By John Raffel
Sacred Heart Academy almost reached a turning point in the Class D volleyball quarterfinals against Leland.
But it wasn’t enough, as the Irish fell 3-0 at Scottville on Nov. 18. Leland prevailed in the first two games 25-12 and 25-20. Sacred Heart made a serious bid in the third game but fell 26-24.
Sacred Heart was down 23-18 in the third game, when Riley Terwilliger had two straight aces to give her team a 24-23 lead. But Leland notched the next three points to take the victory.
Serve receive at times was a concern for the Irish. “I was really concerned with how well [Leland] served,” coach Krista Davis said. “But honestly, it was nothing we haven’t seen all year. We didn’t play our best. We played much better [in the regional final] than we did tonight.
“Leland has No. 8 [Maddie Trumbull] and No. 11 [Eva Grobbel] their big hitters. They’re a good passing team. Their setter put the ball where it needed to go. We were slow on our feet. We looked nervous right out of the gate.”
Her team, Davis said, gave its best shot. “It just wasn’t in the cards for us tonight. I’m very proud of this team. They’ve grown so much from the beginning to the end of this year. They’ve really come together. We won a conference title, and this is the farthest this school has ever gone. Kudos to my senior class, that they’ve taken this team as far as it’s ever gone.”
Her team’s performance in the third game brought a smile to Davis’ face. “That was the glimpse of the team I thought we were,” she said. “If we had gotten that game point, I thought we would have taken the next two. We had a good shot. It just didn’t happen. I’m proud of them and the run we had.”
Sacred Heart’s final record was 29-22-3.
“They, in some ways, met my expectations,” Davis said. “I had high expectations for them. I saw the talent and potential we could be. We had a lot of ups and downs, and I was skeptical mid-year. But once we finished the conference tournament and got onto postseason play, we were playing at the peak of the season, which is exactly where every coach wants the team to be.”
Alexa Methner had six kills, while Bainbridge Sculley had five kills, and Riley Terwilliger had five kills and nine assists. Averi Gamble had three kills.
“I’m really glad we came back and fought at the end,” Methner said. “It’s great to be in the quarterfinals twice. Only eight teams can do that. It feels nice to do it two years in a row.
“But it’s hard. Being a senior, it’s your last year. I’m glad we went down with a fight at the end. We weren’t about to give up that easily. I’m glad we came back.”