Schulenburg’s Season Ends in Regional Final Loss
The Schulenburg Lady Horns only lost one volleyball match all season to a school in their same classification.
But that loss ended their season.
In an epic 2A Regional final Thursday in Caldwell, Schulenburg and Thrall traded punches for four sets as the Lady Horns won the even-numbered sets and lost the odd-numbered ones.
But after grabbing the momentum by winning the fourth set 25-18, Schulenburg saw it all slip away as trouble handling tough serving by Thrall dug the Lady Horns into an early 7-1 deficit in the fifth set. Schulenburg nearly erased that lead, winning seven of the next nine points, as Erica Otto and Meredith Magliolo dominated at the net to trail just 8-9. But then Thrall won the next six points to polish off the victory.
The loss snapped a 14-match win streak for the Lady Horns.
“We didn’t get enough offense generated and let them control the tempo of the game,” said Schulenburg head coach Donald Zapalac. “We played way too much defense tonight.”
Erica Otto had 15 kills for Schulenburg and Jordan Sommer had 13 and Kloe Kutac eight.
Meredith Magliolo had six blocks. Otto had four aces.
Julie Guentert had 29 digs, Morgan Marburger had 23 and Regan Lux and Sommer each had 16 digs.
Marburger had 38 assists.
The Lady Horns finish their season with a 25-9 record a district title and four playoff wins. They were one of the last eight teams left in the state in Class 2A.
“This is one of the best teams’s I’ve ever been on for sure,” said Schulenburg senior setter Morgan Marburger. “All the girls had great attitudes Right now it’s really devastating, Going into that fifth set I thought we were going to come out on top but things don’t always work out like that, but I think we gave this season a heck of a run and I feel like we gave it our all out there.”
Thrall (23-6) advances to the state semifinals, where they will face Iola.
Thursday’s loss ends the volleyball careers of four very impactful Schulenburg seniors: Regan Lux, Morgan Marburger, Julie Guentert and Erica Otto.
“They are all my best friends. They are like sisters. I couldn’t image going through high school without them,” Marburger said.
“This is one of the best teams I’ve ever gotten to coach,” Zapalac said. “The senior leadership was terrific. They set the tone for us back when we started summer workouts.
“They really grew during the season.”
The Lady Horns played a brutal schedule early in the season, losing seven of their first 13 matches (all of those losses to bigger classification schools).
Despite the loss of those four seniors, the future is still bright for the Lady Horns, who always seem to be a major postseason threat year after year. Four starters return next year, Magliolo, Sommer, Antosh and Kutac.
“We had a lot of new people coming in and had struggles early, but the tough schedule got us to where we needed to be,” Zapalac said. “This group just kept getting better and better.”