Wauwatosa East boys volleyball second at Bay Invitational

It was a good week for the Wauwatosa East boys volleyball team, but it could have been better.

The Red Raiders, the fifth-ranked team in Wisconsin, lost to top-ranked Marquette in a Greater Metro Conference match Oct. 9. Then on Saturday, Tosa East lost to the third-ranked New Berlin United team in the championship match of the Whitefish Bay Invitational.

At Whitefish Bay in pool play, the Red Raiders beat the United, 2-1 (21-15, 17-21, 17-15); Waukesha South, 2-0 (21-14, 21-10); and Whitefish Bay, 2-0 (21-19, 22-20) to advance.

In the quarterfinals they beat Nicolet, 2-0 (25-15, 25-23) and in the semifinals they beat Catholic Memorial, 2-1 (25-19, 23-25, 15-13) in a thriller.

However, the United got revenge for losing to Tosa East in pool play by beating the Red Raiders, 2-0 (25-21, 25-21), in the finals.

"We are playing well at the right time," coach John Simon said. "We are on the rise with our level of play. You don't want to peak too early. But you want to know the right time to do it."

How does Simon know that his team is peaking?

"We played Marquette well early in the week," he said. "We beat Catholic Memorial and we beat New Berlin in pool play. We are playing better."

Ben Plaisted (75 kills, 31 digs) and Mitch Wagner (103 assists) had impressive stats in the tournament, as did Aaron Plaisted, who had 31 digs, and Ethan Hughes, who blocked 23 shots.

The Red Raiders traveled to Marquette on Oct. 9 in a GMC battle, and they lost a back-and-forth battle with the Hilltoppers.

East started off with a 25-22 victory, but then Marquette battled back and won the next two sets (25-18, 25-22).

The Red Raiders then came back and won (25-22) to tie the match at 2-2. But they ran out of the gas in the last set dropped a 15-4 decision.

"It was a classic battle between two heavyweights going at it," Simon said. "Fortunately for the fans it was a five-game slugfest.

"It was a roller coaster ride of momentum changes. There was outstanding volleyball played on both sides. I really thought we would take it.

"The score looked like we laid an egg. But we played pretty well, but they played well also. They played lights out defense and we could not put the ball away."

Simon is pleased with what he has seen.

"I'm proud about the way we played," he said. "I like what I see. We have some big matches coming up."

The stat leaders against Marquette were Wagner (42 assists), Ben Plaisted (29 kills), Aaron Plaisted (seven digs), Hughes (six blocks) and Bobby Jensen (two aces).