Sports
New Lothrop advances to Class D regional final
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Wednesday, November 19, 2008 10:15 AM EST
LANSING - For the second consecutive year, New Lothrop opened Class D volleyball regional action with a three-game sweep of Beal City.
And, just like in 2007, it wasn't nearly as easy as that sounds.
This year's Hornets trailed in all three games Tuesday before putting away the Aggies 25-16, 25-23, 25-20.
“We didn't make it easy for ourselves,” New Lothrop coach Sheri Warner said. “It came down to ball control. That's been our thing all year long.”
A year ago, the Hornets beat the Aggies 25-21, 25-11, 25-18 in the regional opener.
Fourth-ranked New Lothrop (40-13-5) advances to Thursday's 7 p.m. regional championship match at Lansing Christian opposite West Michigan Christian (26-9-3) - the same team the Hornets beat for a regional crown at Morrice a year ago.
WMC, an honorable mention in Class D, defeated first-time district champ Big Rapids Crossroads 27-25, 25-10, 25-17.
Beal City (34-13-4) entered regional play fresh off its ninth consecutive district championship.
New Lothrop is shooting for its second straight regional crown after reaching the state quarterfinals a year ago.
“We knew it'd be tough,” Beal City coach Randy Gallagher said. “There were no surprises tonight. Sheri (Warner) is a classy coach and they run a class program. They don't beat themselves.
“But we thought we matched up well. Both teams are athletic,” he said.
And both teams did match up well.
The Aggies, getting strong hitting off the corners and great tip play at the net, led game one 9-8 on senior Katie Gross' tip.
“That's been our key all year,” Gallagher said. “We have five good hitters.”
Hornet senior Kelsey Gasper tied the game at 9 and it was knotted again at 11 moments later before New Lothrop went ahead for good. The Hornets pulled away to a 21-12 lead before putting the game away on a Beal City hitting error.
The Aggies led game two 18-14 and appeared on their way to tying the match when the Hornets put together the key sequence of the night.
Junior Rachelle Kviz put down a nice kill to get the serve back. Then, with Kviz serving, the Hornets drew within two on a lifting call.
Monica Confer got a big spike down off a nice set by Kayla Henige, who finished with 36 assists, and then Kviz ripped a hard, low ace that tied the game at 18.
Confer put New Lothrop up a point when she faked a big swing and tipped into an empty spot. And Kviz closed out the run with a clean ace into the back corner for a 20-18 edge.
The Aggies got back to even at 22 on Danielle Mead's spike, but then the Aggies misfired twice to give New Lothrop a 24-23 lead. Confer ripped a strong shot to close out the win.
Confer and Kviz led the Hornets at the net. Confer, a junior, had 17 kills and eight digs while Kviz tacked on 14 kills, 18 digs and three aces. Gasper added 11 digs, five kills and two aces.
The clinching game was back-and-forth early with the teams tied at 10-10.
The Hornets went ahead on a kill from Kviz and although the Aggies stayed close, they never were able to get back to even.
Aggie Morgan Yuncker made it a one-point game at 17-16 with a solid kill, but Confer and Kviz got back-to-back points and Beal City didn't threaten again.
Sophomore Paige Henige, who had three kills on the night, made it 24-18 and Kviz closed out the match with another strong spike.
“Our theme all year long has been team work getting it done on the floor,” Warner noted. “I have 11 kids on the team and it takes all 11.”