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By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – Marshfield Columbus Catholic maintained a lead for nearly the entire match and got its postseason off on the right foot as it rolled to a 3-0 sweep of Northland Lutheran in a WIAA Division 4 regional quarterfinal on Tuesday night at Columbus Catholic High School.
The only time the Dons trailed was for a three-point span near the beginning of the second game, otherwise they were in total control throughout.
Columbus won 25-20, 25-17, 25-11. The Dons, the No. 3 seed in its bracket of Sectional 2, advances to a regional semifinal at Greenwood on Thursday.
Greenwood, the No. 2 seed, defeated No. 7 Prentice 3-0 (25-16, 25-16, 25-18) on Tuesday.
Greenwood beat Columbus 3-2 in a tight Cloverbelt Conference East Division match on Sept. 17.
Abby Baierl, Celine Scholin and Kendra Baierl each had eight kills, and Natalie Pospyhalla added seven for the Dons in a balanced attack. Setter Jennifer Regiel had 30 assists for Columbus.
“Jen moved around the ball around tonight, so we were able to use all of our hitters,” Columbus Catholic coach Kat Egle said. “We are looking forward to our match with Greenwood on Thursday.”
The Dons pulled out to a 9-3 lead in Game 1 and survived a late comeback attempt from Northland Lutheran. Trailing 23-15, the Wildcats scored five points in a row to get to within three. A Scholin kill earned a sideout and the Dons finished off the game on the serve of Abby Baierl, winning 25-20.
Northland Lutheran led 4-2 early in Game 2 before the Dons rallied to regain control. Maddie DeSmet had two service aces to cap a 5-0 run, and Sierra Litwatis later served six-straight points to go up 20-9.
The Wildcats put together another rally to pull within 21-16 after an ace from Ivy Shaw, but the Dons were able to hold on an ended with an ace from Kendra Baierl in a 25-17 win.
Columbus made quick work of Game 3, jumping out to an 11-2 lead after Reigel served five points in a row.
After Northland Lutheran pulled to within 14-9, the Dons earned a sideout and Pospyhalla served eight points in a row, which included a pair of kills from Abby Baierl. The Dons eventually won 25-11 to finish off the match.
Pospyhalla finished with six service aces and Litwatis had 12 digs for the Dons.