D3 Semifinal Recap: SMCC sweeps, rematch with Schoolcraft next

<p>Despite the craziness and unpredictability of the last year, the Division 3 state finals will still come down to the same two teams that competed in 2019.</p> <p>Schoolcraft and St. Mary Catholic Central will meet up on Saturday for the championship, but their roads to the final were quite different.</p> <p>The Eagles of Schoolcraft advanced on Wednesday when they found out their semifinal opponent, Valley Lutheran, had to forfeit due to the team going into quarantine.</p> <p><img class="size-medium wp-image-126388 alignright" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2021/01/SMCC-Team-2-300x201.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="201" />SMCC advanced to the finals on Thursday with a 25-15, 25-14, 25-19 win over Beaverton.</p> <p>The semifinal match with the Kestrels was a rematch of their 2019 semifinal. Beaverton came to Kellogg Arena determined to put on a better showing than it did in 2019, and the Beavers did that.</p> <p>Beaverton remained competitive throughout the three sets, but the SMCC defense continued to make finishing points hard on them.</p> <p>SMCC coach Karen O’Brien was pleased to see her squad come out strong in the opening set, something that hasn’t been a trend for them.</p> <p>“This is one of the first matches where we actually came out strong in the first set, which was good to see,” she said. “I thought we played with a lot of energy. We had the momentum for the majority of the match. It was just good to see us play at that level right from the beginning, because typically we don’t.”</p> <p>Ultimately, the balanced attack of the Kestrels was tough for the Beavers to overcome. As a team, SMCC hit .348 for the match.</p> <p>“Offensively, we have six hitters that can hit. For (Beaverton’s) defense, they don’t know where it’s coming from,” O’Brien said.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="50288" first="Mikayla" last="Haut"] </strong>led SMCC with 14 kills, but really shined defensively with 17 digs. She also tallied five aces.</p> <p><strong>Abbie Costlow </strong>had 12 kills for the Kestrels while hitting a dominant .667. <strong>Anna Dean </strong>added nine kills.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="24850" first="Kate" last="Collingsworth"] </strong>and <strong>Grace Lipford </strong>each tallied 20 assists while <strong>Jaydin Nowak </strong>also was relentless defensively and had 14 digs.</p> [caption id="attachment_126389" align="alignleft" width="203"]<img class="size-medium wp-image-126389" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2021/01/Molly-Gerow-203x300.jpg" alt="" width="203" height="300" /> Molly Gerow[/caption] <p>Beaverton was led by <strong>Molly Gerow</strong>, who had 10 kills and seven digs. <strong>Mady Pahl </strong>played great at setter with 18 assists, while <strong>Becca Wirt </strong>hit a team-high .250 with four kills. <strong>Leiyah Mungin </strong>and <strong>Alexis Grove </strong>each recorded eight digs.</p> <p>Thursday’s match was a chance for SMCC to get in another three sets of live action after the long layoff from regionals to the quarterfinals. O’Brien thinks that is a big advantage considering Schoolcraft didn’t play on Thursday.</p> <p>“Absolutely, 100 percent we have the advantage. One, we get to play under the lights. We have some players that didn’t play here last year, so that helps. Two, with 60 days off, having a second match under our belts I think is huge,” she said.</p> <p>Saturday’s final will get underway at noon from Kellogg Arena.</p>