D4 Semifinals Recap: Mendon, Fowler Move On To Final

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Division 4 semifinals kicked off the MHSAA state finals weekend in Battle Creek on Thursday.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Both matches were highly competitive, but in the end, Fowler and Mendon advanced to Saturday's championship match.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Here's a recap of both semifinal contests from Kellogg Arena.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Fowler def. Forest Park 26-24, 30-28, 20-25, 19-25, 15-8</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Fowler (35-8-2) will be contending for its first state championship thanks to a five-set win over Forest Park (42-2) in an outstanding match to kick off finals weekend.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“This is definitely a special group,” Fowler coach Patty Feldpausch said. “I've had a lot of special teams. I've been coaching for a lot of years, and (the 2025 team), they're just all about each other. They're not checking the stats, they're not about who's playing in front of me. They just play, and they are excited for each other and push each other. You can't ask anymore from a team like that.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Eagles managed to grind out the first two sets, fending off four set points in the second in the process.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>That's when Forest Park found another gear behind senior outside <strong>Ava Fischer</strong>. She sparked the Trojan offense, hitting .421 for the match with 28 kills to propel Forest Park to winning the next two sets.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“I think it was just the girls getting more comfortable and our passes getting better,” Forest Park coach Bobbie Jo Anderson said of what sparked the offense. “I think in the first two sets, we struggled with our passing on defense, and so without us being able to get a good pass, it's hard to get your offense running.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In the fourth, Forest Park led 24-14 before the Eagles scored five straight to build a little momentum going into the fifth. Feldpausch felt that was a big key to the turnaround in the final set.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“My girls are fighters. They just never give up. Yeah, we gave up two sets, but we had the momentum going into the fifth set, because we made a run right at the end,” Feldpausch said.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Fowler scored six of the first seven points in the final set, and eventually led 10-2 thanks to five kills from <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='836790' first='Paige' last='Thelen'] </strong>during the rally. Forest Park didn't have enough energy to fight back from there.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Thelen finished with 32 kills while hitting .329 to lead Fowler. <strong>Josie Simon </strong>and <strong>Elizabeth Wirth </strong>each added 12 kills in the win, while <strong>Neelah O'Rourke </strong>had 53 assists with seven aces. Simon added five aces. Defensively, <strong>Rachel Wirth </strong>had 37 digs for Fowler.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='765544' first='Josie' last='Anderson'] </strong>had 13 kills to go with Fishcer's 28 for Forest Park, while <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='765310' first='Harper' last='Anderson'] </strong>put home 12 kills and had 17 digs. <strong>Elise Williams </strong>had 22 digs and kills, as well as 32 assists for the Trojans.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Mendon def. Ubly 25-18, 25-22, 27-25</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The top-ranked Hornets (38-6-1) may have won in a sweep, but the match was very competitive throughout.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Mendon did a good job of coming through with the timely plays, both on offense and defense, late in sets to pull away from the Bearcats (38-6-1).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“We knew it was going to be a battle,” Mendon coach Kenneth Herbert said. “We knew (Ubly) had pretty impressive middles, so that was our gameplan going in, to defend them. We knew we would have to be scrappy, dig for every offensive ball, and I think we did that very well.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The big key came in the second set with Ubly up 21-17. Mendon would score seven of the next eight points to take the set. The Hornets just stayed relentless on defense and forced six attack errors from Ubly in the run.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ubly was again in control late in the third set, leading 23-19, but Mendon fought back and even fended off a set point before winning 27-25. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='464695' first='Gracie' last='Schultz'] </strong>came through with three kills down the stretch, capping her match off with 18 kills. Schultz also had 14 digs, while <strong>Lashell Blair </strong>had 10 kills with four blocks. <strong>Karyssa Holtz </strong>recorded 40 assists and six digs, while <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='462081' first='Jadyn' last='Samson'] </strong>had 23 digs for the Hornets.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ubly was led by <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='611100' first='Waverly' last='Hagen'] </strong>and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='724836' first='Addison' last='Weber']</strong>, who each had eight kills. <strong>Brooke Badger </strong>and <strong>Alaina Donnellon </strong>each added seven kills, while <strong>Sadi Helski </strong>had 30 assists, and <strong>Suzanne Smigielski </strong>had 30 digs.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->