By BUTCH HARMON
It was a season to remember for the Mason volleyball team, and the best part may be that next year looks just as bright.
Led by one of the premier juniors in the area, Willow Martin, the Mason volleyball team captured its first-ever Class A regional title when it defeated Ann Arbor Huron 3-1. Mason won a Class B regional title in 2006.
The road to the regional title was anything but easy for Mason, as the Bulldogs needed to come from behind to defeat Portage Central in the regional semifinal. Trailing two games to one, Mason won game four 25-17 and then claimed the fifth and deciding game 15-13.
Martin led the way for Mason, as she totaled 23 kills against Portage. Junior setter Erin McDermott added 42 assists to spark the offense.
Playing a difficult schedule prepared Mason well for the rigors of the state tournament. “Strength of schedule is very important,” coach Elisa Zwick said. “We have, I think, the toughest conference in CAAC, because three teams in our division won district titles. So, every match was very hard.”
Coming from behind was nothing new to Mason, as the Bulldogs needed to live up to their nickname a number of times this season. In the regular-season finale against DeWitt, with a share of the CAAC league title on the line, Mason came back from a 2-1 deficit to win. That win gave Mason a 9-1 conference record and earned it a share of the league title with DeWitt.
Mason also rallied in the regional final against Ann Arbor Huron, as it trailed 24-19 in the second set before scoring the next seven points to win the match. It was led by Martin, who added four kills during the run.
“She’s the kid we look to to put the final ball away, because she can just take her game to a higher level when the game is on the line,” Zwick said. Martin also came up big in the DeWitt match with a number of key blocks and kills late in the match.
Martin is a three-year varsity player for Mason and has committed to play in college at Western Michigan University.
Mason’s season came to an end in the Class A state quarterfinal round when it fell in four games against third-ranked Grand Haven. Mason won the first game 25-22 before Grand Haven came back to win the next three games 25-21, 25-15, 25-23.
Martin led Mason with 19 kills in the match, while McDermott had a big match with 33 assists, eight digs, and seven kills. Senior Rachel Cook had 18 digs, while junior Dani Jones had 10 kills and two blocks.
Seniors Taylor Delbridge and Cook and juniors Martin, McDermott, and Jones earned all-conference honors for Mason, which will return a solid core from this team next year. “Hopefully, we keep building,” Zwick said. “If the girls work hard in the off-season, things will look good for us next year.”