D1 Semifinals Recap: A Pair Of Five-Set Thrillers

The 2025 Division 1 state semifinals couldn't have been much better than they turned out to be.   Each went five sets and was decided by two points in the end.   Ultimately, Oakland County reigned supreme over Grand Rapids with Mercy and Bloomfield Hills topping Byron Center and Rockford, respectively. But, all four put on a heck of a show.   Here's a recap of both semifinal contests from Kellogg Arena.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Bloomfield Hills def. Rockford 25-19, 22-25, 21-25, 25-22, 15-13</h2>   It was a No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup that lived up to all the hype.   Throughout five sets, the Black Hawks and Rams would be tied on 51 different occasions. That included 13-13 in the fifth and final set.   Ultimately, freshman middle [player_tooltip player_id='775900' first='Suri' last='Ewing'] came through with the biggest kill of her young career, playing a free ball at the net to give the Black Hawks a 14-13 advantage. [player_tooltip player_id='226909' first='Kayla' last='Nwabueze'] then put the match away with her 43rd kill of the night to move Bloomfield Hills to its first state final.   “I'm sure Kayla has been waiting four years for this opportunity to show what she can do on this stage, and she did not disappoint,” Bloomfield Hills coach Brian Kim said of Nwabueze. “That's been the case throughout the whole season. She's shown what she is capable of. I'm really proud of Kayla and how she came out to play tonight and the incredible leader she is.”   The whole match was a back-and-forth contest, as Nwabueze propelled Bloomfield Hills (43-6-1), but Rockford (46-2-1) would respond with [player_tooltip player_id='226900' first='Liv' last='Hosford'] and [player_tooltip player_id='467901' first='Mallory' last='Wandel'], who combined for 43 kills of their own.   There was no clear-cut advantage either way, Bloomfield Hills just got the key two points at the right time.   Rockford hadn't dropped a set all postseason despite playing a gauntlet of top-10 teams the past few weeks. The Rams helped up to the adversity, winning sets two and three after losing the first. But, Bloomfield Hills showed its own resilience to claim the final two.   Hosford had 23 kills and 10 digs for Rockford, while Wandel had 20 kills with 16 digs. [player_tooltip player_id='226887' first='Izzie' last='Delacher'] dished out 52 assists, while Ana Dady had 17 digs.   Nwabueze had 16 digs to go with her 43 kills. [player_tooltip player_id='584598' first='Allison' last='Stakoe'] added 11 kills and 12 digs, while [player_tooltip player_id='512892' first='Brynn' last='Wilcox'] had 51 assists, and Alyssa Mori had 21 digs.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Mercy def. Byron Center 25-27, 24-26, 25-16, 25-17, 16-14</h2>   Third-ranked Farmington Hills Mercy got put on its heels, dropping two very tight sets to open their D1 semifinal with Byron Center.   But, the Marlins made a rotational change that seemed to spark the offense and changed the match. The Marlins would take the next two sets in convincing fashion before grinding out the fifth set to reach Saturday's final.   “Game one and two, I think, was terribly frustrating. I think during the whole course of the game, it was all about trying to calculate, how do we stop them? Who is the most important person to stop? And I think that was the change in the third game. We did a complete flip of our rotations, and that was huge,” Mercy coach Loretta Vogel said.   The opening sets were tough for Mercy as Byron Center's defense continued to come through with dig after dig on balls the Marlins probably weren't accustomed to seeing not hit the floor.   The Bulldogs complemented their gritty defense with timely kills from four hitters that finished with double-digit kills.   In the third, Mercy moved around its order to open up the attack more for [player_tooltip player_id='442987' first='Kate' last='Kalczynski'], who heated up and led the Marlin attack with 30 kills on the night. She was able to get into a groove as freshman setter [player_tooltip player_id='709559' first='Kaelyn' last='Easton'] found another gear in her play. Easton put together 61 assists, a top-20 single-game performance in MHSAA history.   The closing points came down to errors, as Byron Center committed two attack errors and a service error with the score at 13-13 to allow the Marlins to pull out the win.   Kalczynski had 21 digs to go with her 30 kills, while Easton added 20 digs. [player_tooltip player_id='226875' first='Ella' last='Andrews'] had 17 kills while hitting .471 and tallying six blocks. [player_tooltip player_id='226899' first='Cree' last='Hollier'] finished with 15 kills, while [player_tooltip player_id='226944' first='Maya' last='Zarow'] had 29 digs.   [player_tooltip player_id='454351' first='Mallory' last='Johnson'] had 15 kills and 27 digs to lead Byron Center, while [player_tooltip player_id='830699' first='Caitlin' last='Hartson'] had 16 kills with 11 digs. [player_tooltip player_id='834311' first='Kinsley' last='Whitfield'] added 19 digs, while Evie Laska had 19 digs and 26 assists.

The 2025 Division 1 state semifinals couldn't have been much better than they turned out to be.