John Raffel
Sports Scene
It wasn’t easy, but the Morley Stanwood Mohawks got the job done.
As a result of their hard work, the Mohawks celebrated their second Class C state volleyball title in four years, when they defeated St. Mary Catholic Central 3-2 at the Kellogg Arena in Battle Creek on November 12.
The Mohawk seniors were eighth graders when the 2007 team won the state championship.
“This is an amazing team,” said coach Robin Kozuch. “Everyone knows they can come from behind. They came back. I don’t know what to say. They played point by point. We were down a couple of points, but they still come back.”
“Everyone played amazing today,” said senior Bailey Cairnduff. “They came out to play their best, and we played our best. It was the best game ever.”
Every game, as expected, was tight. The Mohawks won the first game, 25-22, but St. Mary sneaked back to take the second game 28-26. Morley Stanwood took control with a 25-22 win in Game 3. They had a 23-21 lead in game 4, but St. Mary scored four of the last five points to even the match 2-2 and then had the early lead in the decisive fifth game.
Miss Volleyball runnerup Alexis Huntey came through with four blocks in a row and a devastating kill and helped the Mohawks turn things around to claim the win.
Bailey Cairnduff had a clear message going through her mind during the fifth game.
“We have to want this and play after every point,” Cairnduff said. “The two games previous to this helped us.”
It appeared the Mohawks might be headed for a disappointing loss after they squandered a 23-21 lead in game 4 to lose 26-24 and then fell behind in game 5. Cairnduff, who is going to Bowling Green next year to play basketball, and Huntey, who will be performing at George Washington, helped lead the comeback charge.
Cairnduff and Huntey, who will now try to help Morley Stanwood’s basketball team make a state title run, combined for 48 kills against St. Mary. Huntey delivered 30 kills, 17 digs, and five service aces, while Cairnduff was credited with 18 kills and 12 digs.
We didn’t come all this way for nothing,” Cairnduff said. “We came a long way and we won.”
The Mohawks squeaked past Shelby 3-2 in the district finals and had a huge scare with Valley Lutheran in the quarterfinals before pulling out a 21-25, 23-25, 25-15, 25-20, 15-13 victory. It’s no wonder that the Mohawks didn’t panic in the finals when they again fell behind.
I feel we were prepared for this,” said Alexis Huntey. “We were very close in our district final and our quarterfinal. We learned how to handle it and stay calm. Our whole team came together and executed.”