PLYMOUTH — Bridget Nickel was second team all-state the last two seasons because of her offense and her blocking.

Her work in the back row this season may leave her in line for a promotion.

Nickel led the Warriors with 10 kills and eight digs as Waupun blasted host Plymouth, 25-8, 25-8, 25-9, in Thursday's Eastern Wisconsin volleyball match. She picked up where she left off Saturday, when she came up with several key digs as the Warriors knocked off Kettle Moraine Lutheran.

"She's been a primary passer for us since she was a freshman," Waupun coach Keith Milkowski said. "She's got a good feel for the game, she's a ball hawk and she has great hands.

"Between her and Brandi (Dolgner), it's pretty hard to find a better hitting and passing combo on the left side."

Nickel took the hardest ball the Panthers hit all night and passed it right on the hands of setter Michielah Navis. She anticipated well all evening and covered tips behind blockers astutely.

"They're that skilled," Milkowski said of Nickel and Dolgner. "They're obviously Division I players."

Dolgner (8 kills, 4 digs) was unintentionally responsible for the night's comic interlude. After she smacked a ball off a Panther that deflected skyward, it dislodged another ball stuck in the rafters, which also fell for a replay that left Milkowski and Plymouth coach Kurt Schermacher in stitches.

That aside, the Warriors experienced little trouble extending their consecutive league streaks to 68 matches and 128 sets. Plymouth tried to receive serve with just two players and Waupun broke the Panthers down with ease, led by five aces from Lydia Guell.

Waupun also got solid play out of the middle as it did Saturday. Jenell Larsen finished with six blocks and Libby Bresser had five to demoralize the struggling Panthers.

"They got a lot of touches and they made very few errors," Milkowski said. "They ran a lot of good routes."

Michielah Navis finished with 27 assists and Trisha Core added five kills.Waupun (19-1, 2-0 EWC) hosts an invite Saturday.

Plymouth fell to 5-7 and 0-2.

Notes: The Warriors jumped up to 33rd nationally in the prepvolleyball.com rankings, making them the highest ranked Wisconsin team ahead of KML (44), Burlington Catholic Central (51), Milwaukee Pius XI (55) and Muskego (70).

Waupun is ranked second in the initial WVCA Division 2 poll behind KML.

WAUPUN 3, PLYMOUTH 0

Plymouth 8 8 9 - 0

Waupun 25 25 25 - 3

WAUPUN (leaders): Kills - Nickel 10, Dolgner 8, Core 5. Blocks - Larsen 6, Bresser 5. Assists - Navis 27. Digs - Nickel 8, Guell 5, Dolgner 4.

Horicon 3

Lomira 0

LOMIRA — Bri Schwartz had 15 kills and 25 digs to lead Horicon in a 25-15, 25-19, 25-12 sweep of Lomira in Thursday's Flyway volleyball match.

"It was one of our better nights as a volleyball team," Horicon coach Ruth Leitzke said. "We cut down a lot of errors and were making athletic plays."

Horicon (5-13, 1-1 Flyway) heads to Springs Tuesday.

HORICON 3, LOMIRA 0

Horicon 25 25 25 - 3

Lomira 15 19 12 - 0

HORICON (leaders): Kills - Schwartz 15, Yundt 5. Blocks - Berkedich 4. Digs - Schwartz 25, Yundt 8. Aces - Yundt 5. Assists - Scharpf 18.

WLA 3

Mayville 0

FOND DU LAC — Mayville's volleyball team was swept by Winnebago Lutheran Academy, 25-18, 25-19, 26-24, in Thursday's Flyway match.

Mayville hosts an invitational Saturday.

WLA 3, MAYVILLE 0

Mayville 18 19 24 - 0

WLA 25 25 25 - 3

Lakeside Lutheran 3

Columbus 0

COLUMBUS — Abby Lueck's 11 kills and three blocks were not enough for Columbus as the Cardinals fell to Lakeside Lutheran, 25-22, 25-13, 25-16, in Thursday's Northern Capitol volleyball match.

Marijo Kaschub added 14 assists for the Cardinals (0-4 North), who head to the Fox Valley Lutheran Invite Saturday.

