By Tim Wester
Sports Correspondent
Many high school coaches admit they anguish losses more than they enjoy victories.
But that’s not the case for Union Grove High School girls volleyball coach Sarah Busalacchi, who admitted she enjoyed every minute of her Broncos’ journey to their first WIAA Division 1 playoff sectional finals appearance in school history.
In three seasons as Broncos’ coach, Busalacchi has directed Union Grove to three WIAA Division 1 Regional championships, along with an unforgettable sectional semifinal victory over then fifth ranked Greenfield this year.
For her efforts, Sarah Busalacchi is the 2013 Westine Report Coach of the Year.
“It was so cool to finally win a sectional semifinal game against Greenfield,” Busalacchi said. “We faced Greenfield who was ranked fifth in the state and had a significant height advantage with their two middles over six feet tall. Our middles were about 5’10 apiece, but we had great athleticism and chemistry.”
Busalacchi played a vital role in developing her team’s chemistry. On the day of Union Grove’s game with Greenfield, Busalacchi gave her team and the school administrators inspirational t-shirts that everyone proudly wore. The instant goodwill immediately spilled into the game that saw Union Grove cruise to a 3-1 victory. Kylie Wilks led the way with six service aces and 25 assists to help the Broncos pull out the upset victory.
“It was all about the girls out there for us,” Busalacchi said. “The coach can only do so much before the girls have to go out there and do it for themselves.”
Busalacchi admits her team showed more poise in the big game than she did.
“During the game, I got so nervous that I said to my assistant coach that I cant call the zones and had her call them instead,” Busalacchi said.
Busalacchi’s nerves shouldn’t be confused with inexperience.
Prior to building Union Grove into a conference contender, Busalacchi served as an assistant coach at Racine Case, Carthage College, and Whitewater High School.
And before starting her coaching career, Busalacchi attended UW-Milwaukee where a serious foot injury kept her off the volleyball courts. She instead played four years on the Rugby team.
“I was recruited to play volleyball, but my best friend got me into Rugby at UW-Milwaukee,” Busalacchi said. “She and my other friends made it impossible to walk away from the sport.”
On top of playing Rugby, Busalacchi also played club volleyball where her Fox Valley Elite team won the State Games of America.
Busalacchi’s athletic successes have certainly continued into her coaching career where the sky appears to be limit for her Broncos. The veteran coach has helped build Union Grove into a legit contender in the Southern Lakes Conference that is geared to battle state powers Burlington and Westosha Central.
The only question remains is whether Union Grove can finally get past the Sectionals and make it to state.
“The Southeastern Wisconsin region is a volleyball powerhouse with teams like Burlington, Westosha, Greenfield, and Muskego all perennial contenders to go to state,” Busalacchi said. “So it is very challenging to get to state out of this area, but we are getting there as a program.”
Next season could very well be the year that the Broncos finally break through.
“Next year we will lose one senior starter with two returning juniors and five sophomores, including Wilkes and Savannah Kohlhagen,” Busalacchi said. “I am very excited for next year.”
The whole Union Grove community is excited as well.
– Stay tuned next week for the second part of our year-end series. We will do a feature story on the 2013 Westine Report Athlete of the Year. Pick up the Jan. 10 edition to find out who the lucky winner is.
Also, read about Union Grove, Waterford and Burlington sports on www.myracinecounty.com, and check out up-to-the-minute scores, photos and much more on our Facebook page, Standard Press Sports.
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