This story is sponsored by: Victory Apparel
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
ALMOND – The Columbus Catholic volleyball program has been through the ringer in recent years, losing in the sectional finals twice in the past three seasons, just one win away from a state tournament appearance.
The wait it now over!
Columbus Catholic clicked offensively throughout the match and swept Royall 3-0 to win a WIAA Division 5 sectional final on Saturday at Almond-Bancroft High School and advance to its first WIAA state tournament. The Dons won by scores of 25-19, 25-19, 25-23.
The Dons (25-15) will play in a D-5 semifinal against Wausau Newman Catholic at the state tournament at the Resch Center in Green Bay at 9 a.m. Thursday. Eau Claire Immanuel Lutheran and Sheboygan Christian will play in the other semifinal at the same time, with the winners matching up in the championship game at 9 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 9.
“These girls are so special, each one of my teams has been special, they believe in one another, they push one another and they care for one another, and that’s why they excel,” Columbus Catholic coach Kat Egle said. “They push their teammates. It’s not about themselves and they support each other.”
The opening set was back-and-forth with Royall taking a 12-11 lead after two service errors from the Dons.
Columbus Catholic settled in and got its offensive cooking, with Chayse Blenker, Alayna Egle and Shelby Spata sending down kills to help spark a 6-2 run and give the Dons a 17-14 lead.
After the teams exchanged points twice, Columbus ripped off four straight to take control and eventually finished off the 25-19 win.
The Dons found themselves down narrowly again in the second set, falling behind 10-9 after two kills by Laya Wainwright.
A kill by Spata, who finished with a team-high 16, and an ace from Gracie Wilczek got the Dons rolling again as they took a 14-11 lead.
Two more Shelby kills and an ace by Sophie Wilczek pushed the Dons advantage to 18-14 and they were able to cruise the rest of the way, ending the 25-19 win on a kill by Blenker.
Hard-hitting Royall junior Bria Gruen was being fed the ball from all angles, in both the front row and in the back, but Columbus’ blockers were able to neutralize her for the most part. Gruen did finish with 11 kills, but the Dons were usually able to get a hand on everything she was throwing out there.
“We knew they were going to feed her and we had to make sure we had our blockers up,” Coach Egle said. “She’s a phenomenal athlete and we could tell she really wanted it, we could see that in her eyes. We tried our best to stop her. She still got around us a few times and we knew she was going to get a kill her or there, but just not to give up.”
With its season on the line, Royall started strong in the third set, jumping out to a 5-0 lead.
The Panthers pushed the lead to 10-4 after kills from Gruen and Wainwright before the Dons started to grind away at their deficit.
Down 20-17, Blenker and Spata each had two kills in a 5-1 run to briefly gave Columbus Catholic a 22-21 lead.
Royall tied it only to see Aubrey Waldhauser get a kill and then serve an ace for Columbus. After a block kill from Gruen, freshman Abby Kibbel sent home the game-winning point for the Dons and the celebration began.
“Royall is such a good team with some gifted athletes,” Kat Egle said. “In that third set we were making some mistakes, but they worked throughout it. They saw I was still smiling and believing. As long as we did the little things right, it was going to come together in the end.”
Egle finished with 17 assists, Sophie Wilczek had 13 assists, Trader had 11 digs and Waldhauser added seven kills for Columbus Catholic.
Click here for the complete WIAA girls volleyball sectional scoreboard