Nov. 8, 2019
By Scott Williams
GREEN BAY – The juggernaut known as the Newman Catholic volleyball team made its annual trek to the Division 4 state tournament at the Resch Center on Friday morning.
Unfortunately, the Cardinals are coming home a little sooner than had been hoped, and empty handed.
Top-seeded and unbeaten Clear Lake ended their bid for the program’s fifth state championship by handing the Cardinals a 25-21 25-20 25-8 setback in the state semifinals.
Clear Lake (37-0) will play Catholic Central, a 25-19 25-13, 22-25, 25-14 winner over Hillsboro, for the hardware in the state title match at 9 a.m. Saturday.
Newman Catholic, which was making its ninth consecutive trip to the state tournament, concludes its season at 22-18.
Lauren Shields and Linnea Svennes paced the Newman Catholic hitting attack with eight and seven kills, respectively. Stevie Samuels handed out 18 assists.
The Cardinals turned in a strong defensive performance led by Elise Johnson who finished with 13 digs. Shields chipped in with 12 digs and Angela Rougeot-Donath had 11. Samuels added 10 digs.
