GIRLS VOLLEYBALL East third at Vikings Invite

Brookfield East beat Sussex Hamilton in a Greater Metro Conference girls volleyball match to begin the week and then finished third out of 14 teams Saturday at the New Berlin West Invitational.

East finished 3-1 and now has an overall record of 19-7. The Spartans beat Waukesha South (25-12, 25-19), Wauwatosa West (25-16, 25-7) and West Allis Central (25-11, 25-13) and lost to Mukwonago (25-18, 25-23).

Olivia Lyster had 25 digs, 22 kills and five aces and Taylor Wilkerson had 23 kills and five blocks. Assist leaders were Morgan Pink (30) and Jessa Hansen (27) and ace leaders were Haley Massa and Erika Hansen, each with five.

"It was a good weekend overall," coach Chris Polowy said. "The girls really played together as a team as we were able to get all of our girls on the court throughout the tournament.

"The semifinal match against Mukwonago was frustrating for all of us. We really felt like we matched up well against them."

Polowy said his team struggled after receiving the serve, which didn't allow the offense to get anything going.

"We seemed to play on our heels the entire match," Polowy said. "Our girls made a great run toward the end of Game 2, but things were just not going our way."

He then praised Wilkerson and Pink for their play.

"Taylor had a great tournament for us," he said. "She led our team in kills, blocks and had an outstanding .488 hitting percentage. We also saw some really good things from our sophomore setter, Morgan Pink."

The Spartans swept Sussex Hamilton Sept. 11 at home, winning 25-10, 25-13, 25-23, improving their GMC record to 2-1.

Parker and Lyster had six kills each; Petra Bryda had 12 assists, Parker had five blocks and Erika Hansen had 10 digs and seven aces.