Mercy Turns The Tables, Wins D1 Title In Five Sets

Drew Ellis November 18, 2023 @ 04:30 PM

In the theme of the first-half of Saturday's state finals, Farmington Hills Mercy overcame a two-set deficit to defeat Forest Hills Northern in the D1 championship at Kellogg Arena.   “Unbelievable, just unbelievable,” Mercy coach Loretta Vogel said after the victory, which came by scores of 13-25, 23-25, 25-21, 25-22, 15-12.   The Marlins looked outmatched early, as the Huskies dominated the opening set behind the play of seniors [player_tooltip player_id='110295' first='Elana' last='Erickson'] and [player_tooltip player_id='110305' first='Kendall' last='Hopewell'].   Both were impactful at the net with their hitting and also a problem for the Marlins with their defense. Erickson was digging up a lot of attacks while Hopewell was a wall with her blocking in the early stages.   The second set saw Mercy lead most of the way before Erickson got hot, racking up seven kills in the set to give the Huskies the two-set advantage.   <figure class="wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2023/11/DSC_4576.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-480446" style="width:336px;height:auto" /></figure>   “I think we definitely were a little timid in the first because we have kind of a young team,” said Mercy setter [player_tooltip player_id='156295' first='Campbell' last='Flynn']. “It was our first time actually being in the finals, so we were just a little nervous. But I think we stay composed a little later in the match, and then also kept our rallies alive.”   It was Flynn that helped get the Marlins on track. Her control of the offense, along with her defensive instincts allowed Mercy to take the third set and get the momentum from the Huskies. From there, Northern didn't seem to have a way to get it back.   “They kind of came after us with the game plan that we had, and the [player_tooltip player_id='156295' first='Campbell' last='Flynn'] took over the match there, Forest Hills Northern coach Valerie Lurye said. “We had to worry about her. She started finding other people to go to and they've got some firepower up there. (Mercy) just had a few more (hitters), a little bit more firepower there.”   The main source of Mercy's firepower came from freshman outside [player_tooltip player_id='442987' first='Kate' last='Kalczynski']. She came through in the second half of the match and finished with a match-high 25 kills in the victory.   “She played amazing today. I literally just had to set her the ball and she got kills,” Flynn said of Kalczynski. “I'm so proud of her. She's only a freshman. But she played a big role that was just so big for us today.”   Flynn finished with 41 assists in the match, as well as 15 digs. Middle [player_tooltip player_id='226899' first='Cree' last='Hollier'] had 10 kills for Mercy while [player_tooltip player_id='110286' first='Angie' last='Butler'] had seven kills with 22 digs and [player_tooltip player_id='156289' first='Jillian' last='Collins'] tallied 24 digs.   Erickson finished with 22 kills and 27 digs for the Huskies while Hopewell had 16 kills, 11 digs and three solo blocks. Madalin Hersman had eight aces with 11 digs and four kills, while [player_tooltip player_id='226936' first='Lexie' last='Stotenbur'] had 41 assists with nine digs.   The state title for Mercy is its second in program history and first since 2019. The Catholic League has now won five consecutive D1 state championships.

In the theme of the first-half of Saturday's state finals, Farmington Hills Mercy overcame a two-set deficit to defeat Forest Hills Northern in the D1 championship at Kellogg Arena.