Middleton boys volleyball's serve helps end state semifinal drought

The Cardinals were dominant in their quarterfinal match of the WIAA state tournament on Thursday at the Resch Center, defeating Union Grove 25-11, 25-17, 25-12 and advancing to the semifinals for the first time since 2008.

It’s the third state semifinal appearance since 2007 for the Cardinals, who were 0-8 in state quarterfinal matches since that last appearance 14 years ago. That included a loss to Waukesha Catholic Memorial, which went on to win the state championship last season.

“Getting that monkey off our back of the school ... and us personally being 0-1 means a lot,” senior libero Lucas Rosa said.

Middleton’s offensive attack was led by senior Ambrose Engling. The 6-foot-7 Princeton University commit had a match-high 14 kills and now has 267 kills on the season. Caden Van Buren, the Cardinals’ youngest starter, finished with 12 kills.

Union Grove coach Brendon Belongia said Middleton’s unique serving style posed the biggest challenge. Middleton had 10 service aces.

“They do a lot of topspin serves and in the Southern Lakes Conference we faced majority float serves, so we didn’t have a lot of reps going into this match,” Belongia said. “It’s a different mechanic to pass a float serve versus a topspin serve.”

Middleton will face No. 4 Kimberly in Friday’s semifinals at 5 p.m. The teams met at the Cardinal Invite on Sept. 23. Kimberly won 2-1, handing Middleton one of its three losses this season.

After that tournament, the Cardinals moved Engling to opposite hitter and had Teddy Young be the outside hitter. Middleton has won 13 straight matches and dropped just one set since making the change.

NJIT volleyball recruit Brody Stuttgen said he likes his team’s chances against the Papermakers and is excited for the matchup.

“It’s not anything outward that we are trying to prove, it’s our eternal confidence that I think we will display,” Engling said.