This story is sponsored by: Norm-E-Lane Farm
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
GREEN BAY –Marshfield Columbus Catholic was fighting from behind for much of the first two sets during its Division 5 semifinal match against Wausau Newman Catholic on Thursday morning at the WIAA State Girls Volleyball Tournament at the Resch Center.
The Dons came up short in the first set, but a surge late in the second may have saved their season, and potentially could lead to a state title.
Trailing 20-15, the Dons rallied to tie the game, held off two set points and pulled out a 30-28 to even the match. Columbus Catholic rode that momentum to win the next two sets and a 3-1 victory over the Cardinals.
Columbus Catholic (26-15) won 19-25, 30-28, 25-23, 25-20, to advance to the Division 5 championship game against Eau Claire Immanuel Lutheran (37-4) on Saturday at 9 a.m. Immanuel Lutheran topped Sheboygan Christian 3-1 in the other Division 5 semifinal.
“We had some nerves at the beginning of that first game, but by the end of that first game our girls began to play our game and to play together,” Columbus Catholic coach Kat Egle said.
The Dons started slow, falling behind 16-9 after two kills by Lily Shields and another from Annika Svennes in an 8-2 run for the Cardinals.
The Dons hung within four to six points for much of the rest of the set but never made much of a dent, falling 25-19.
With absolutely no momentum on their side, Columbus Catholic continued to wallow.
Newman ripped off a 5-0 run, which ended on a Camille Sobolewski kill, to take an 8-4 lead to start the second set.
Columbus Catholic finally made a run as two aces from Shelby Spata brought it to within 11-10, only to fall behind again by five after Sobolewski had three-straight kills to put the Cardinals up 20-15.
Suddenly, the Dons flipped a switch.
Two aces from Aubrey Waldhauser and a kill by Chayse Blenker held the Dons tie the match 21-21 and from there on the set was tight.
Newman had a set point at 24-23 only to have the Dons win two points in a row on a kill by Gracie Wilczek and an ace from Delia Trader.
The Dons failed to close out three set point chances, but did so on the fourth after holding off another set point from Newman.
Trailing 28-27, Columbus earned a side out, Waldhauser had another service ace, and a Newman error capped off a 30-28 for the Dons, giving them new life.
“It’s definitely a little scary when you are serving set point, but you just have to work through it, don’t look at the score, that’s what I do, take a deep breath, and got to remember that you are here for a reason, you made it this far,” Waldhauser said.
A deflated Newman Catholic squad was no match for Columbus early in the third set. The Dons ran out to an 8-3 lead as Spata had a pair of kills, and eventually opened up a 15-5 advantage.
Sensing its season in jeopardy, Newman regrouped, tying the match at 23-23 after two kills from Svennes, but the Dons were able to secure the final two points to win 25-23 and take control of the match.
The fourth set went back and forth as Newman started with a 6-1 run before Columbus ripped off eight the next nine points to go up 9-7.
The Cardinals again responded to go ahead before Columbus really went to work.
Down 17-13, Columbus earned a sideout on a Blenker kill and scored the next three to tie it at 17-17. After a Newman Catholic sideout, the Dons scored sixth points in a row, two on kills by Spata, who had a team-high 18, and one on Waldhauer’s sixth ace of the match, to grab control at 23-18.
Two Newman errors ended it as the Dons won 25-20 to vault into the championship match on Saturday, some place that maybe seemed far away when they started the season 6-10.
“Looking back on that now, we were looking at ‘hey, every game we’re getting better’ and it humbled us and made us hungry,” Egle said. “We see those loses as making us stronger. I’ve had teams where we started strong and we haven’t made this break to the Resch Center before. That struggle in the beginning got us stronger as a team, more bonded as a team. It all paid off at the end of the year that we persevered through all that.”
Alayna Egle finished with 20 assists, Sophie Wilczek had 15 assists, Spata was a monster in the back row as well with 28 digs, and Trader added 24 digs for the Dons.
Sobolewski led Newman with 20 kills, Svennes added 18, Lily Shields had 24 assists and 27 digs, and Anna France chipped in 25 digs for Newman.
Click here for complete statistics from the WIAA
Click here to view the state tournament results and schedule