Dakota takes home Program Cup, Marian wins varsity

<p>While it was Marian that walked away with the championship in the varsity division of Saturday’s Program Cup, it was the Dakota Cougars that left the Michigan Elite Volleyball Academy with the highest honor.</p> <p>The Program Cup features 12 volleyball programs, with the varsity, junior varsity and freshmen teams all competing. In the end, the cumulative play of all three teams is used to decide the winner of the Program Cup. While Dakota finished fourth in the varsity level, it won both the junior varsity and freshmen competitions to come away with the title.</p> <p>The Cougars should be encouraged with the results on Saturday as it shows the potential for the volleyball program for years to come. Dakota already has some standout underclassmen in junior outside <strong>Antonia Nunnery </strong>and sophomore hitter <strong>Ella Lochbiler</strong>.</p> <p>Marian picked up a championship for its varsity by defeating hard-hitting Troy in the finals. The Mustangs have a veteran group of eight seniors, led by Miss Volleyball finalist <strong>Maddie Dowd </strong>at setter. Marian has a new coach in Mayssa Cook, but that hasn’t stopped the momentum from last year’s Division 1 runner-up finish. This week, the Mustangs can really show how far they can go this year when they face Farmington Hills Mercy in a major CHSL clash.</p> <p>Troy proved that it can contend this weekend by reaching the varsity finals. The Colts still have some tremendous hitting behind Miss Volleyball finalist <strong>Jessica Robinson</strong> (Michigan) on the outside and junior <strong>Francesca McBride </strong>(Florida) on the right. The key will continue to be if the Troy defense can play at a high level.</p> <p>South Lyon landed third in the varsity competition on Saturday and did so without its leader in the middle. <strong>Abigail Durecki </strong>(Northern Michigan) tweaked her ankle during a conference match with Milford on Thursday, but the injury didn’t appear to be too serious. Without Durecki at 100 percent, South Lyon was able to show it still has a lot of other hitting options on Saturday.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Program Cup Results</strong></p> <p><strong>Varsity</strong></p> <ol> <li>Marian, 2. Troy, 3. South Lyon, 4. Dakota, 5. Jenison, 6. Romeo, 7. South Lyon East, 8. Rochester Adams, 9. Trenton, 10. Allen Park, 11. Rochester, 12. Armada.</li> </ol> <p><strong>JV</strong></p> <ol> <li>Dakota, 2. South Lyon East, 3. Romeo, 4. Jenison, 5. Rochester Adams, 6. South Lyon, 7. Marian, 8. Rochester, 9. Troy, 10. Allen Park, 11. Armada, 12. Trenton.</li> </ol> <p><strong>Freshman</strong></p> <ol> <li>Dakota, 2. Jenison, 3. Romeo, 4. Marian, 5. Rochester, 6. Allen Park, 7. Rochester Adams, 8. Trenton, 9. South Lyon East, 10. South Lyon, 11. Troy, 12. Armada.</li> </ol> <p><strong>Overall Results</strong></p> <ol> <li>Dakota, 2. Jenison, 3. Marian, 3. Romeo, 5. South Lyon East, 6. South Lyon, 7. Rochester Adams, 8. Troy, 9. Rochester, 10. Allen Park, 11. Trenton, 12. Armada.</li> </ol>