By MIKE KEMMETER
of The Gazette
ROSHOLT - It appears the Rosholt High School girls volleyball team is putting it all together at the perfect time.
Behind excellent back row play, the Hornets kept their season alive Tuesday night, topping Auburndale in WIAA Regional play. The victory was the eighth straight for Rosholt, which won its final seven conference matches.
"It's definitely all coming together," Rosholt coach JoAnn Heroux said. "They were a whole different team out there. They picked it up."
The 15-12, 7-15, 15-12, 15-13 win over the Apaches didn't come easy.
With the match tied at one game apiece, Rosholt held off an Auburndale rally to steal the momentum. After the Hornets opened a 10-4 advantage, the Apaches outscored Rosholt 8-2 to tie the game, 12-12. Auburndale's Tammy Linzmeier helped the Hornets at the end, as she made an illegal hit that gave Rosholt a 14-12 lead and then spiked the ball into the net on the game-winning point.
"We had some good passes that third game," Heroux said. "My philosophy is it's all in the pass. We had good back row play."
Now down 2-1 and facing elimination, the Apaches needed to win the final two games to advance. They were on their way to winning game four after building an 11-6 advantage. Rosholt stormed back to 11-10 on Jenna Eschenbach's serve and then took a 13-11 lead after a pair of sideouts.
Auburndale came back to tie it at 13-13, but a Kishon Raab miss hit for Auburndale put Rosholt within a point of victory. Eschenbach ended it with a spike kill on the next play, setting up a showdown with Amherst Friday night at Auburndale, at 7 p.m.
"They have their work cut out for them," Heroux said.
Late in the fourth and deciding game, Heroux brought in sophomore Emily Steines off the bench and she made several big plays in her limited time. Steines finished with one spike kill and one block kill.
"She had a lot of tough plays," Heroux said. "I put her in, in a critical point, and she ended up coming through for us."
While Steines' play was important down the stretch, Eschenbach led the Hornets with four spike kills, two tip kills and four block kills. Kirsten Straub and Shelly Sadogierski both added four spike kills, and Lana Dalton had seven assists.
While Auburndale's Linzmeier may have had a tough time at the end of the third game, she was giving Rosholt's back row fits all night with her strong net play.
"I think that's the toughest workout our middle has had. That was probably the toughest middle (Eschenbach's) met up with," Heroux said.