Week 10 Recap: All-Thumb Edition

The post-season is on the horizon!! With the beginning of the 2019 MHSAA Volleyball Tournament in exactly seven days, teams are picking it up and others begin to run out of steam. Another great week of volleyball was had in the Thumb and we got your coverage! Here's a recap of the happenings in the thumb. <h6>Unionville-Sebewaing Making Moves at the Right Time</h6> After dropping the first two games of the season, the Patriots of Unionville-Sebewaing are returning to form. USA currently rides an eight-match win streak in the Greater Thumb West Conference. While the fellow conference members beat each other up, the Pats are one win away from a secured title. If all pans out, this will be Teresa Rose's ninth conference title in the 2010 decade alone! This past week USA dominated against the bottom of the pack, Vassar, at home. The Lady Pats are relentless when on their home court. Grace Williamson was a marquee player in the match. The 6-rotation middle averaged over 5 kills a set to a season-best 16 kills in the sweep. Another key performer also came from the middle in Brynn Polega. Polelga also had a season-best night with 15 kills and a season-high .378 hit percentage. Brynn also dropped two aces and dug six balls in the match. Caro dominated this past week. In the annual Volley for a Cure/M81 Clash game versus Cass City, Caro played host and defended their home court well. Caro drew a large crowd for the event that raised a whopping $2000 for a 2nd grade Tiger, Jacob Shufelt, battling Leukemia. The Lady Tigers were not only successful in raising money for Jacob, but they gave him one heck of a volleyball game to behold. Ellie Hornbacher and Kaitlyn Arebalo remain to be the heartbeats to this squad. The pin duo combined for 33 kills. While Hornbacher plugged in 32 digs to pace the defense, Arebalo was huge at the net with six blocks and put up 17 assists. Cass City went 1-1 throughout the week. After a blow to their conference hopes at Caro, the Hawks bounced back nicely against Capac in a Greater Thumb Crossover match. Within the seven sets of play, Hailey Beckrow was a force with 39 kills and six blocks. Abbey Salcido was great defensively with 37 digs. <h6>Harbor Beach Celebrates a Win 40 Years in the Making</h6> The Pirates brought out the brooms at home this week. For the tenth time in conference play this season, Harbor Beach swept their opponent out of the gym. This week's victim was Capac who got to witness the banner hanging of a historic season. Jenna Guza was big time on the left pin. Guza pocketed 12 kills on 20 attempts in the match to lead all players. Alongside her of course was Amber Pleiness. Pleiness posted 9 kills and 18 digs in the affair. This win confirmed that Harbor Beach won the Greater Thumb East conference outright for the first time since 1979! Brown City returned to form this week with a sweep over Marlette. Despite, Jenna Welke's concern for the team's consistency, she was proud of the win. Particularly in the performance of setter Sam Gammon. Gammon posted 32 assists and according to Welke was really good at distributing the ball and making hittable balls off some bad passes. Gammon's favorite weapon of the night was Grace Schlaud, Schlaud pocketed 11 kills in the outing. Olivia Bovenchen and Makayla Cournaya each had 8 kills as well. <h6>North Branch Secures Regular Conference Season Title</h6> North Branch was impressive this week against Imlay City. In the four-set match, the Imlay City Spartans had a field day tracking which pin to track on the Bronco's side. Outside Breann June and OPP Quinn Peterson were impressive from their respective sides with both dropping 15 and 14 kills. June also got in on the fun from behind the service line with three aces to knock off the Spartans. Croswell-Lexington showed dominance in this week's conference sweep of Algonac. Everything was going right for the Pioneers, from attack, block, and serving, it was all there. Leading in the offense was Maia Fagan with 12 kills on a wicked .435 clip from the left pin. The blocking was on point as well, Cros-Lex combined for nine team blocks with Ashley Westbrook having a hand in six of those blocks. The serving was also on point too with 12 team aces, Morgan Moore and Mollie Ripenbark pocketed three apiece. <h6>Caro and Unionville-Sebewaing Secure Big Tournament Wins</h6> Caro coach, Bob Tobey, had the time of his coaching life this past Saturday. Tobey was celebrated for his 800th win in his coaching tenure on Saturday. This was then followed up by a tournament championship and an undefeated 10-0 record on the day. The Tigers are becoming red-hot just in time. Leading the way on Saturday was Ellie Hornbacher. Hornbacher also celebrated a milestone with becoming an all-time leader in season digs with 796 and counting. In the victory, Hornbacher put away 48 kills along with five aces and blocks. Not far behind was Kaitlyn Arebalo with 44 kills and 18 blocks. Setter Jenna Topham pocketed 71 assists and six aces throughout the day as well. USA came up huge in Saturday's tournament in Brown City. The Pats also went undefeated in their outing, dropping only one set to the hosts in the semifinals. What better time to turn on the heat then now. USA's trio of hitters were all impressive leading their squad to the victory. Allyson Kemp's arm is an utter cannon on the pin. Kemp unleashed 61 rockets in Saturday's tournament. Alongside her were the pair of six-rotation middles, Brynn Polega and Grace Williamson, showing their versatility. Polega and Williamson combined for 86 kills. Polega also notched nine aces and 30 digs in the affair while Williamson pocketed 12 blocks and 21 digs of her own. Maci Montgomery was solid as usual putting up 48 digs and six aces on the day. Possibly the biggest growth throughout the season comes from sophomore setter Kylie Bohn. Bohn averaged over 13 assists throughout the entire day, posting 171 assists total. Her connection with her hitters has become lethal right in time for post-season.