By Paul Lecker

Sports Reporter

MOSINEE – The Auburndale volleyball team’s postseason magic ended Thursday night.

A year after winning three-straight five-set matches on its way to a state runner-up finish, and a week after knocking off the top seed in the regional, Spencer, in five games, Auburndale came up on the short end of a 3-2 decision to Marathon in a WIAA Division 3 sectional semifinal at Mosinee High School.

Marathon won 25-19, 23-25, 23-25, 25-17, 15-11, to move on to Saturday’s sectional final. The Raiders will host Oshkosh Lourdes, a 3-0 winner over Oconto, at 7 p.m. at Marathon High School.

The Apaches lost to Marathon 3-0 in a Marawood Conference South Division matchup earlier this season, but were much more competitive this time around.

After Marathon won the first game, the Apaches came back to win two straight and take control, however they couldn’t finish off the victory.

Shannon Yahnke and Taylor Gotz each had 17 kills to lead Auburndale in an impressive offensive performance. Ashley Breu also added 11 kills.

Hannah Castellano had a team-high 32 digs, Sydney Schmutzer had 47 assists and 12 digs, Jenna Peplinski added 15 digs for the Apaches.

(Hub City Times Sports Reporter Paul Lecker is also the publisher of  MarshfieldAreaSports.com).