This story is sponsored by: Trudeau Construction and The Tile Guys
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
View a photo gallery of Spencer’s playoff run
WIAA State Girls Volleyball Tournament schedule
EDGAR – The WIAA Division 3 volleyball sectional final between Spencer and Kewaunee was all one could expect from a match with a state tournament berth on the line.
The two evenly-matched teams battled tooth-and-nail to the end and in the fifth game it was the Rockets’ time.
Holding onto a slight 12-11 lead, Spencer’s Courtney Schulz had back-to-back kills and after a sideout, Kewaunee failed to return the ball over the net giving the Rockets a 15-12 win and setting off a wild celebration from the team and its fans.
Spencer won 25-21, 19-25, 25-22, 21-25, 15-12 to advance to its first state tournament since 1974. The Rockets (32-7) will play Grantsburg (32-1) in a Division 3 semifinal at 1 p.m. Friday at the Resch Center in Green Bay. Grantsburg swept Eau Claire Regis 3-0 in another sectional final Saturday.
“We’ve been talking about that since the beginning of the playoffs – every game is going to get harder,” Spencer coach Buff Heller said. “It doesn’t get easier as you go on.”
Spencer trailed late in each of the first four games but was able to pull out the first and third games behind the front-row play of Schulz, Tara Matter and setter Kyleigh Hebert.
Kewaunee led Game 1 17-16 before a Matter kill and ace pulled the Rockets ahead. Leading 21-20, Spencer got a sideout and Matter had two kills to end it 25-21.
Spencer was within one at 19-18 late in the second game, but this time the Storm surged in front and held on. Two kills from Katelyn Tulachka and a tip kill by setter Mikayla Gallenberger sparked a 6-1 run to the end game and even the match.
Things were tight again in Game 3. Spencer trailed 15-12 before scoring nine of the next 11 points to take the lead. The Rockets maintained at least a two-point lead the rest of the way and Schulz ended the 25-22 with her sixth kill of the game.
Spencer only led once in the fourth game, at 6-5, as Kewaunee rode Kesley Stangel to the win. The junior outside hitter had seven kills in the game and accounted for three of the final four points as the Storm forced the decisive Game 5.
“That No. 19 (Stangel) hits it better than anyone we’ve seen all year,” Heller said. “It’s one of those things where you take your lumps and try to get it back when you can.”
Schulz, who had 28 kills in all, started the fifth game with three straight. Hebert added an ace and two errors by Kewaunee gave the Rockets a 7-4 lead.
Kewaunee battled back and made it 8-8 after a kill by Alex Richard, but Spencer scored the next four points and was able to close out the victory.
“We had to want it more than them,” Schulz said. “It was amazing how it went back and forth every-other game and we just decided we needed to take that last game from them.”
“Their confidence has grown,” Heller said. “Once you get confidence, it’s hard to take it away. Going into Game 5 in the huddle, I don’t even have to talk. They were like, ‘This is ours. This is Game 5. This is what we play for.’ They were taking all of my lines.”
Seven Spencer seniors, some of whom have played on the varsity for four years, have waited for this chance
“It’s unbelievable,” Schulz said. “The work that we put in during the summer and throughout the season, it’s crazy. It all paid off and we’re going to Green Bay for once.
“We had to be on our toes. We had to be playing our best game and that’s the way we ended up playing.”
Matter finished with 16 kills, Hebert had 59 assists and 15 digs, and Dani Johnson had a team-high 19 digs for the Rockets.