This story is sponsored by Forward Financial Bank
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
ABBOTSFORD – For the third straight match, the Auburndale volleyball team went to a fifth game to decide its postseason fate.
For the third straight time, Auburndale came out victorious.
The fifth-seeded Apaches came back from a 2-0 deficit to knock off No. 3 Stanley-Boyd 3-2 and win the WIAA Division 3 sectional semifinal Thursday night at Abbotsford High School. Auburndale won by scores of 24-26, 21-25, 25-17, 25-23, 15-12.
Auburndale will take on Oshkosh Lourdes, the top seed in its regional bracket at home on Saturday at 7 p.m. Lourdes also needed five games to win its sectional semifinal, beating Oconto 3-2. The winner of Saturday’s match moves on to the 2013 WIAA State Girls Volleyball Tournament next week in Green Bay.
“We know that anything is possible and when we hold on to hope, awesome things happen,” Auburndale coach Peggy Empey said. “Regardless of how a game ends, we know we can push all the way through. I never ask anything more from the girls than to do their best and push their hardest.”
Auburndale posted its third-straight upset in the playoffs after winning at No. 4 Spencer last Thursday and at No. 1 seed Athens last Saturday after trailing that match 2-1.
The never-say-die attitude has proved to be beneficial for the Apaches.
“The girls knew it was do it know or they were going to be done,” Empey said. “And they were not ready to be done. They came through and pushed all the way.”
The first game was tight throughout, with Auburndale rallying to tie the match at 24-24. A pair of kills by Jamie Reit ended it for Stanley-Boyd, however, and the Orioles led 1-0.
S-B took that momentum into Game 2 and led throughout after pushing to a 7-2 lead on two kills by Reit and another by Shantel Hartzell.
Auburndale put up a fight at the end of the game. Trailing 21-12, the Apaches cut it to 22-21 after an ace by Jeanette Peplinski and a kills from Taylor Gotz. After a Stanley-Boyd timeout, the Orioles gained a sideout on a kill by Reit and closed out the game.
“We just had to keep pushing hard because we knew we could come back if we just play our game,” Auburndale senior Kendra Kundinger said. “We had just had to keep your rhythm up and keep going.”
That little spurt at the end of the game may have helped Auburndale regain its confidence, and the Apaches turned it on in Game 3.
Shannon Yahnke had four of her 12 kills to help Auburndale pull out a 25-17 victory to extend the match.
Stanley-Boyd charged out to a 6-1 lead in Game 4 before the resilient Apaches rallied again.
Auburndale scored 14 of the next 20 point to take a 15-12 lead after two kills by Camille Swart and an ace from Hannah Castellano.
The Orioles took an 18-17 lead, but Auburndale regrouped and pulled away, winning 25-23.
The fifth game was much like the others, as both teams had big rallies to keep the game tight.
Auburndale led 9-4 before Stanley-Boyd tied it after three straight kills from Reit and an ace from Ali Holub.
A block kill by Ashley Breu gave Auburndale the lead and the serve back and it never trailed again. Castellano ended it with her third service ace to give the Apaches another improbable win.
“We just keep working really hard all of the time and it’s been working for us,” Kundinger said.
Swart finished with 13 kills, Kundinger had 26 assists, 15 digs and seven kills, and Castellano had a team-high 24 digs for Auburndale.
Reit had 20 kills to lead the Orioles.