Fond du Lac boys volleyball aiming to grow this season
Although the Fond du Lac boys volleyball team loses a couple key components from last season’s team, the Cardinals and coach Royal Smit believe 2016 could be a successful year.
Seniors Will Mockert and Ian Spletter return for Fond du Lac as a setter and middle/outside hitter, respectively, and Smit knows those two will likely be the leaders of the team this season.
“Will is the setter on the team and this year we’re working hard for his offensive attacking and hitting, too,” Smit said. “To start the season, we’re putting in a 6-2 offense, where we have another setter in there so we can get some swings (from Mockert). The last couple years we’ve been doing a 5-1, where he’s just setting. This year we want to get his hitting availability into our offense and try to utilize his skill.
“Will and Ian are our two senior captains and they’ll bring a lot of leadership. They’ve been on the team for the past three years and have done a remarkable job of leading over the summer and getting the guys ready. The team is excited for the season to start.”
Along with Mockert and Spletter, seniors Eric Morgan, Kyle Holland, Baraa Manasrah, Nate Dietrich, Chris Gilbertson and Kyle Leisses will also contribute for the varsity squad.
Juniors Blake Badtke, Jordan Giebel, Cody Peterson and Hunter Smit as well as sophomores Dawson Wyrobeck and Michael Warntjes are on the team, too.
The Cardinals do lose All-Fox Valley Association performer Michael Barbeau from a season ago, along with Tyler Wendt and Ethan Condo.
“We’re replacing quite a bit,” Smit said. “In doing so, we gathered up some players and seniors that it’s their first year playing with our boys volleyball team. They’ve basically had over the summer to try to learn some of the skills they need to have to be able play varsity volleyball. They all have done an amazing job with their approach. Their mentality has been excellent.”
Competing in the FVA, a conference that features defending WIAA state champion Kaukauna, Smit is aware it will be an uphill battle but is hoping to stay competitive and possibly finish in the upper half of the league.
“My goal, a realistic expectation, is to be in the top half of the conference,” Smit said. “If you split the conference in half, there’s eight teams and we want to be in the top four. … With any team, it’s going to start with the passing and our defensive specialists being able to pass the ball. We have to execute our offense well. Everyone being on the same page and being able to minimize our mistakes and give ourselves the best opportunity to score points. It’s still a growing process with some of these guys, coming out for the first time. There’s going to be a learning curve, so throughout the season I’m expecting to see strides.”
Racine Park Invitational
Blake Badtke finished with 20 kills as Fond du Lac posted a set record of 3-5 at the tournament.
The Cardinals went 1-2 in pool play, sweeping both sets from Kenosha Bradford, while falling to Homestead and Fort Atkinson. In the consolation bracket, Fond du Lac beat Cedarburg 25-16 and then lost a heartbreaker to Waukesha South 27-26.
Ian Spletter added 14 kills and Nate Diedrich finished with 13 kills, while Will Mockert posted a team-high 30 assists. Jordan Giebel had 23 assists for the Cardinals.
Spletter led the Cardinals in blocks with 12, with Diedrich finishing with four aces and Cody Peterson totaling 38 digs. Kyle Holland also chipped in nine blocks.
Appleton West 3 Fond du Lac 1
The Cardinals won a close second set to even the match at 1-1, but the Terrors were able to win the next two sets to collect the win.
Ian Spletter finished with 10 kills, while Will Mockert totaled 20 assists and seven kills for Fond du Lac.
Spletter also led the Cardinals with seven blocks, while Cody Peterson had 27 digs and Blake Badtke finished with three aces.
Appleton West def. Fond du Lac, 25-19, 23-25, 29-27, 25-16
Stat leaders: FON – Ian Spletter 10 kills, 7 blocks; Will Mockert 7 kills, 20 assists, 5 blocks, 11 digs; Blake Badtke 5 kills, 3 aces; Jordan Giebel 11 assists; Kyle Holland 3 blocks; Cody Peterson 27 digs.
Fond du Lac 3 Fort Atkinson 1
The Cardinals tallied their third win of the week as they defeated Fort Atkinson Thursday night, winning 25-15, 25-20, 22-25, 25-12.
Will Mockert had 16 assists and eight digs to lead Fondy.
Blake Badtke recorded 11 kills, while Nate Diederich chipped in seven kills and three aces.
Ian Spletter added two blocks, and seven kills.
