St. Philip overwhelms Inland Lakes to repeat as D4 state champs
BATTLE CREEK – The clock ran out for the Cinderella of Division 4 on Saturday. Indian River Inland Lakes put itself on the statewide volleyball map this postseason with its run to the state final, but awaiting them on Saturday…
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Continue ReadingBATTLE CREEK – The clock ran out for the Cinderella of Division 4 on Saturday.
Indian River Inland Lakes put itself on the statewide volleyball map this postseason with its run to the state final, but awaiting them on Saturday was now 22-time state champion Battle Creek St. Philip.
The Bulldogs put up a fight early, but once the Tigers got some momentum, Inland Lakes just wasn’t able to produce a response. St. Philip went on to sweep Inland Lakes by scores of 25-17, 25-12, 25-8 to repeat as Division 4 champions.
“I am excited for the five seniors to be back-to-back champs. You could say that we won two in ’21,” St. Philip coach Vicky Groat said. “Today was definitely a team game. On Thursday, Brooke (Dzwik) had 27 kills, but today the ball was spread out. Rachel (Myers) did a great job. Everybody stepped up today and that was awesome.”
The first set was competitive in the early stages, as Inland Lakes battled to a 16-16 tie before St. Philip found its next gear and scored nine of the last 10 points to take the opener.
That momentum carried into the next two sets, as the Tigers started the second set with an 8-1 run and the third with a 6-0 rally.
“That’s a good team and watching them on Thursday there was no intimidation for them. They were playing relaxed and had nothing to lose. They came out and were the underdogs. In this stage, if you have them down, you have to keep the momentum going and keep the pressure on until the very end. We did a good job of that today,” Groat said.
The Tigers hit .253 as a team thanks to 28 assists for Myers. Dzwik did lead the team with 14 kills and seven digs to go along with four aces. Libero Baily Fancher added seven digs for St. Philip. Those three are part of a group of five seniors that helped get St. Philip back to the top of Division 4 after a five-season run without a state championship.
“For me, it’s just a whole different aspect now seeing those little girls up in the stands. That was us at one point. They are going to be the legacy,” Dzwik said. “It’s not us anymore, it’s them. To really win, so they could see, it means a lot.”
Inland Lakes was led by Natalie Wandrie, who had five kills and 10 digs. Olivia Monthei added four kills and four digs. Ryann Clancy led the defensive effort with 11 digs.
The Bulldogs finish the season 27-11-2, but have the honor of being the first program to reach a state final in school history.
“I am proud of our season, especially our postseason push. There’s still a poster in our gym that says Kellogg (Arena),” Inland Lakes coach Nicole Moore said. “We were the underdogs the entire time. Today is kind of a bummer, it’s not what we wanted to do. We wanted to be able to…win in three was the goal. It’s not the way we wanted to end the season, but we have to be proud of what we did. We made a lot of history in our school. People kept telling us good job, but we wanted more.”