LAKESIDE LUTHERAN 3, COLUMBUS 0

Lakeside Lutheran 25 25 25 - 3

Columbus 22 13 16 - 0

LAKESIDE LUTHERAN (leaders): Kills - Draeger 12. Blocks - Bruni 4. Aces - Bridgeman 4. Assists - Geny 20.

COLUMBUS: Kills - Lueck 11. Blocks - Lueck 3. Digs - Janssen 8. Assists - Kaschub 14.

Dodgeland 3

Abundant Life 0

JUNEAU — Morgan Kuhn's all-around night powered Dodgeland to a 25-10, 25-8, 25-10 rout of Abundant Life in Thursday's Southern Trailways volleyball match.

Kuhn led the squad with nine kills, five aces and three blocks while adding nine assists. Sam Schultz paced the Trojans (4-1 South) with 13 assists and nine kills. Brianna Schmitt chipped in 18 digs.

Dodgeland hosts an invitational Saturday.

Abundant Life falls to 0-5.

DODGELAND 3, ABUNDANT LIFE 0

Abundant Life 10 8 10 - 0

Dodgeland 25 25 25 - 3

ABUNDANT LIFE (leaders): Kills - Kearns 3. Assists - Anderson 3.

DODGELAND: Kills - Schultz, Kuhn 9. Blocks - Kuhn 3. Digs - Schmitt 18. Aces - Kuhn 5. Assists - Schultz 13, Kuhn 9.

Hustisford 3

Rio 0

HUSTISFORD — Hustisford overcame a slow start against Rio but the Falcons earned a 25-21, 25-14, 27-25 sweep of the Vikings in Thursday's Southern Trailways volleyball match.

Shyla Kuehl had 10 kills and three blocks to pace Hustisford (10-10, 3-1 South). Kayla Knueppel added 13 assists.

Hustisford hosts Pardeeville Tuesday.

HUSTISFORD 3, RIO 0

Rio 21 14 25 - 0

Hustisford 25 25 27 - 3

RIO (leaders): Kills - E. Borde 8. Digs - Schmidt 6. Aces - Voung 3. Assists - Voung 12.

HUSTISFORD: Kills - Sh. Kuehl 10, Maas 6. Blocks - Sh. Kuehl 3. Digs - Coles 4. Aces - Knueppel 7. Assists - Knueppel 13.

Deerfield 3

Fall River 0

DEERFIELD — Deerfield remained unbeaten in Southern Trailways play with a 25-7, 25-5, 25-15 victory over Fall River Thursday.

Morgan Agnew had eight digs and three kills for the Pirates (3-5, 2-4 South).

Fall River hosts Rio Sept. 30.

Deerfield improves to 3-0.

DEERFIELD 3, FALL RIVER 0

Fall River 7 5 15 - 0

Deerfield 25 25 25 - 3

FALL RIVER (leaders): Kills - Agnew 3. Digs - Agnew 8. Assists - Koenig 4.

DEERFIELD: Kills - Jahn 8. Digs - Kinniy 4. Aces - Smith, Gosdeck 3. Assists - Aplin 15.

Wayland 3

St. Joan 0

MILWAUKEE — Wayland remained unbeaten in Midwest Classic volleyball as the Big Red swept St. Joan Antida, 25-8, 25-12, 25-12, Thursday night.

Jenna Ptaschinski led Wayland (8-2, 3-0 MCC) with 11 kills and five digs. Megan Connell added nine assists while Leslie Walton had 10 aces and six assists.

Wayland heads to the Dodgeland tournament Saturday.

WAYLAND 3, ST. JOAN ANTIDA 0

Wayland 25 25 25 - 3

St. Joan Antida 8 12 12 - 0

WAYLAND (leaders): Kills - Ptaschinski 11, Connell 4, Franco 4. Digs - Ptaschinski 5, Franco 3. Aces - Walton 10. Assists - Connell 9, Walton 6.

MONTELLO — Randolph volleyball coach Jeff Kohlbeck told senior captain Courtney Retzlaff he might not make it the whole match, and when he left she knew just what to do.

Battling the flu, Kohlbeck was forced to leave the Rockets sideline midway through the first game to rest in the parking lot. But Retzlaff and company didn't miss a beat Thursday as they swept host Montello, 25-18, 25-19, 25-13 in Northern Trailways action.

