Division 4 Semifinals Recap: Mendon, Leland sweep their way to the finals
The door has been open for a new state champion in Michigan’s smallest classification ever since two-time defending Class D champs, Plymouth Christian, was eliminated in district play. After Friday’s Division 4 semifinals, it will be either Mendon or Leland…
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Continue ReadingThe door has been open for a new state champion in Michigan’s smallest classification ever since two-time defending Class D champs, Plymouth Christian, was eliminated in district play. After Friday’s Division 4 semifinals, it will be either Mendon or Leland that will raise the championship trophy once again. Mendon is a former three-time Class D champion while Leland has won five titles in program history. Each earned their right to compete for Saturday’s title after sweeping their respective opponents in Friday’s semifinals.
Mendon def. Southfield Christian 25-18, 25-15, 25-13
Hayley KramerThe Vikings knew it was going to be their day when Journey’s, “Don’t Stop Believin’” came over the speakers at Kellogg Arena between the first and second set.
After taking the first set from the Eagles, the Mendon team sang along with the tune, helping them stay loose and relaxed in their D4 semifinal. That comfort showed on the floor as they cruised over the next two sets and earned the sweep.
“This is the song we sing on the way to every single game and they are GPS’ing how far away we are from (the location) and they don’t sing it, they belt it out on the bus,” Mendon coach Heather Bowers said of her team’s connection to the song. “We never finish the song. We always get off right before the song is about to finish. It is just something that they do. It gave us a lot of energy to hear that song during the match.”
Sophomore Anna Smith put on a show for Mendon, racking up 20 kills and nine digs while hitting .390 on her attacks. As a team, the Vikings hit .333. Hayley Kramer had seven kills while Aubrey Crotser had five with her 31 assists. Mendon also served quite well, posting eight aces as Southfield Christian made eight receiving errors. Andrea Hoffman led the way at the service line with three aces.
Southfield Christian was making its first-ever semifinals appearance on Friday and it showed. The Eagles made a lot of uncharacteristic errors, hitting just .063 as a team. However, the Eagles have just one senior on the roster and are primed for a big 2019. Junior Emily Van Dyke had a team-high 13 kills while hitting .306. She also had seven digs. Junior Caitlin Warnshuis added 10 kills while junior Rachel Stiteler had 20 assists and seven digs. Senior Grace Sanders and junior Hayley Ellington each had 10 digs.
Leland def. Carney-Nadeau 25-21, 25-14, 25-16
Ella SiddallAfter a very back-and-forth opening set, Leland showed its championship poise to pull away late and then roll over the next two sets to sweep Carney-Nadeau in the second semifinal match.
“When you get to this point in time and you get to that first set and you are always trying to feel out what you have seen on film and what you see on paper and what is actually happening in practice. I thought it took us a little while to do some of the things that we planned on doing and then once we got the momentum…that has been the case a lot this year where we are sort of in it with people and then we are not. That just was another pattern that we saw again today,” Leland coach Laurie Glass said.
The Comets scored the final four points of the first set to break a 21-21 tie and then ran away over the final two sets as the Wolves struggled to handle the serve of Leland. The Comets finished with 15 aces as a tea, five of which came from Ella Siddall, who also contributed seven digs and 34 assists. Hannah Elwell led the Leland attack, putting up 17 kills while Allie Martin had eight with 13 digs. Mia Osorio finished with a team-high 14 digs.
Nadeau made the long trip from the Upper Peninsula and didn’t get the outcome it was looking for, but it was a nice cap to the season for a team with six seniors. Layla Blahnik-Thoune led the Wolves’ attack with six kills while Alanis Harris recorded 22 digs and Talisha McCullough had 10 assists with nine digs.