Girls volleyball: Regional finals recaps include DCE and Mosinee sweeping, Marathon winning 5 set thriller and Newman falling.

Saturday there were trips to next week's sectionals on the line for the Newman Catholic, D.C. Everest, Mosinee and Marathon volleyball teams. Three of the four teams were able to secure regional titles with wins.

In a match airing on Wausau Area Sports, Newman Catholic's streak of three straight trips to the state tournament ended in a three set loss to Three Lakes. Slow starts in all three sets hurt the 6th seeded Cardinals in the 25-15, 25-21, 25-14 loss to the 2nd seeded Blue Jays. Three Lakes started the match quickly with a 12-2 lead in the first set and were never threatened in a 25-15 set victory. The second set started in a similar fashion with Three Lakes taking an 11-3 lead. However, Newman came alive and was up 18-15 in the set before Three Lakes went on a 10-3 run to end the set and win it 25-21 to take a 2 sets to 0 lead. The 3rd set started badly again for the Cardinals as Three Lakes scored the first 7 points of the set and never trailed in finishing off the match 25-14. Three Lakes won for the 20th time in their last 21 matches while Newman finishes their season at 11-20.

In Division 1, 4th seeded and WVC champion D.C. Everest met 5th seeded Stevens Point for the third time this season. In the first meeting, DCE rallies for a 5-set win while taking the second conference match up in three much easier sets. Everest proved the adage "it's tough to beat a good team three times" false with a 25-13, 27-25, 25-21 victory that earned a regional title and a ticket to the sectional semifinals. Everest will face a stiff test on Thursday against top seeded Bay Port in a match that will be played in Stevens Point.

Like D.C. Everest, Mosinee has a smooth road to sectionals with a three set sweep of Reedsburg. Top seeded Mosinee took little time to beat 4th seeded Reedsburg 25-10, 25-12, 25-10 in the regional final. Mosinee advances to a D-2 sectional semifinals on Thursday vs. 3rd seeded Wisconsin Dells in Mosinee. Wisconsin Dells defeated 7th seeded Medford in their regional final.

Among the most competitive and exciting regional finals on Saturday came in a D-3 match in Marathon as the top seeded Red Raiders were forced to the limit by 4th seeded Northland Pines before winning in five sets 25-17, 20-25, 25-12, 18-25, 17-15. The fifth set saw Marathon lead throughout and have a match point at 14-13. However, Pines would save the match point and win the following point to lead 15-14 and have a match point of their own. Kate Love would get the big kill to keep the match alive and tie the match at 15. Love would then serve out the match on the next two points to help Marathon survive and improve to 29-3 on the season. Marathon will host 2nd seeded Wittenberg-Birnamwood on Thursday night in a sectional semifinals. Witt-Birn beat Adams-Friendship in four sets on Saturday.