By Murray Gleffe
Correspondent

ASHWAUBENON—Green Bay Southwest High School went on the road and picked up a decisive Fox River Classic Conference victory (25-8, 25-12, 25-19) over Ashwaubenon Sept.19 at Ashwaubenon High School. 

“I thought our physical style of serving really paid dividends tonight,” said Southwest head coach Andrew Heimerman. “We placed the ball where we needed and came up with some timely aces.”

The Trojans (4-10 overall) jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the opening set after Rachael Bohlman snapped off a kill on the right sidelines.

Ashwaubenon’s Anna Wendorf delivered a push kill to cut the Trojans’ margin to 9-4, but then Southwest ripped off 14 straight points and eventually closed out the opener by 17 points.

With the Trojans up a set, they quickly jumped out to 6-2, 12-5 and 15-7 leads in the middle set behind the setting of Maria Schmidt and kills by Olivia Daane and Ashlyn Hefling.

Ashwaubenon (2-12 overall) kept the margin at single digits after Jamira Olson sent a ball to the floor, but Southwest eventually closed out the set by scoring the final four points.

“We have been working really hard on getting up for the opponent’s kills,” added Heimerman. “We have been blessed with some height this year, which has been nice.”

It appeared Southwest would roll through the final set after winning 12 of the first 13 points, but Ashwaubenon made one final push.

With the Trojans up 22-9, the Jaguars began their comeback. 

Sam Holford started the rally by ripping a kill down the middle of the court.

That was followed by Brenna Schlader using a bit of finesse with a high-arching shot that dropped to the floor.

After Southwest called a timeout, the Jaguars continued its flurry, pulling back to 23-19 after Sevaeh Schneider connected on an ace.

However, the comeback fell short as the Trojans won the final two points of the set to win the FRCC tilt.

“It’s a good win for us,” said Heimerman. “I feel like the girls have picked up some momentum after the Friendship and Cudahy invites. “We have to keep battling because there are very good teams in the FRCC night in and night out.”