Volleyball Game Preview: Oshkosh West Wildcats vs. Appleton East Patriots

Oshkosh West is 8-2 against Appleton East since October of 2017 and they'll have a chance to extend that dominance on Thursday. After both having extra time off, the two teams will shake off the rust and duke it out at 7:00 p.m. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.

Elaina Butz

Digs

10/09/25 @ Oshkosh North	14
10/07/25 vs Hortonville	15
10/02/25 @ Kimberly	16
09/27/25 vs Watertown	11

If Oshkosh North wanted to avenge their loss from the last time they played Oshkosh West, they should've done a better job of containing Elaina Butz. The Wildcats put the hurt on the Spartans with a sharp 3-0 victory on Thursday thanks in part to Butz, who had 14 digs and seven assists. She has been hot recently, having posted 11 or more digs the last four times she's played.

The match finished with set scores of 25-9, 25-16, 25-13.

Meanwhile, it was a classic East v. West duel when Appleton East challenged Appleton West on Thursday. The Patriots blew past the Terrors 3-0. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Patriots.

Appleton East walked away with the win (and looked especially good in the second set). Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-21, 25-13, 25-20.

Oshkosh West better focus on containing Zoe Wockenfus and Izzy Mead as the pair were huge in Appleton East's win. Wockenfus had 16 digs and five assists, while Mead had 11 digs. That's the most assists Wockenfus has posted since back in September. Emma Jacobs also deserves some recognition as she served her first ace of the season.

Appleton East's victory bumped their record up to 10-21. As for Oshkosh West, their win bumped their record up to 22-5.

Oshkosh West was able to grind out a solid victory over Appleton East in their previous matchup back in October of 2024, winning 3-1. Do the Wildcats have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Patriots turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.