This story is sponsored by: The University of Wisconsin-Marshfield/Wood County
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – The third match of the season between the Marshfield and D.C. Everest volleyball teams will be for all the marbles.
The two Wisconsin Valley Conference rivals will battle for a spot at the state tournament after each won WIAA Division 1 girls volleyball sectional semifinals on Thursday night at Marshfield High School.
Everest beat Eau Claire Memorial 21-25, 25-18, 25-17, 28-26, and Marshfield followed that with a 25-19, 25-14, 14-25, 25-21 victory over River Falls.
Marshfield and D.C. Everest will play in a WIAA Division 1 sectional final at 7 p.m. Saturday at Wausau West High School with a berth in next week’s 2015 WIAA State Girls Volleyball Tournament in Green Bay on the line.
The two teams split a pair of matches WVC play this season. Everest won 3-1 on Sept. 10 before the Tigers turned the tables with a thrilling 3-2 win at home on Oct. 13. The win gave Marshfield a second-place finish in the conference.
“It’s going to be a good match,” Marshfield coach Dawn Sadowska said. “It’s going to come down to who is mentally tougher, who’s going to be able to handle the pressure, who’s going to be able to handle making mistakes and coming back.”
Stephanie Rhodes had 15 kills, Ema Fehrenbach added 13 kills, and Anna Ripp had 38 assists to lead the Tigers.
Defensively, Hannah Meverden and Alexa Aumann each came up big with five blocks each, and Sara Dasler had 25 digs for Marshfield.
The Tigers started strong, jumping out to a 9-3 lead in Game 1.
After River Falls closed to within 20-17, Meverden had a pair of kills to get Marshfield back on track and it closed out the 25-19 win on the serve of Ripp.
Marshfield dominated Game 2, against heading out to a 9-3 lead and led by at least four points the rest of the way as Fehrenbach had seven kills in the game.
The Wildcats turned the tables in the third game, leading the entire way, but Marshfield wasn’t about the match slip away.
“That first game we came out and were really strong, but we made a lot of errors,” Sadowska said. “There are some things we need to clean up before Saturday, but a win is a win. They didn’t give up, and I’m really proud of them for that.”
The Tigers regrouped and never trailed in Game 4.
Marshfield took a 13-5 lead after an ace by Rhodes. River Falls got to within one, at 19-18, before Marshfield put away the match by scoring six of the final nine points.
“We jumped out really fast with our serving, and that’s what really helped us in that fourth game,” Sadowska said. “They don’t seem to get too rattled and I think that’s a good sign for us.”