This story is sponsored by: The Marshfield Tiger Booster Club
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – Marshfield’s run toward a third-straight regional title ended in heartbreak.
The No. 2 seeded Tigers won the first two sets against No. 7 Hudson before the Raiders surged to win the next three and finished off a 3-2 upset in a WIAA Division 1 girls volleyball regional final on Saturday night at Marshfield High School.
Hudson won 22-25, 22-25, 25-22, 25-16, 15-12, to advance to a sectional semifinal against No. 6 River Falls, which also pulled off an upset of No. 3 Chippewa Falls in four sets. No. 5 Eau Claire North will play No. 1 Eau Claire Memorial in the other sectional semifinal Thursday at a site to be determined. The sectional final on Oct. 28 is scheduled to be played at Eau Claire North.
Marshfield never trailed in the opening set, but had a hard time putting away the Raiders, a trend that continued throughout the hard-fought match.
Two kills by Abby Ongna gave Marshfield a 14-9 lead. The Raiders were able to close to within a point late on a kill by Ellie Burns to make it 23-22 before Marshfield earned a sideout and Sophia Olson ended it with a block kill for the Tigers.
The second set was tight as well, as the score was tied eight different times, including as late as 21-21 after Bruns and Marshfield’s Kailyn Kurth alternated kills.
Lauren Homolka had three kills and Ongna blocked down the final point to give the Tigers a second 25-22 victory and put them seemingly in control of the match.
The Tigers ripped off six of the first eight points in the third set as Ongna had three of her team-high 17 kills in the run.
Hudson, with its backs against the wall and season on the line, was not about to give up.
An 8-2 run put the Raiders ahead, and back-to-back aces by Addie Leach helped Hudson build a 14-12 lead.
Marshfield responded with an 8-3 run of its own led by an ace from Ashlyn Barwick and a kill from Homolka to go ahead 22-21, but a kill by Leach tied it and Chloe Lockheart served the final three points to give the Raiders alive.
The Tigers led early in the fourth set as well before Hudson ripped off eight points in a row on Lockheart’s serve to pull ahead 16-9. Marshfield was never closer than four the rest of the set and Hudson was able to even the match after an ace from Burns and a kill by Hannah Kendhammer finished off a 25-16 win.
Homolka and Ongna had block kills to help the Tigers to a 4-1 lead to start the final set, but again Hudson rallied.
The Tigers led 9-6 before Hudson tied it again. Marshfield surged again to take a went 12-11 lead, but couldn’t close it out. A sideout tied it, and a block kill from Jana Jankowski and an ace by Lockheart sent Hudson to the win and into sectionals.
Homolka finished with 13 kills, Kurth had 35 assists, Grace Taylor added 10 kills, and Barwick and Ongna both had 14 digs for Marshfield.
Leach and Riley Sommers each had 10 kills for Hudson.