FDL def. FA, 25-15, 25-20, 22-25, 25-12.
Stat Leaders: FDL — Blake Badtke, 11 kills. Will Mockert, 16 assists, 8 digs; Nate Diederich, 3 aces, 7 kills; Ian Spletter, 2 blocks, 7 kills.
Dave Hash Invitational
The Fond du Lac boys volleyball team finished tied for ninth place at Saturday’s Dave Hash Invitational, hosted by Kaukauna.
The Cardinals defeated Kimberly (17-21, 21-10, 16-14), while losing to Hartland Arrowhead (21-27, 16-21, 11-15), Germantown (22-20, 14-22, 12-15) and New Berlin United (20-25, 19-25).
Nate Diederich led Fond du Lac with 21 kills on the day, while Ian Spletter had 16 kills and 13 blocks. Will Mockert added 40 assists and 17 digs and Cody Peterson chipped in 26 digs.
Blake Badtke had 13 kills and Jordan Giebel contributed 17 assists. Kyle Holland also had 12 blocks.
Fond du Lac boys volleyball downs Madison Memorial
FOND DU LAC – The Fond du Lac boys volleyball team simply came up with points when it needed them on Monday night.
Facing Madison Memorial in nonconference action, Fond du Lac was taken to the edge in just about every set.
Yet the Cardinals pulled through.
Fond du Lac played well in crunch time in each of its set victories as the Cardinals defeated Madison Memorial 3-1 (25-20, 25-20, 16-25, 25-23) Monday night at Fond du Lac.
“We came out hot and won the first two sets and then we had this huge delay and it kind of threw our mental balance off and we lost that third (set),” Fond du Lac senior setter Will Mockert said. “The team just rallied in the fourth to wrap it up.”
Mockert had 20 assists to lead the Cards, while Blake Badtke added eight kills. Cody Peterson chipped in 11 digs and Chris Gilbertson had seven kills.
Ian Spletter contributed seven blocks and Jordan Giebel had 13 assists.
The fourth set, which Fond du Lac won in dramatic fashion, came after a 20-minute delay in the third due to confusion about Madison Memorial’s rotation.
“The keys to the fourth set were just making sure we got the serves in and we hit the ball pretty well,” Spletter said. “We had a couple nice kills from Chris, I had a couple nice ones, Will had a couple nice ones. The sets were right there.”
Fond du Lac co-head coach Scott Stelmacher thought his team played to its potential on Monday against a solid Madison Memorial squad, something it needs to do every match.
“We’ve been working all year long to get up to the edge of what we can do,” Stelmacher said. “Live the whole time right at the edge of our abilities. Always bring it hard the whole time. It’s been starting to happen and that was the key tonight. When we were attacking hard, when we were doing as much as we could do, we were able to keep them off-balance.”
As the season quickly approaches the midpoint, the Cardinals will look to maintain Monday’s level of energy and play.
“I said it earlier — consistency,” Mockert said of keys moving forward. “We’ve got a lot of new guys this year that are playing varsity ball for the first time. For them, it’s getting those reps, practicing every day and just getting better after every game.”
Fond du Lac FVA tournament
The Fond du Lac boys volleyball team went 2-2 at a Fox Valley Association tournament it hosted on Saturday.
The Cardinals defeated Appleton East (19-25, 25-13, 15-12) and Neenah (26-28, 25-23, 15-9), but lost to Kimberly (18-25, 25-19, 11-15) and Appleton West (17-25, 26-24, 14-16).
Blake Badtke led Fond du Lac with 31 kills, while Will Mockert had 50 assists. Ian Spletter chipped in with 19 kills and 15 blocks.
Cody Peterson had 32 digs, Nate Diederich added 19 kills and Jordan Giebel contributed 24 assists.
Kaukauna 3 Fond du Lac 0
The Cardinals fell to the Galloping Ghosts in Fox Valley Association play on Monday, losing 19-25, 15-25, 19-25.
Ian Spletter led Fond du Lac with seven kills and six blocks, while Will Mockert added 14 assists.
Cody Peterson had 16 digs.
Fond du Lac 3 West Allis Hale 0
The Cardinals swept West Allis Hale to earn a nonconference victory Thursday night, winning 25-13, 25-18, 25-14.
Will Mockert dominated for Fondy, recording 17 assists, seven blocks, six digs, and three aces.
