MILWAUKEE, Wis. — The Milwaukee Area Technical College women's volleyball team opened Saturday with a dominant sweep and appeared headed for a perfect day at the Stormer Invitational. Instead, Morton College rallied from an opening-set deficit to hand the Stormers a four-set loss in Milwaukee. The split moved MATC to 16-8 overall and 6-2 at home.

The Stormers opened the morning by cruising past UW-Whitewater at Rock County in straight sets before a promising afternoon start against Morton slipped away as the Panthers won back-to-back, tightly contested sets and rallied for the four-set victory.

Before the day's action, MATC hosted an American Volleyball Coaches Association Officials Appreciation Day ceremony, recognizing the officiating crews with a pre-match presentation and gift baskets.

"We have some of the best officiating crews working in our gym, and we miss them when we travel," Stormers coach Shel DeLisle said. "There's something special about having a full crew of experienced officials who consistently do a great job. They help create a quality match environment for both teams, and we wanted to take a moment to show our appreciation for everything they do."



MATC 3, UW-Whitewater at Rock County 0 (25-20, 25-9, 25-20)

Having swept UW-Whitewater at Rock County 3-0 on Sept. 26, the Stormers entered Saturday knowing what to expect, particularly Rock County's tendency to mix in tip shots rather than rely exclusively on full swings.
MATC responded with another dominant performance, sweeping Rock County 25-20, 25-9, 25-20 for its ninth sweep of the year.

"We did our orange defense, which covers tips, and that's why they weren't more effective with their tipping," DeLisle said. "And then once they were ineffective with the tipping, they went to do what they did last week."

MATC overcame a slow start in the opener before taking control. Rock County raced to a 5-1 lead, but the Stormers answered with four consecutive points to pull even before taking control late in the set.

With the score tied at 14, four Rock County errors, along with kills from Annika Romine and Kayleah Laughlin and a tip from Ella Azbell, helped spark a run that put MATC ahead 21-17. The Stormers led 22-20 moments later before closing the set on an Azbell kill, a Laughlin block and a set-ending tip from Isabella Bloom.

MATC carried that momentum into the second set and never looked back.

The Stormers raced to an 11-2 lead behind the serving of Onyx Burdette and a dominant stretch at the net from Laughlin. Burdette recorded three kills and two aces during the run, while Laughlin added six kills as MATC cruised to a 25-9 victory.
"We were serving and connecting really well," Laughlin said. "We were just doing our jobs, which is something that we should be doing all the time."

The third set was more competitive, featuring 12 ties before the Stormers broke through with a decisive 3-0 run late. Consecutive kills from Natalia Farrugia and Dorothy Hoagland forced a Rock County timeout at 21-18, and Hoagland added another kill immediately afterward to help MATC pull away and complete the sweep.

"In that third set, I don't think we can talk about people who stood out without talking about Dorothy [Hoagland]," DeLisle said. "She is able to put that ball straight down, and her reach is so high, nobody can block off on her. Half the time we don't know when she's going to hit it. She is both really consistent in her skills, especially for somebody as tall as she is."

Hoagland led the Stormers with seven kills, hit .500 and added two aces and two block assists.

Hope Martens finished with 16 assists, nine digs and two aces. Aubrey Schwent added 11 digs and four assists, while Laughlin had 11 kills, three digs and two block assists.

Romine totaled three kills, one ace and three block assists. Burdette had five kills, three aces, 11 assists and eight digs. Farrugia contributed two kills, five digs, two aces and three block assists, while Bloom added five kills.

Morton College 3, MATC 1 (24-26, 25-23, 29-27, 25-11)

MATC carried the momentum into its second match, taking the opening set 26-24 against Morton and moving within two sets of a tournament sweep.

However, Morton answered with a 25-23 victory in the second set before edging the Stormers 29-27 in a pivotal third-set battle. The Panthers then pulled away for a 25-11 victory in the fourth set to secure the match.

"We were right there with them for the first three sets," DeLisle said. "Unforced errors were not our friend today and contributed to the loss, but coming away from the week 2-1 is still a good week."

Against Morton, MATC put itself in position for a tournament sweep behind steady ball control and balanced offensive production.

The Stormers received a combined 29 assists from Martens and Burdette. Martens dished out 15 assists and recorded 16 digs, while Burdette added 14 assists and four service aces.

Defensively, freshman libero Schwent anchored the back row with a team-high 19 digs as MATC battled through a pair of tightly contested middle sets.

Laughlin led the attack with seven kills and 2.5 blocks, while Romine posted five kills and a team-best .333 hitting percentage. Farrugia totaled six kills and Hoagland secured 2.5 blocks, including one solo block.

Morton escaped with 25-23 and 29-27 victories in the second and third sets before pulling away in the fourth.

UP NEXT

MATC (16-8) returns to tournament action Friday at the Madison College Quad in Madison. The Stormers open against Carl Sandburg College at 1 p.m. before facing Sauk Valley Community College at 3 p.m.