Red Raiders beat Brookfield Central, 3-1

Wauwatosa East will be making a seventh straight trip to the WIAA boys volleyball state tournament following a 3-1 win over the Lancers in the WIAA sectional final at Brookfield Central.

The Red Raiders won the first two matches, 25-18, and 25-21, but the Lancers fought back to win the third game, 25-20. East then won a thriller, 25-23, to clinch the match.

The games were played with each team making big runs, as well as a healthy quotient of lift calls and unforced errors.

Central led 16-9 in game four, but East went on a 7-0 run to tie the match. The Lancers took an 18-17 lead, but the Red Raiders scored seven unanswered points for a 24-18 lead. Central then rattled off five straight, with East hitting three of the points out of bounds, pressing to get that final point.

Following a timeout by coach John Simon, East returned a shot off a Lancers player out of bounds for the win.

In the third game, the Lancers had runs of 7-1 and 8-3 to close out the win. East closed out the second game with a 12-3 run and had 14-2 run to win the first game.

Tosa East was led by Ben Mihelich with 17 kills, Ben Plaisted with 11 and Morgan Griffin had nine. Mitch Wagner had 30 assists, Mihelich had eight digs and Griffith had seven. Plaisted had 3 1/2 blocks and Mich Dillon had 2 1/5.

Jim Keuper 11 kills, Andrew Dusing had 27 assists and three aces and Jeff Thurston lead the club with nine digs.

The Red Raiders will now move on to the state tournament at Wisconsin Lutheran College on Friday and Saturday.