Ian Spletter added eight kills, while Blake Badtke chipped in six.
FDL def. WA, 25-13, 25-18, 25-14.
Stat Leaders: FDL — Ian Spletter, 8 kills, 3 aces; Will Mockert, 17 assists, 6 digs, 3 aces, 7 blocks; Kyle Holland 7 blocks; Jordan Giebel 11 assists; Blake Badtke, 6 kills.
Fond du Lac boys volleyball fall to Appleton North 3 – 0
Scott Stelmacher knew right away what was wrong with his squad on Tuesday night.
The Fond du Lac boys volleyball coach saw that his Cardinals simply didn’t come with the energy they needed to. It was obvious from the start.
Fond du Lac was never able to establish any momentum or rhythm as it fell to Appleton North 3-0 (19-25, 15-25, 20-25) in Fox Valley Association play on Tuesday at Fond du Lac.
“Very low energy,” Stelmacher said. “It’s unusual for this team. We have a few losses this year, but we’ve never lost because of low energy. If I knew the answer of how to fix that, I could probably be a very rich coach someday. Every once in a while, a team comes out like this and that’s what happens. They sleepwalk through it. I did everything from shout at them to beg them to cheer for them. Nothing seemed to wake them up. Maybe next time I’ll try sugar.”
In that very first set, it was apparent Appleton North was the better team — at least on Tuesday. The Lightning never trailed and eventually took a 20-10 lead before coasting to the 25-19 victory.
It was more of the same in the second and third sets, with Fond du Lac falling behind early, rallying to make it competitive but eventually fizzling out at the end. In the second, Appleton North actually led just 15-14 at one point before scoring 10 of the last 11 points.
For any run the Cardinals made, the Lightning responded.
“They always seemed to have an answer,” Stelmacher said. “Every time we would have some success, they’d have an answer for it right back. Sometimes it was just because they had more energy and hustle tonight than we did, sometimes it was just because they have a lot of skill, too.
“When we got beat by Kaukauna earlier this year, we played well, but just got beat by a better team. Tonight, I think we’re (Appleton North’s) equal, they just outplayed us.”
Will Mockert led Fond du Lac with five kills, 12 assists and 11 digs, while Cody Peterson added 17 digs.
Ian Spletter had five kills, Jordan Giebel chipped in seven assists and Kyle Holland had eight blocks.
Although it was a lopsided loss and one Stelmacher wasn’t happy with, he did see a couple positives from the match — just not enough to outweigh the negatives.
“Our passing was pretty good,” he said. “They’re a very good serving team and I was concerned if our passing would hold up. I thought if our passing held up, we’d have a chance. Well, our passing held up, but the attack didn’t happen.”
Kimberly 3 Fond du Lac 0
The Cardinals fell to the Papermakers in Fox Valley Association play on Monday, losing 23-25, 14-25, 12-25.
Mequon Homestead invitational
The Fond du Lac boys volleyball team went 3-2-1 on Saturday at an invitational hosted by Mequon Homestead.
The Cardinals defeated Greendale (25-10, 25-11), Milwaukee Golda Meir/St. Anthony (25-9) and Homestead (26-24), while losing to Brookfield East (20-25, 20-25) and Whitefish Bay (25-18, 22-25, 13-15) and tying Glendale Nicolet (26-24, 22-25).
Nate Diederich led Fond du Lac with 24 kills, while Will Mockert added 59 assists and 26 digs.
Cody Peterson had 32 digs and Kyle Holland chipped in 19 blocks. Ian Spletter had 18 kills and 17 blocks and Blake Badtke contributed 21 kills and 13 blocks. Jordan Geibel had 27 assists.
Fondy goes 0 – 3 at FVA quad
KAUKAUNA – The Fond du Lac boys volleyball team went 0-3 at a Fox Valley Association quadrangular hosted by Kaukauna on Tuesday.
The Cardinals fell to Appleton North (18-25, 17-25), Green Bay Notre Dame (26-24, 18-25, 11-15) and Kaukauna (15-25, 10-25).
Will Mockert led Fond du Lac with 30 assists and 15 digs, while Blake Badtke added 11 kills.
Cody Peterson chipped in 23 digs, Ian Spletter had 11 blocks and Nate Diederich and Chris Gilbertson both contributed nine kills apiece. Jordan Giebel had 16 assists.
