GREEN BAY — The mountain was just too high for the Aquinas High School volleyball team to climb, and Barron sophomore Alexis Halverson was the biggest obstacle.
After winning the first set, the wheels fell off for the Blugolds before a last-ditch effort to extend their WIAA Division 3 championship match to a fifth set at the Resch Center in Green Bay on Saturday.
Aquinas (29-5) came back from an eight-point deficit in the fourth set and took a one-point lead before Halverson finished off a 20-25, 25-13, 25-16, 25-22 victory for the Golden Bears (37-2).
Halverson, a left-hander, finished with 24 kills on 71 attempts to make Barron a state champion for the first time since 1982. She had two kills after Zoe Emineth’s service ace gave the Blugolds a 22-21 lead in a fourth set they trailed 7-0 and 16-8.
Junior Sammy Davis had 22 kills on 70 attempts and senior Addy Foor 16 on 42 attacks to lead Aquinas, which is a state runner-up for the second time in six seasons.
Senior Josephine Lawton had 43 assists and 14 digs and senior Tessa Miskowski a team-high 23 digs for the Blugolds, who had an 11-match winning streak snapped after second- and third-set struggles were too much to overcome.
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