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By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – The Marshfield volleyball team put together one of its better matches of the season and with it, claimed a regional championship.
The Tigers rolled past Eau Claire North 25-18, 25-11, 25-14, in a WIAA Division 1 girls volleyball regional final Saturday night at Marshfield High School.
The No. 3 seed Marshfield moves on to sectionals where it will take on No. 2 River Falls on Thursday night at Hudson High School. No. 1 Chippewa Falls and No. 4 Hudson will play at 5 p.m., with the Marshfield match to follow. The winners will play for a sectional title and a state tournament berth next Saturday in Marshfield.
“I know that River Falls believes it’s going to be Chippewa Falls and them (in the sectional final), but if we can go in and play as error-free as possible and keep serving the way we are, we have a good shot,” Marshfield coach Dawn Sadowska said.
Marshfield fell behind 9-6 in the opening set before it started to show off its offensive power.
Four kills from Caitlyn Pernsteiner and a pair of service aces from Reinya Balderson helped the Tigers surge ahead 15-12.
Ashlyn Barwick and Kaylie Charron had service aces and Pernsteiner slammed down two more kills as Marshfield pulled away and won 25-18.
After North went up 2-0 to open the second set, the Tigers dominated the rest of the way.
Elise Uphoff had six-straight service points as Marshfield opened up a 10-3 lead and it led by at least five the rest of the way.
Pernsteiner had two more aces, and Barwick served out the set with six points in a row, three on kills by Abby Ongna.
Aces by Halle Steinmetz and Natalie Gruna helped North keep pace in the third set as the Huskies tied the match at 9-9, but Marshfield started heating up again.
Three kills in a row by Pernsteiner heled the Tigers build a 17-10 lead and they were able to finish out the match as Rylee Corteen had a kill and a block kill in the 25-14 victory.
“They were a little tight there in the beginning, but once they put a couple of balls down they started to loosen up and just went after it,” Sadowska said. “That’s the way we’re going to have to play – error free, or as error-free as possible. It was nice to do this at home against a good team and I’m feeling good heading into next week.”
Pernsteiner finished with 17 kills, Ongna added 14 and Grace Taylor had nine, as setter Reinya Balderson was on throughout as she ended up with 37 assists.
Uphoff had 17 digs, and Ongna and Barwick each had 15 on the defensive end for the Tigers.