This story is sponsored by: Chili Implement
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – The Marshfield Columbus Catholic won its third-straight regional championship with a dominating 3-0 sweep of Stevens Point Pacelli in a WIAA Division 4 regional final Saturday night at Columbus Catholic High School.
The top-seeded Dons won 25-20, 25-19, 25-14, to roll into a D-4 sectional semifinal on Thursday at home against No. 3 seed Edgar, which won a five-set match at No. 2 Athens on Saturday.
Dorci Walker had 23 kills and 20 digs, Courtney Sommer had 21 assists, 11 digs and nine kills, and Lily Stratman had 20 assists to lead Columbus Catholic, which had its offense rolling throughout the match.
“The girls have worked so hard to get here,” Columbus Catholic coach Kat Egle said. “This is my ninth year here and to see it develop and get better has been great.”
Walker had 10 kills in the opening set as Columbus Catholic slowly built its lead.
With the match tied 8-8, Walker had two kills and Izzy Hoglund had a service ace to give the Dons an 11-9 lead. They never trailed again.
A block kill by Grace Wilczek made it 20-16, and after Pacelli got to within two on a kill by Grace Auer, Walker had four kills and Sommer another to finish off a 25-20 win.
The second set was tied 8-8 as well before the Dons pulled away. Three kills by Jenna Kibbel, who finished with nine in the match, and two more from Sommer helped Columbus go on a 14-7 run to take control.
Kills by Walker and Kibbel ended it with a 25-19 win.
Columbus controlled the third set as well, finishing off the sweep 25-14 as Walker had six more kills in the set.
“It’s a team sport,” Walker said. “We have a very high volleyball IQ, hit the weaknesses and move the ball around.”
Izzy Hoglund had a team-high 22 digs, Walker added 20 digs, and Kibbel had 10 digs for the Dons defensively.