NDP’s experience leads it to D2 finals sweep of North Branch

<p>Throughout the 2021 volleyball season, Notre Dame Prep had established itself as the team to beat.</p> <p>Though doubts crept in when senior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="24844" first="Alyssa" last="Borellis"]</strong> suffered a thumb injury that sidelined her, her return this week brough the Irish back to their elite level of play that we saw during the fall.</p> <p>The Irish put their stamp on the season Saturday, storming past North Branch in three sets 25-17, 25-17, 25-12, to earn their first state championship since 2017.</p> <p>“I think our mindset was just so strong going in. We knew we had the tools and the advantages that we needed to use in order to win a state title,” Borellis said of why the Irish (64-1) got the job done this year. “Going in (to the season) we were with each other and we knew what we needed to do.”</p> [caption id="attachment_166321" align="alignright" width="238"]<img class="wp-image-166321 size-medium" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2021/11/NDP-vs-North-Branch-2021-VB-12-238x300.jpg" alt="" width="238" height="300" /> [player_tooltip player_id="24844" first="Alyssa" last="Borellis"][/caption] <p>As the Irish were on the recovery side of some lingering injuries, North Branch (46-9) was clearly not at 100 percent for Saturday’s final.</p> <p>Most notably, leading hitter <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="110291" first="Alana" last="Deshetsky"]</strong> was playing through a torn meniscus and not able to get much lift on her attacks. Still, the sophomore grinded out the match to show a lot of heart for the Broncos, who have a lot of promise for the future with just one senior on the team and nine sophomores.</p> <p>“We will be back next year, we will be here,” North Branch coach Jim Fish said confidently of his program. “They got a taste of it, had a great weekend, and had a great time in this match. I told them, even when the third game started, ‘Ladies, I’m having the time of my life. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be, so let’s just enjoy this.’ We were up against our (9) sophomores against their (9) seniors. That’s like jv-varsity. We played okay, (Notre Dame Prep) is just a good team.”</p> <p>It was the Irish’s poise and experience that seemed to pay off over each set. Led by its nine seniors that had made three previous Battle Creek trips, Notre Dame Prep strung together a 7-point rally in the first set, a 10-point rally in the second set, and a 15-point rally in the third.</p> [caption id="attachment_166322" align="alignright" width="213"]<img class="wp-image-166322 size-medium" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2021/11/NDP-vs-North-Branch-2021-VB-18-213x300.jpg" alt="" width="213" height="300" /> Natasha Bickel[/caption] <p>“It was neck-and-neck every set, but after we got the first 10 points we finally were able to establish a lead and feel confident,” NDP senior libero <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="24842" first="Josie" last="Bloom"] </strong>said. “Once we had that, we put our foot on the gas pedal.”</p> <p>Borellis led the way in the victory with 17 kills, 13 assists and nine digs. Bloom had 20 digs with a pair of aces, while <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="24857" first="Bianca" last="Giglio"] </strong>had 10 kills. <strong>Elyssa Wallace </strong>tallied 17 digs, while <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="66331" first="Margo" last="Sudzina"] </strong>recorded 19 assists and seven digs.</p> <p>Deshetsky had three kills and 15 digs for the Broncos, while <strong>Natasha Bickel </strong>had seven kills and <strong>Kaela Chingwa </strong>had six. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="110302" first="Adrienne" last="Greschaw"] </strong>recorded 19 assists and eight digs, while <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="110301" first="Hailey" last="Green"] </strong>had 18 digs.</p>