Lempke keys Grafton thriller over Port

Grafton High School’s volleyball team has been looking for someone to step up after its best player Paige Proefrock went down with a knee injury late in the season.

A sophomore lefty may be that player.

Addison Lempke had seven kills in the deciding fifth set of a heartstopper against Port Washington in a Division 2 regional final last Saturday.

“Just got a little excited, you know. Wanted that for my team,” Lempke said.

“She’s done a great job stepping up, becoming a really great leader on our team,” coach Ashley Wilson said. “She does a great job of putting balls away with lots of confidence.”

Grafton won, 18-25, 25-21, 26-24, 19-25, 15-10. The Black Hawks built an 11-5 lead in the final set and hung on.

“It’s crazy. I don’t even know. I’m out of words. I’m just so proud of this team,” Grafton senior Ava Dotson said.

“It’s so exciting. It’s really nice because not only did we win regional finals, but we also beat our rivals,” Grace Tilley said.

Port employed a balanced attack with tall middle hitters Scarlett Van Harpen and Sabrina Eixenberger and hitters Summer Wille, Sierra Hoeft, Kiley Cline and Eve Wille.

The Pirates pulled away in the first set after the score was tied at 9, and they fought to save their season in the fourth set.

“It was such a special match with the fire between both sides of the court, and I think everyone wanted it so badly. I think the game could have gone either way,” Hoeft said.

“We knew it was going to be hard, and I think we definitely came out and played well, but they also are an amazing team,” Van Harpen said.

“We just kept on battling back and forth,” Summer Wille said.

Port forced the Black Hawks to alter their offense.

“It was a battle. They played totally awesome. Their defense, their blocking was really great,” Wilson said of the Pirates. “Every set we just kept having to make new adjustments, do new things with where we’re running the ball through.”

Players on both sides regularly dove to keep balls alive, igniting the sizable crowd and one another. Spikes that would usually fall against weaker competition were either tipped and slowed or dug up.

“They had heart. They wanted to win. They played like a family. I’m proud,” Port coach Cathleen Flannery said of her team.

Grafton used its experience from last season’s run to the state final, as well as tight matches this year, to its advantage heading into the fifth set.

“We have a lot of maturity knowing how to handle situations like that. We went into the huddle, ‘We’re winning this.’” Wilson said.

“We knew we had this and we wanted it more than them, and we were better than them,” Paige Arentz said.

Abby Bathelemy said energy was key.

“We’ve been working on that toward the end of the season with Paige (Proefrock) being out. We wanted to focus, so I think a lot of energy pushes us to the end,” she said.

It was a special moment for Grafton’s Alessandra Austin, who returned this season after missing last year with a knee injury.

“It was great to be back again. We’re missing Paige. I feel for her,” she said. “All of our seniors came together. Addie was on fire tonight.”

Lempke had a team-high 18 kills for the match. Brooke Vanden Berg had seven, and Grace Tilley, Alessandra Austin and Jamie Libka each had six. Tilley had eight blocks and Alessandra Austin had six. Barthelemy had 26 digs and Lempke had 18. Arentz had 24 assists and Dotson had 13.

Grafton swept Jefferson at home on Oct. 22 in the playoff opener. The Hawks play at Kettle Moraine Lutheran on Thursday, Oct. 29. The winner plays Saturday in Watertown for a chance to go to state. KML swept Grafton on Sept. 1.

Port swept West Bend East on Oct. 22. The Pirates finished 24-11.