This story is sponsored by: High Street Salon, Spa & Travel
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
GREEN BAY – Spencer coach Buff Heller said the goal of his team coming into the WIAA State Girls Volleyball Tournament was to win a ball trophy. He said they didn’t specify which one, so he supposed they met their goal after upending No. 1-ranked Grantsburg.
The Rockets goal may change now.
Spencer squashed the Pirates’ momentum time and time again and pulled out a thrilling fifth game to defeat Grantsburg 25-22, 13-25, 25-22, 14-25, 15-12 in a Division 3 state semifinal Friday afternoon at the Resch Center.
The Rockets (34-7), who are making their first state tournament appearance since 1974, will play for their first title against Oostburg (45-3) at 12:30 p.m. Saturday.
“Everybody kind of counted us out against Grantsburg, their such a solid program, but the girls came down here and their No. 1 goal was to get a ball,” Heller said. “They never talked about gold or silver, so to me, they reached their goal. So tomorrow they should just come out and have as much fun as they can because they earned every second of it.”
Spencer won tight first and third sets and were dominated in sets two and four, setting up the decisive fifth set.
Despite seemingly lacking momentum following a 25-14 loss in the fourth game, the Rockets hung in early, overcoming a 7-4 deficit to take an 8-7 lead after a block kill by Paige Johnson.
The match went back-and-forth and was tied at 11 before the Rockets pulled away. A serve into the net gave Spencer the lead and the effective tandem of setter Kyleigh Hebert and hitter Courtney Schulz combined for the final three points to earn the victory for the Rockets and a spot in Saturday’s championship match.
“We didn’t doubt ourselves at all,” Schulz said. “We were just like, ‘We’ve got the next game, we’ve got the next point.’
“We knew we could do it. It was the exact same as last Saturday, we won 1, 3 and 5, and it was a huge advantage for us because we knew even though we lost two games, we could still win that fifth game regardless.”
Schulz finished with 24 kills, Tara Matter added 10 and Hebert had 35 assists for the Rockets.
Spencer trailed much of Game 1 before rallying late. A Schulz kill and a block kill by Tyane Phillips helped even the match at 19-19. Still tied at 22, Spencer earned a side out, Matter had a kill and Dani Johnson served an ace to close it out.
The loss didn’t stun Grantsburg, who had only lost four games this season while compiling a 32-1 record and a fourth straight trip to the state tournament.
The Pirates jumped out to an 8-1 lead behind Carly Larson, who had four kills in the run, and never led by less than six the rest of the set to even the match.
On the flip side, being dominated in Game 2 didn’t affect the Rockets all that much either.
Spencer surged ahead in the middle of the game on an ace by Matter and a pair of Pirates’ errors, but trailed 18-17 before having to come up big to perhaps save its season.
Two kills by Matter, followed by an ace from Grantsburg’s Kylie Pewe, evened the match at 22-22. A serve into the net gave the Rockets a point and a side out, and Krystal Weier served the final two points to give Spencer a 2-1 lead.
“The biggest thing they did was their serve kept us so off-balance,” Heller said. “They have four or five girls that just mix you up with jump serves, floaters, never the same thing twice. The three games we controlled the serve better, we won. When we control the ball, our front row has so much depth and height, it really helps.”
Grantsburg against turned the tables, scoring 10 of 12 points in one stretch to whip the Rockets 25-14 in the fourth game and set up a do-or-die fifth and final set.
The Rockets again regained their composure and used their height on the frontline and their experience to pull out a five-game match for the second straight time. Spencer defeated Kewaunee in five games to reach the state tournament.
“We had the confidence the whole time and knew that we prepared well for them and that records meant nothing in the postseason,” Dani Johnson said. “I think we played some of the best competition and that kept getting us ready. Each team we played on our way to state has prepared us better for what we face here.”