"With our coach being gone we kind of had to make an adjustment to that but we played pretty well," Retzlaff said. "He had talked to me before the game, so I knew he wasn't feeling the greatest. He's like 'if I leave, this is what I want done.'

"He just told me where everyone should be playing and who was serving for who and just to make sure the lineup got to be where it was supposed to be. ... As soon as he left then it's like, 'OK well, now we're just gonna do what we do."

What Randolph did was use its front line and serving to throw off the Hilltoppers.

Retzlaff finished with a game-high 12 kills and five aces and Randolph senior Amanda Eisenga added 10 kills as Randolph's hitters continued to find ways around Montello's blocking.

"We played horrible, this is the worst outing that we've had in quite some time," a visibly disappointed Montello coach April Stiles said after the match. "This is disappointing because I know how well they can play. This is not the same team that we've had all season long."

The Hilltoppers (2-4 North) stayed close in the first game, trailing 14-11 before Retzlaff scored a kill and hit back-to-back aces to give Randolph a 17-11 lead. The Rockets (4-2) won six of the next nine points and took a 23-14 lead on a Megan Pickhardt kill.

Montello rallied and cut its deficit to 24-18 on a Jessica Henning kill but it was too little too late.

"We told them to go right at their blockers, they weren't seeming to push over at the net as much as we've been used to," said Randolph assistant coach Stacy Jackson, who filled in once Kohlbeck left. "So we told them to be aggressive at the net and attack. We were going around their blockers and finding open spots on the floor."

The Toppers fell into early holes each of the next two games.

Randolph, which won the 2007 championship, sprinted to 9-2 lead in the second game after a kill from Brittany Alsum and seven consecutive service points from Eisenga. The Toppers cut it to 22-18 but Montello subsequently committed two errors.

The Rockets again started fast in the third game and took an 8-2 lead on a Pickhardt kill. The Rockets never led by less than five points the rest of the way.

Henning led the Hilltoppers with four kills.

"I couldn't find a spark, I don't know. I'm out of answers for them," Stiles said. "I give credit to Randolph, they played a solid game. However, this is not the best offense we've seen. We've beat tougher offenses than this. So to come out and be swept is heartbreaking because these girls have potential and I know they do."

- By Kevin Morales, Capital Newspapers

RANDOLPH 3, MONTELLO 0

Randolph 25 25 25 - 3

Montello 18 19 13 - 0

RANDOLPH (leaders): Kills - Retzlaff 12, Eisenga 10. Digs - Omen 9. Aces - Retzlaff 5. Assists - Omen 30.

MONTELLO: Kills - Henning 4. Digs - Wertti 10.

C-F 3

Markesan 1

MARKESAN — Brittany Bylsma had 14 kills and five blocks to lead Cambria-Friesland past Markesan, 25-21, 17-25, 25-19, 25-23, in Thursday's Northern Trailways volleyball match.

Kelsey Pekarske added 27 digs while Kayla Wiersma had 35 assists for the Toppers (6-1, 5-1 North).

Marieanna Dulas had 22 kills to pace the Hornets (3-4, 3-3).

C-F hosts Green Lake Tuesday. Markesan heads to the Mayville Invite Saturday.

CAMBRIA-FRIESLAND 3, MARKESAN 1

Cambria-Friesland 25 17 25 25 - 3

Markesan 21 25 19 23 - 1

CAMBRIA-FRIESLAND (leaders): Kills - Bylsma 14. Blocks - Bylsma 5. Digs - Pekarske 27. Aces - Bylsma 3. Assists - K. Wiersma 35.

MARKESAN: Kills - Dulas 22. Blocks - Kearns 3. Digs - Brown 21. Assists - Dougherty 18.

Valley Christian 3

CWC 0

WAUPUN — Valley Christian swept Central Wisconsin Christian by identical 25-16 scores in all three sets during Thursday's Northern Trailways volleyball match.

"Valley did a nice job," CWC coach Dan Ten Napel said. "We were never able to get going."

Anna Hofman had five kills for the Crusaders (3-4, 2-4 North), who head to the Mayville Invite Saturday.

VALLEY CHRISTIAN 3, CWC 0

Valley Christian 25 25 25 - 3

CWC 16 16 16 - 0

CWC (leaders): Kills - Hofman 5. Digs - DeYoung 7. Assists - O'Connor 6.