Players from the Divine Savior Holy Angels volleyball team celebrate with the state championship trophy after downing Sussex Hamilton on Saturday, Nov. 9, for the Dashers’ third consecutive title. (Submitted photo)
It would have taken a lot more than just one dropped set to knock the Divine Savior Holy Angels volleyball team off its historic path.
After falling in the third set of the state championship match against conference foe Sussex Hamilton, the Dashers completed a historic three-peat by scoring four of the last five points of the match for a 25-18, 25-21, 20-25, 25-22 victory Saturday, Nov. 9, at the Resch Center in Green Bay.
The Dashers became the first Division 1 girls volleyball team in state history to win three consecutive championships, culminating a run that saw them win 137 out of 145 matches over that span. They went 47-1 each of the past two seasons after going 43-6 in 2022.
“It is really exciting to be a part of that kind of history, and to have DSHA in the record books as the first D1 team to do this,” DSHA Coach Caitie Ratkowski said. “We had three seniors on the team this year that were contributing members of all three of the state wins, and I believe that their leadership and experience is something that helped us to this accomplishment.”
Those three seniors who were part of all three titles will all move on and play collegiate volleyball at the NCAA Division I level: Madison Quest (University of Wisconsin-Madison), Olivia Durst (Michigan State University) and Jordan Czajkowski (Belmont University).
“I do not believe these players can be replaced, but they have passed on their leadership and experience to the underclassmen on the team,” Ratkowski said. “Their guidance on and off the court during their time at DSHA will provide the returning players with standards to uphold and tradition to continue. I believe these three, along with the other two seniors and our senior manager, have prepared the returning players with the knowledge and experience they need to have success and something to strive for.”
DSHA’s only loss of the season came to Marist, which won the Illinois 4A state championship. In 2023, their lone loss was to eventual Illinois 4A state champion Mother McAuley. The last time the Dashers lost a match to a team from Wisconsin was in September 2022.
With all of that success, the Dashers also received some national attention, finishing ranked No. 5 nationally by MaxPreps, a national high school sports website, and No. 8 in America by the American Volleyball Coaches Association.
After losing to Marist earlier in the season, the Dashers ripped off 16 consecutive wins to finish the season and lost just one set in their playoff run.
It takes a special kind of focus to win 94 out of 96 matches over a two-year stretch.
“The players we have are very motivated and very driven,” Ratkowski said. “They set their goals as a team at the beginning of the season and worked to hold each other accountable. We also made sure to be aware of their needs throughout the season, when they were not feeling well, overwhelmed with school, if we had a break in our schedule — and tried to make sure to pull back and give them rest time, and also made sure to include fun activities throughout the season.”
The championship match wasn’t the first time Hamilton had taken a set from the Dashers — they also did so in their conference match earlier in the season. The Dashers lost a set in three separate tournaments to Arrowhead, which was upset by Hamilton in the sectional finals.
“Our team had some experience with needing to finish a match,” Ratkowski said. “I think our players were physically and mentally prepared to do what they needed to in order to end with a win. They push each other during practices, and the opportunity to play in Chicago to see a different type of competition is always helpful. The players hold each other accountable and find ways to motivate each other throughout the season, and the final match was another example of their support of each other and commitment to reaching their goal.”
Earlier in the state tournament, DSHA defeated Holmen on Nov. 7 in the quarterfinals (25-8, 25-9, 25-11) and Mukwonago on Nov. 8 in the semifinals (25-18, 25-8, 25-15).
“The team this year was a great group to coach,” Ratkowski said. “They set goals at the beginning of the season and worked hard to do what they needed to in order to achieve those goals. Every player had a role on the team and did their best to contribute to the team any way they could. They pushed and supported each other during practices, they made the effort to get to know each other off the court, and they did their best to remain focused every time they stepped in the gym.”
