This story is sponsored by Forward Bank
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – After a rough ending to the first set, the Marshfield volleyball team rallied to win three straight and defeated Wisconsin Rapids 3-1 in its Wisconsin Valley Conference opener on Thursday night at Marshfield High School.
The Tigers won 23-25, 25-18, 25-17, 25-16, to improve to 3-10 overall this fall. The match was the WVC opener for both teams.
Marshfield led 18-11 in the opening set before Rapids ripped off 11-straight points to take the lead.
Marshfield climbed to within a point after a pair of kills by Lindsey Steffen, but Rapids finished off the win on a kill by Hailey Wilhorn.
The second set was tight until Marshfield pulled away late. The Tigers scored six of the final seven points, two on kills from Steffen and another on an ace by Brooklyn Boushack, to finish off the 25-18 win and even the match.
“I told them we can’t just depend on our serve,” Marshfield coach Dawn Sadowska said. “They (Rapids) struggled with Lindsey (Steffen’s) serve, in the beginning we had that huge run, and it was like they weren’t expecting to play anything over after that.
“I said they are going after every ball and we’re just standing around, and we have to make sure we are doing what we have been working on.”
The Tigers didn’t trail in Game 3, jumping out to an 8-2 lead after a kill by Madison Nelles and held on 25-17.
Marshfield had its offense rolling in the fourth set, scoring 16 points on offensive kills, including five each by Steffen and Karly Nikolai.
Trailing 8-6, Marshfield earned a side-out and scored five points in a row on the serve of Kati Sadowska. Marshfield led by at least three points the rest of the way, finishing off the match on a kill by Steffen.
Nikolai finished with a team-high 21 kills, Steffen added 16 kills, seven service aces and 17 digs, Kaydee Johnson had a team-high 32 digs, and setter Taylor Barwick had 44 assists.
“We’ve got a lot of hitters,” Dawn Sadowska said. “We’ve been working on trying to get them to be a little bit smarter so that when they’re not getting a perfect set, they’re doing something smart with the ball. I thought tonight, Alani Carter did a better job of that, Lindsey did a better job after the first set, and Madison is just a secret weapon in there.”
Abbotsford, Ashwaubenon, Prescott, Rhinelander, and Superior will compete at the Marshfield Invitational on Saturday, and the Tigers will host Stratford in a nonconference match on Sept. 6.