Headlines from the MHSAA District Rounds

<p>The post-season has begun at full steam and this 2022 edition of the MHSAA State Volleyball Tournament has started off with a bang!</p>   <p>Lots of headlines have come out of the opening week of the MHSAA State Volleyball Tournament and Prep Dig has you covered for all you need to know going into the Regional rounds!</p>   <h2>Top two teams in Division 2 square off in the district Final?!</h2>   <p>Seems quite insane to say that two of the best teams in Division 2 did not square off in the state championship... But the district final?! The Notre Dame Prep district was stacked to say the least with then No. 1 team in the state, Detroit Country Day going against the home team, No. 3 Notre Dame Prep. The home squad was dialed in and on fire in their home territory this week.</p>   <p>The No. 1 team in the state wasn't ranked as such for no reason. Country Day had the trifecta of attackers in [player_tooltip player_id='66291' first='Laurece' last='Abraham'] (Yale), [player_tooltip player_id='156299' first='Olivia' last='Grenadier'], and [player_tooltip player_id='110293' first='Mia' last='Eickholdt'] to their disposal. Where as Prep's leading scorer averages more than double the Irish's next leading scorer. Not to mention, Country Day held a significant size difference from their opponents across the net. All that went out the window.</p>   <p>While Country Day put up their best efforts, the perennial powers and home squad of Notre Dame Prep were just too much to contain. One Irish in particular was untouchable, [player_tooltip player_id='140493' first='Grace' last='Wenaas']. A performance of a lifetime, Wenaas would go onto lead the Irish's efforts in sweeping top ranked, Country Day, behind a near double-double (19 kills/9 blocks!).</p>   <h2>Valley Lutheran Upsets Defending Champs in 5, Vanochten puts up 47 digs</h2>   <p>Coming off of a historic season in 2021, the Reese Rockets came into 2022 looking very different but still remained a favorite to make a decent run in the tournament. Predicted to top long-time district rivals Valley Lutheran, Lutheran came in swinging and avenged the loss in last year's district final. </p>   <p>It was the consistency of the Chargers that was a difference maker in the match. Just narrowly escaping Reese in their home gym. While the loss may sting for the Rockets, they would find solace in a career performance by their freshman libero, [player_tooltip player_id='226941' first='Jaidyn' last='Vanochten']. A huge component for the Rocket's staying power in the match, Vanochten put up 47 digs on the night. </p>   <h2>North Branch Narrowly Escapes Imlay City in District Semifinals</h2>   <p>Could you imagine a world where North Branch was eliminated during the first rounds of the MHSAA tournament? Neither could I, but it almost became a reality at the hands of No. 10 Imlay City. On neutral playing ground, these Blue Water Area rivals put on quite the show that almost saw another top ranked team fall this past week.</p>   <p>The Broncos were lifted past the Spartans through their towers in the middle, <strong>Natasha Bickel</strong> and [player_tooltip player_id='110287' first='Kaela' last='Chingwa']. Bickel led the charge with 14 kills while Chingwa added up 5 blocks in the contest. For the Spartans, their senior middle blocker and freshman opposite were the key pieces to their puzzle. <strong>Hope Schriber</strong> and [player_tooltip player_id='226904' first='Emma' last='Keeping'] were saving their best for last as the two had season bests at the net, combining for 32 kills on the night.</p>   <h2>Elk Rapids steam rolls Traverse City St. Francis</h2>   <p>While the first few headlines were some understandable upsets, these next few headlines were pure definition of upset. Example one, all the way up in Northern Michigan. Traverse City St. Francis in Division 3, a top ten ranked team and was once a favorite for a good run deep into November. Elk Rapids had other plans.</p>   <p>While St. Francis was on a nice hot streak, the Gladiators are very young. Something the Elks of Elk Rapids may have used to capitalize on in their sweep over St. Francis in district play.</p>   <h2>Garber Knocked out in Semifinal Action</h2>   <p>Just a season ago, this very same Garber team had a 40+ win season. Returning virtually everybody this season, not only was the bar high, but the Dukes were expected to have a historic month in November. For this group, this season would be a different story. Going off against long time rivals in the semifinals of districts, Garber was easily the favorite to move onto regional play but Swan Valley was able to prevail. </p>   <p>Not only did Swan Valley manage to drop the Dukes in a five set thriller in the semis, but they followed up by winning the district title. The Swan Valley Pirates will move on to the regional semifinals versus Frankenmuth on Tuesday.</p>   <h2>Zeeland East spoils title favorite, West Ottawa </h2>   <p>Another heavy favorite in their respective district in Division 1, West Ottawa looked to have a pretty easy time going into the regional rounds. They were lead by Senior OH [player_tooltip player_id='108759' first='Raegan' last='Lantz'], who was fresh off of a 32 kill performance against East Kentwood in pre-district action. But even that type of fire power wasn't enough to edge past Zeeland East. </p>   <p>While East managed to top West Ottawa in five, they would go on to fall to Grand Haven in straight sets in the District Final.</p>   <p>.</p>   <p><em>Join us at the<a href="https://prepdig.com/2022/09/the-prep-dig-top-250-expo-series-is-back-2/"> Prep Dig Top 250 Expo</a>! Use code LShotPDExpo250 for 10% off your registration fee.</em></p>

The post-season has begun at full steam and this 2022 edition of the MHSAA State Volleyball Tournament has started off with a bang!