Fayette County showdown
COLUMBUS — The Schulenburg High School volleyball team went on a five-set thriller with Flato- nia High School Nov. 11
at Marley Giddens Gym in Columbus in a Fayette
County playoff match up and won by a final score of 25-17, 26-28, 23-25, 25-16, 15-12. This was a match with two great teams that could’ve gone either way as the two teams both have great talent and coaching.
"Both teams deserve to be out here," said Schulen- burg head volleyball coach Donald Zapalac. “We showed the best and they showed the best that they had. We just made a couple more plays at the end. In the second and third set, they made a couple plays we didn't make, so it was about as close as it could be. Tremendous." Schulenburg sophomore Miranda Bonner had five crucial aces to help propel her team to victory.
"It was nerve racking," Bonner said. "I knew we could do it. I just kept praying and I just couldn't let the emotions get to me. I just had to focus on what I could do." Flatonia had an impressive season and they've had a lot of success with Lauren Hoffman at the helm.
"We had a lot of errors in that fifth set," Hoffman said. "That makes a big dif- ference. We had a lot of in juries early on (this season). I'm really proud of the girls for having resilience. That's all you can ask for." Both teams went back and forth in the first set until Schulenburg separated themselves with a few kills and then two aces in a row from Bonner to make
it 18-11. The Lady Horns kept this same kind of lead
throughout the remain der of the set and added two more aces, one from junior Haylee Vacek and a set-winner from senior Landry Zapalac to win it 25-17.
Another close second set early led to Flatonia getting two kills in a row and taking a 14-9 advantage. A tip ball from Flatonia outside hitter Katelin Sullivan, a ball in the net from Schulenburg, and another kill from the Lady Bulldogs put them ahead 19-11.
Schulenburg went on to score three points in a row with two of them being on a tip ball and an ace to tie it at 21, forcing Flatonia to call a timeout.
Going back and forth again for the remainder of the set and going into extra points, a serve out of bounds from Schulenburg and an ace from Sullivan
won the Lady Bulldogs the set 28-26.
Schulenburg took an early 9-4 lead in the third set after a ball out of bounds from Flatonia. Flatonia went on to score five points in a row and tie it at 11, then the two teams traded punches until two aces in a row from Schulenburg's Michaela Kollmann put it at 19-15 in favor of Schulenburg.
The set kept this kind of pace of trading points for it's remainder and a ball in the net from Schulenburg followed by a block from Flatonia won Flatonia the set 25-23.
Schulenburg surged out to an early lead in the fourth set and an ace from senior Clara Magliolo put the score at 7-1.
Schulenburg kept this same kind of lead for the remainder of the set and an ace from Zapalac made it 17-11, which forced Flato- nia to call a timeout.
Another ace from Bon ner put it at 21-12, which led to a few mistakes from Flatonia and a kill from Schulenburg for the final point to win it 25-16.
The fifth set was back and forth until an ace and a kill from Schulenburg put them ahead 14-11.
A kill from Sullivan for Flatonia made it 14-12, then the Lady Horns closed it out with a kill to win the set and match 15-12.
