Kellogg’s Arena Not Too Kind To Area Teams During State Finals
By John Raffel
CLASS A
State final: Novi defeated Romeo, 3-0
Regional finals: DeWitt fell, 3-2, to Mattawan; Midland lost, 3-1, to Traverse City West; Rockford bowed to Hudsonville, 3-2
Regional semifinal: Mason lost, 3-1, to Mattawan
District winners: Midland over Midland Dow, 3-0; DeWitt over Grand Ledge, 3-0; Mason over Okemos, 3-0; Rockford over Forest Hills Central, 3-0
“We had a great game plan for Forest Hills Central, and the girls did an awesome job of executing,” Rockford coach Kelly Delacher said. “We did a great job of controlling the pace of the game with our middles, Olivia Rademacher and Cass Smigiel. Lilly Stellin and Hailey Delacher had great defensive performances. Hailey did a great job of distributing the ball to all of our hitters, which kept Forest Hills Central off balance.”
Mount Pleasant lost in the district semifinal to Heritage in five games.“We had played Heritage two other times during the season,” Mount Pleasant coach Alison Smith said. “The series was 1-1, however, the games were close. I would have liked to see us come out with a little more urgency and a little more defensive intensity. We served well and took advantage of many opportunities to score but couldn’t slow down Heritage’s dominant outside hitter.”
Mount Pleasant had a standout season from senior outside hitter Lauren MacGregor. Cam Odykirk, a sophomore middle blocker, led the team in blocks and had approximately half of the team’s solo blocks.
CLASS B
State final: Reigning champion North Branch took on Father Gabriel Richard. Gabriel Richard (42-0) became the first undefeated MHSAA volleyball champion since Marysville in Class B in 1999, sweeping North Branch 25-21, 25-14, 25-19.
Olivia Fike led North Branch with 13 kills, while Medea Miner had 26 assists and Allyson Severance had 14 digs.
North Branch topped Harper Creek, 3-1, in the semifinal.
Lakewood lost, 3-0, to Father Gabriel Richard in the quarterfinal.
Goodrich lost, 3-0, to Father Gabriel Richard in the semifinal. Abby Francis had eight kills, Bethany Schulz added five, and Madison Becker had four.
Regional finals: Goodrich over Marysville, 3-0; Lakewood over Grand Rapids South Christian, 3-0; North Branch over Swan Valley, 3-1
District finals: Goodrich over Corunna, 3-2; Lansing Catholic over Brownsville, 3-1; Lakewood over Hastings, 3-0; North Branch over Mount Morris, 3-0; Essexville Garber over John Glenn, 3-0; Swan Valley over Freeland, 3-0; Belding over Alma, 3-0; Big Rapids over Chippewa Hills, 3-0
Lakewood coach Kellie Rowland said that FatherGabriel Richard was clearly on a mission to win the title. “Last year, they were good and got upset in the semifinals,” she said.
Lakewood ended the season with a record of 53-7. In its regional title win over South Christian, Charlie Smith had 17 kills.
CLASS C
State tournament: Bronson won the state title with a 3-0 sweep over St. Mary Catholic Central.
New Lothrop lost to Brown City, 3-1, in the quarterfinal. Laingsburg lost, 3-1, to St. Mary Catholic Central, also in the quarterfinal.
Morley Stanwood was a district champion but lost, 3-0, in the regional final to NorthPointe Christian.
New Lothrop won its regional with a 3-2 edging of Hemlock and a 3-1 win over Unionville-Sebewaing. USA had eliminated Valley Lutheran, 3-0, in the semifinal. Laingsburg won its regional, 3-2, over Delton Kellogg.
District finals: Morley Stanwood over White Cloud, 3-1; New Lothrop over Millington, 3-0; Hemlock over St. Louis,3-2; Valley Lutheran over St. Charles, 3-0; Laingsburg over Pewamo-Westphalia, 3-2
New Lothrop coach Sheri Warner said that her team did not have its best match against Brown City. “We struggled for consistency on serve receive and did not run an efficient offense. We missed some key serves at critical points during the match.
“Although we bowed out in the quarterfinals, we had a very successful season. We finished as one of the top teams in the state for Class C and had an overall win-loss record of 42-15-7. We won the GAC Blue Conference title with a record of 8-0.”
Key players all season for New Lothrop were Autumn Severn at setter, Blake Schnell at outside hitter, Lauryn Bishop and Claudia Freed at middle hitter, and Alayna Mantei at libero.
CLASS D
State tournament: Leland ended St. Philip Catholic Central’s streak of nine straight state titles, with a 3-0 sweep. Leland last won the title in 2006, the season before St. Phillips’ streak started.
Sacred Heart Academy lost in the quarterfinal round, 3-0, to eventual state champion Leland. Sacred Heart won over Crossroads Academy, 3-0, in the district final and defeated Pentwater, 3-0, in the regional final. Pentwater edged Fulton, 3-2, in the regional semifinal. Fulton edged Fowler 3-2 in the district final.
Lansing Christian won a district title by beating Livingston Christian, 3-0, in the final and advanced to the regional final, where it lost, 3-0, to Plymouth Christian Academy.
Sacred Heart’s season ended at 37-15-3. “We led a fairly balanced offense throughout the season, with two tall and dominant middle hitters,” Sacred Heart coach Krista Davis said. “We gave Leland a tough first set, leading 15-10 at one point, and tied 20-20. If we had taken the first set, it would have been a different match all together. Their serving proved too much for us and didn’t allow us to run our offense as we would have liked. However, our defense was strong throughout the match.”
Sophomore middle hitter Sophie Ruggles had 391 kills, a .341 attack percentage, 121 blocks, and 45 services aces; senior middle hitter Averi Gamble had 226 kills, a .319 attack percentage, and 77 blocks; senior outside hitter Megan MacDonald had 167 kills, 252 digs, and 29 aces; senior outside hitter Kelly Hovey had 163 kills, 327 digs, and 54 service aces; senior setter Rachel Hauck contributed 152 kills, 588 set assists, and 208 digs; junior setter Jordan Fox had 384 set assists, 60 service aces, and 150 digs; and senior libero Kimi Boulier had 399 digs and 31 service aces.
“We had goals of going deep into postseason, and we accomplished that,” Davis said. “The team played well together throughout the season and each player on the team contributed a great deal to the outcomes of the season.”