Springville survives in 5

MAQUOKETA — They finally snapped out of it, just in the nick of time.

Fifth-ranked Springville overcame a serve-receiving mess and rallied past No. 11 Bellevue Marquette in five sets (25-23, 20-25, 16-25, 25-17, 15-11) in a Class 1A regional-final volleyball match Wednesday night at Maquoketa High School.

'We wanted to win this so bad,' said setter Olivia Dlouhy. 'It's like a dream to me.'

Springville (31-7) won for the 25th time in the last 26 matches and earned its third state-tournament bid. The Orioles will face No. 4 Sidney (32-1) in the first round at 6 p.m. next Wednesday at the U.S. Cellular Center.

'It's great to be back,' said Megan Wagaman, who was on the Orioles' 2013 state team that fell in the first round. 'Now we want to go do some damage.'

Quite a bit of the Orioles' damage through the first three sets was self-inflicted.

'Our serve reception was ridiculously bad,' said Springville Coach Claude Howard. 'We had to make an offensive adjustment, (Wagaman) to the right side, (Samantha Johnson) to outside hitter. I think that changed the matchups and helped us a little.'

Marquette (22-8) lost three times to the Orioles — all by sweep — during the regular season. But the Mohawks had the Orioles in a corner Wednesday, winning two of the first three sets.

The Mohawks got a lot of quick points, serving a whopping 25 aces, 11 by Marissa Schroeder.

Nine of those aces came in Game 1, but the Orioles somehow pulled that one out, scoring the last six points after trailing 23-19.

Marquette won the next two sets, but the serve-receive fog gradually lifted somewhat down the stretch for the Orioles.

Down 3-0 in the fourth set, Springville played its best ball of the night in an 8-1 run to take the lead for good. It was 20-17 when the Orioles tallied the final five points to force Game 5.

At 3-3 in the fifth, Wagaman notched back-to-back kills in a four-point run, and stretched the lead to 11-5.

Marquette scored four straight to sneak within 11-9, but an ace by Dlouhy and a block by Alyssa Jaeger put the Orioles back in control. Springville scored the clincher on am errant Marquette serve.

Wagaman led the Orioles with 13 kills. Johnson contributed eight. Dlouhy distributed 16 assists.

Schroeder accumulated 13 kills to go with her 11 aces to lead Marquette.

'It's so hard to beat a team four times,' Howard said. 'I was dreading this match, because I knew they would come out hard.'

In addition to the banner furnished by the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union, the Orioles posed afterward with a self-made sign, 'We (heart) you, Jill Woods,' in reference to a townsperson who is stricken with cancer.

'She's our biggest supporter,' Dlouhy said, emotionally. 'We wanted to dedicate the season to her and stay strong for her.'

SPRINGVILLE 3, BELLEVUE MARQUETTE 2 (25-23, 20-25, 16-25, 25-17, 15-11)

Class 1A Regional Final, at Maquoketa

Serving: Springville 88-100 (.880), Marquette 88-100 (.880)

Aces: Springville 8 (Madi Wagaman 5), Marquette 25 (Marissa Schroeder 11)

Kills: Springville 39 (Megan Wagaman 13), Marquette 33 (Schroeder 13)

Assists: Springville 38 (Olivia Dlouhy 16), Marquette 31 (Kortney Kirby 13)

Blocks: Springville 11 (Alyssa Jaeger 4), Marquette 14 (Erica Timmerman 7)

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com