This story is sponsored by: Valley Communities Credit Union
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
GREEN BAY – The Auburndale volleyball team came into Friday’s Division 3 semifinal at the WIAA State Girls Volleyball Tournament with confidence that it would not repeat its performance at last year’s state tournament.
Enter Racine St. Catherine’s.
The Angels, behind a towering front line of hard hitters, took care of the Apaches 3-1 (25-15, 25-27, 25-21, 25-20) on Friday afternoon at the Resch Center to advance to Saturday’s Division 3 state championship match against defending champion Grantsburg. Grantsburg beat Wisconsin Heights 3-0 in the other semifinal.
Auburndale didn’t go down without a fight.
After falling 25-15 in a rather uncompetitive opening game, the Apaches fought off four game points and won the second game 27-25. Auburndale led 17-12 midway through the third game before the Angels regained their composure, and hitting prowess. St. Catherine’s closed out Game 3 with a 13-4 run and never trailed in the fourth game, winning 25-21 to advance.
Auburndale, which was swept by Cuba City in the 2009 Division 3 semifinals, came into this year’s state tournament more experienced and knowing what to expect on volleyball’s largest stage. Even though the result was the same, the Apaches did play better this time around, coach Peggy Empey said.
“It was a great battle,” Empey said. “Racine St. Catherine’s is amazing offensively and we knew that our defense needed to pick it up and get a touch on every ball that we possibly could. They were able to do that and keep the games pretty close. I am really proud of them and they really left it all out on the court today.”
Auburndale adjusted to St. Catherine’s hard-hitting offense after the first game, but in the end couldn’t completely stop the Angels’ sister tandem of Haley and Abby Jeffcoat. Haley had 25 kills and Abby added 17, both firing at a 45.5 attack percentage. Kathleen Omelina, at 6-foot-3 added another nine kills and setters Taylor Molbeck and Abby Jeffcoat, when playing in the back row, had 27 assists each.
In all, St. Cat’s had a 32.6 hitting percentage, while Auburndale was at only 15.6 percent.
“We’re a small team and we worked hard for so many years to get to this point,” Auburndale senior Liz Breu said. “Just making it this far is an honor. We wish the outcome could have been better, but we worked hard.”
Auburndale rallied around injured teammate Kari Willfahrt, who left the first game with a dislocated finger. Empey said the close-knit group that she had this year was able to focus on tying up the match as they played hard for Willfahrt, who returned late in Game 3.
St. Catherine’s overcame a 12-9 deficit to take a 17-13 lead in the second game. The Angels maintained the lead and had a 24-20 advantage before Auburndale fought off four game points on the serve of Stacie Lang and took a 25-24 lead. Auburndale eventually won it 27-25.
“Kari is one of our strongest hitters and it was very shaky for the girls to see her go out,” Empey said. “It was hard for Kari to even leave the court. We are a strongly united team, and every girl cares so much for each other. They knew they wanted to play for Kari and that was a huge intensity moment for us. We knew she wasn’t there and we knew we wanted to play for her.”
The momentum continued into the third game, at least for a while. Liz Breu, Kayleigh Kundinger and Nicole Nikolay each had a pair of kills as the Apaches built a 14-9 lead.
The Angels chipped away and behind two aces by Haley Jeffcoat and three straight kills by Abby Jeffcoat, they surged ahead, scoring 13 of the final 19 points of the game.
“I think we let some of their big kills hurt our intensity and that is when we started to slip a little,” Empey said.
Breu, who led Auburndale with nine kills, said the Apaches can walk away with their heads held high knowing they gave it their best shot.
“I’m proud to be here and proud to have played with my team,” Breu said. “It’s an honor. I love being here and making it here.
“We had ups and downs and know we could have pulled out the win.”
Haley Harman and Nicole Nikolay each added seven kills, Kayleigh Kundinger had 25 assists and Kimberly Masephol led the Auburndale defense with 14 digs.