Ben Murphy
Sports Scene
They pushed the eventual state champions to the brink of elimination in the volleyball class C quarterfinals. Valley Lutheran jumped on Morley Stanwood with 25-21 and 25-23 wins in the first two sets, but the Mohawks rallied to take the final three sets, 25-15, 25-20, 15-13.
“It was a heartbreaking loss,” head coach Jon Frank said. “It was devastating at the time because we had come out swinging and beat them the first two games. They weren’t even as close as they looked; they made late runs in both of those game. The third game went poorly, we lost our momentum. Alexis Huntey [Miss Volleyball runner-up] really came alive. We dug her and blocked her a little bit less as the game went on. You have to give them cred, that’s a huge comeback. Things like that happen in this sport. Unless you have 15 in that last game you aren’t safe.”
To Frank, the season-ending loss didn’t diminish what his team accomplished in a year that saw it go 39-18-3 overall, winning its first regional title since 1983 and claiming a Tri-Valley West championship by going a perfect 7-0.
“In retrospect, this team, on paper, we overachieved,” Frank said. “We were in and out of the rankings all year and actually struggled a bit in districts against New Lothrup and Reese. We got our mojo back in regionals [straight set wins over Marlette and Unionville-Sebewaing] and played our best volleyball of the year. That was a good year.”
Junior Samantha Shafer and senior Sarah Appold were both named to all-state teams, with Shafer getting first-team honors and Appold named to second team.
“I was just thrilled to see them get that honor,” Frank said. “Especially [Appold], being a four-year varsity player and finishing third in school history in kills.”
Other than Appold, the Chargers lose just one other senior, Katie Hackman, giving Frank plenty of returning experience in 2012.
“We’ve got eight kids coming back,” he said. “A two time all-stater [Schafer], a first team all-conference libero [Jessica Askew], and two out of my three setters are back. We should hit the floor running next year. We should be tough.”