to score. Wisconsin Lutheran’s Giarley Gonzales scored his second goal off of a deflected pass, ending the second half lull. However, West answered 15 minutes later with a goal by Keegan Riesen assisted by Sundarajan to tie the score with around 15 minutes left to play.
On the Tip of the Tongue
The final ten minutes were the most eventful. West had three strong shots on target, with one being a header on a corner kick to Aaron Moran, a 6’5” defender who was easily the tallest player on the field. The other shot was from Matthew Sundarajan from inside 10 feet but was saved rather easily by Lutheran’s goalie. Lutheran really had no consistent time of possession in the final stretch. The final shot was from Angel Mendes at the final second of the game and went right into the goalie’s arms to end the game in a tie.
Away Games or Games We Did Not Cover
Since we cannot away games this year due to COVID restrictions, here are the final scores for the New Berlin West away games this week:
10/1: New Berlin West Girls Volleyball @Pius – West wins in straight sets to improve their conference record to 1-1
10/2: New Berlin West Football @Tosa East – After winning their first game of the season against Port Washington, they lost this non-conference matchup against Tosa East by a score of 10-7.
10/3: New Berlin West Girls Volleyball vs. Wauwatosa West – West wins in straight sets again, capping off a strong week and improving their win streak to two games after losing their first three games of the season.
