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And the best part is — playoffs haven’t even started yet.

Last season, Craig went 23-13, which includes a five-set loss to Beaver Dam in regional play. The Cougars were an eighth seed in 2024. Now as a No. 3 seed in the Division 1, Sectional 3 bracket the Cougars will look to put together a deep postseason run.

“They didn’t exceed my expectations, but they’re definitely meeting my expectations that I placed on them in the beginning of the season,” coach Emily Collas said. “I did tell them that I wanted to push them, and that started this summer.”

Collas told her team, “You guys are more talented than you think you are — you just need to believe in yourselves. And I see this team going farther than people estimate us too.”

Janesville Craig’s season started on a high note as they won the 2025 Cougar-Viking Volleyball Classic. The year before, it finished as runners-up. The Cougars went 8-1 in the invitational with the lone loss coming to Verona.

Ten days later, Craig defeated the Wildcats in four sets. That win proved to be vital because it handed Verona its only conference loss.

From there, Craig rolled through Big Eight competition, taking down Sun Prairie West in three sets and Middleton in four to highlight two more triumphs.

Heading into a matchup against visiting Madison Memorial on Thursday, Oct. 10, Craig was 8-0 in league play, looking to cap of an undefeated season.

The Spartans — led by Alyssa Konrad’s 17 kills — had other plans and defeated Craig in a five-set battle. As a result, Craig shared the conference title with the Wildcats. It marked the fourth time the Cougars won the Big Eight Conference.

“All of their hard work is paying off,” Collas said. “The fact that they all love the game, they want to be here and they all want to do this has really shown.”

The 2024 team featured 15 varsity players. This year’s group has three fewer. The downsized team led to a more cohesive unit.

“I think all 12 players want to be there,” Collas said. “All 12 of those players are there for the right reasons. It’s special because you don’t ever feel like people aren’t supportive of each other.”

While last year’s group featured more seniors, the core of the team returned. Abbie Claas and Sophie Hanna returned as outside hitters. Ava Schaffner returned as a defensive specialist and Chloe Adams remains as one of the team’s setters. Claas, Schaffner and Adams all made the All Big Eight Conference first team, announced this week.

“The leadership was a big shift,” Collas said. “Last year, we had a big senior class and this year we only have three seniors. But I think they were ready to jump into their role.”

Collas said she noticed most of her players improve. Adams, a sophomore, also became one of the team’s leaders.

“I think Chloe definitely branched out,” Collas said. “She’s changing her leadership style every game. She’s kind of stepped into that role of being the quarterback of the volleyball court.”

The play from Addie Wellnitz — a sophomore this year that played junior varsity team as a freshman — and junior Aalayah Saulsberry and senior Abbi Gryttenholm round out the team.

“It’s just fun to see the confidence in all of them grow,” Collas said.

Playoff time

Craig hosts Beloit Memorial (1-27 overall record, 0-7 Southern Lakes Conference) at 7 p.m.

“We definitely are going to take it one game at time. We’ve done that all year,” Collas said. “Right now our focus is on Beloit on Thursday.”

If Craig defeats Beloit, No. 6 Milton or No. 11 Madison La Follette would be up next. The Cougars have beat Milton twice (2-0 and 2-1) and defeated the Lancers 3-0. The top seed of the sectional is Verona and Burlington is the No. 2 seed.

“Having the three seed, but then looking at our whole sectional seeing the one seed that we beat, it definitely brings a lot of confidence but I also don’t think there’s any cockiness,” Collas said.