Aubrey Thom was not going to let the Mayville volleyball lose Thursday night.
The senior setter was locked in during the fifth set to help the No. 4 Cardinals advance past No. 5 Dominican 25-17, 25-18, 23-25, 23-25, 15-9 at home in a WIAA Division 3 regional semifinal match.
"It's nice that, when the money is on the table, having an ace up your sleeve and Aubrey's that ace," Capps said. "She makes good decisions, and she just keeps working.
"I think that's what I appreciate about Aubrey the most, there's no quit in the girl, she's going to work her butt off as long as she can and just do her job."
Mayville (20-11) went on a 4-0 run with Thom at the service line to take an early lead in the final set. The run included back-to-back aces.
Thom also ran the Mayville offense efficiently, racking up 41 assists and spreading the ball around well.
The most offensive success came from the middle, where Leah Vossekuil and Allison Schelpfeffer combined for 23 kills.
"I don’t think that you would even guess how young they are by the way they play," Thom said. "They’re so phenomenal. They play with such high-level IQ.
"Leah going for those corners every single time, she’s amazing. With Allison, you can always expect her to be big at the net; she’s going to get up there and she’s going to put that ball down."
Vossekuil, who had 18 kills, said the team didn’t have much film on Dominican so they had to feel the match out. She said she trusts wherever Thom sets.
"I have so much trust in her," Vossekuil said. "She’s such a good leader for our team. She’s really smart about who she sets, so when she realizes what’s on fire, she sets that to win."
Vossekuil was efficient. Her 18 kills came with just two errors and her hitting percentage was an eye-popping .457.
Capps said that he hoped that setting the middle early would soften up the Dominican (19-10) block that was formidable on the outside.
"I knew that [Dominican] had good middles, but I know that my middles are special," Capps said. "Our gameplan tonight against this team was to really set up the middle when we got the good pass and soften up the outsides and then go to the outsides later on."
That strategy worked, for senior Emily Derkowski was able to get into a rhythm on the outside with 13 kills and sophomore Lillian Mansueto added five.
Vossekuil and Schelpfeffer were imposing at the net defensively as well. The pair combined for eight total blocks, which Thom said helped Mayville get some of their momentum back.
"A block is one of the biggest things to motivate a team," Thom said. "Just knowing that it’s going straight down, that’s going to get any team hyped."
Mayville also had a decided advantage at the service line, where Thom, Derkowski and Schelpfeffer each had four aces. Dominican had several service errors in the fifth set.
PHOTO GALLERY: Dominican at Mayville - WIAA Regional Semifinal - 10/24/2024
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