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By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
GREEN BAY – From the beginning it was obvious the Marshfield Columbus Catholic volleyball team was going to have its hands full with the front line of Eau Claire Immanuel Lutheran as both teams attempted to win the first-ever Division 5 state championship match at the 2024 WIAA State Girls Volleyball Tournament on Saturday at the Resch Center.
Columbus Catholic fought to the end, pulling out the second set and nearly doing the same in the fourth, but the Dons fell short as Immanuel Lutheran won 3-1 to capture its first state championship.
The Lancers won 25-10, 23-25, 25-19, 25-21, to deny Columbus Catholic in its first trip to the WIAA state tournament.
Four different Immanuel Lutheran players finished with double-digit kills as the Lancers had an impressive .304 hitting percentage in sending down 57 kills overall. Gabi Radichel led the way with 20 kills and setter Leah Thompson was precise throughout the match, finishing with 45 assists.
“We were so excited to be here,” Columbus Catholic coach Kat Egle said. “These girls have battled all season, pushing one another, believing in one another. We might be short, but they’re very scrappy and they work hard. I’m so blessed to coach this team. It was an amazing experience out there and we have made so many amazing memories throughout the season.”
The Lancers ripped off the first eight points of the opening set and Columbus Catholic never recovered.
Immanuel Lutheran eventually pushed its lead to 15-4 after an ace from Radichel and finished off a 25-10 win.
The Dons were not going to give in and rode the serve of Shelby Spata to open up a big lead early in the second set.
Following a sideout by freshman Abby Kibbel on a block kill, Spata served seven points in a row, which included three-straight aces, to give the Dons a 10-3 lead.
Immanuel Lutheran kept plugging away, tying the match at 17-17 on a Radichel kill only to see the Dons quickly go back ahead.
Spata had one of her team-high 14 kills and another ace to make it 20-17. Points went back and forth but the Lancers were not able to catch up. A kill from Gracie Wilczek ended the set as the Dons won 25-23 to even the match.
“I think we just had to trust each other,” said Gracie Wilczek, one of five seniors on the Dons’ roster. “We put these tattoos on our wrists that say ‘Trust.’ So, I told all of my teammates to look at your wrist and trust your teammates, and let’s play our game, and that’s what we did.”
The play of Radichel, Sophia Carstensen and Audrey Arndt up front for the Lancers was just too much to handle the rest of the way for Columbus Catholic.
The trio had nine kills in the early portion of the third set as Immanuel Lutheran took a 10-6 lead.
Columbus Catholic stayed within striking distance but could not get closer than that. After another Spata ace, the Dons trailed 21-17 before two kills by Cheynne Wales finished off a 25-21 win for Immanuel Lutheran.
Spata went on another run from the service line to keep the Dons’ hopes alive in the fourth set.
She had three consecutive aces again, setting a new state tournament all-division record with 10 aces in the match, to help the Dons build a 17-15 lead. The previous record was nine set in 2017 by Lake Country Lutheran’s Brooke Anderson in a five-set match.
“I feel like I’ve never served like that before,” Spata said. “I was feeling the adrenaline and serving where Coach Kat tells me where to serve. Hitting that spot always feels good.”
Two kills from Radichel and an ace by Carstensen tied the match at 18-18 for the Lancers, who went on to finish off the match 25-21 with four points in a row, two on kills by Arndt. She ended up with 15 kills.
“Becoming the team that we knew they could be here at the end of the season, it was amazing,” Coach Egle said.
Alayna Egle had 18 assists, Sophie Wilczek added 12 assists, and Aubrey Waldhauser chipped in eight kills for Columbus Catholic.