Week 7 Recap: All-Thumb Edition
Week 7 was another great week of volleyball in the thumb area. This week ended the first half of conference play in the Greater Thumb Conferences and prepped a big match ahead in the Blue Water Area Conference. Here’s a…
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Continue ReadingWeek 7 was another great week of volleyball in the thumb area. This week ended the first half of conference play in the Greater Thumb Conferences and prepped a big match ahead in the Blue Water Area Conference.
Here’s a recap of what went down last week in the Thumb.
USA Sweeps Crucial Week of Play
For the third time in the last four years, Cass City is sitting pretty atop the GTW after round one of play. In second place is a three-way tie between Unionville-Sebewaing, Caro and Bad Axe each with two losses.
Unionville-Sebewaing won crucial matches this week to keep their conference hopes intact. They did so in dominating fashion too, six-straight set wins against Reese and Bad Axe. Historically, this is exactly the time the Patriots come alive. One patriot in particular that came alive was Grace Williamson. The six-rotation middle blocker had an impressive week notching 23 kills and 7 blocks between the two matches. Libero Maci Montgomery, who has always been steady, was a stalwart in the backcourt. Montgomery bagged 42 digs and had an 87% reception rate on 31 tries.
This past week may have proven that the Red Hawks may take it all. In a crucial match against Reese earlier in the week, two things could have happened. There could be a four-way tie for first or there will be one outright leader. Early in set one, Cass City lost a key contributor to their offense and net defense in MB Sierra Spry. Rest assure, Cass City brought in the win in a tight five-set match with inspired performances. Hailey Beckrow clocked in another 20+ kill performance and added two blocks. Abbey Salcido wasn’t letting any ball drop her way, popping up 40 digs on the match. Most impressive, OH Macey White had a career night putting down 15 kills and 22 digs.
Caro started off their second round of conference play in impressive fashion. Avenging a loss to Bad Axe from earlier in the season, the Tigers took the match 3-1 with their attack on full display. Ellie Hornbacher and Kaitlyn Arebalo had themselves a night! The two combined for 35 kills in the match. Hornbacher brought up another 30+ dig performance while Arebalo had 24 assists and 7 blocks in the night. Senior setter Jenna Topham was great pacing the offense with 28 assists herself and added 2 aces.
Harbor Beach Begins to Close in on Conference Glory
Harbor Beach is one of the hottest teams in the thumb right now and they’re showing no mercy in taking control. This past week they wrapped up round one in the GTE and began round two in dominating fashion. The Pirates held their opponents – Memphis and Marlette – to average only 12 points per set. The Beach did so from a mighty offense and serious service pressure. An offensive bright spot was OH Jenna Guza, hitting for a .515 clip on the week, she knocked down 17 kills with no errors. Amber Pleiness, always big, brought in 18 kills. Defensively, MB Makayla Roberts and Lib Claire Woodke were solid. Roberts averaged a block per set this past week while Woodke notched 23 digs. As a team, the serving was straight fire this week. The team brought in 16 total aces between the two games and served at a supreme 91%.
Brown City was also top-notch last week. The Green Devil offense was unstoppable. Jordan Millsap had a breakout week, the middle blocker had her best performance of the season between the two games. Millsap hit for a smooth .500, terminating 12 kills and 3 aces. Grace Schlaud wasn’t able to be stopped, let alone slowed down. From the pin, Schlaud rocketed 15 kills on a .500 clip as well. Defensively, Lauren Woods was prominent with 32 digs and 5 aces.
Cros-Lex Goes Undefeated in Algonac Invite
Croswell-Lexington was on top of things this week. Between BWAC and tournament play, Cros-Lex is on a seven-match win streak, only dropping two sets. After sweeping Richmond, the Pioneers ran away with the Algonac title. In the match against the Blue Devils, Cros-Lex owned the match with great serving and prowess at the net. Setter Morgan Moore got everyone in her artillery involved in the action as she did too. Moore was dynamite with 8 kills, 15 digs, 26 assists, 2 aces, and a block. She led her team in three statistical categories while coming second in one. Maia Fagan was also impressive with 9 kills and an ace.
North Branch made quick work of their conference opponent Algonac this week. Sweeping the Muskrats, Jim Fish went to the depth on his bench and saw nine players contributing a kill or more. His team also served Algonac out of the gym, with eight players notching an ace or more. The team also served at a 92% rate. Quinn Peterson had an efficient night on the right side with seven kills hitting a .500 clip. OH Mattea Swoish – used sparingly throughout the season – made her presence known with six kills hitting .556.
Other Key Performances
Allison Lautner, Jr, MB, Ubly – Lautner was impressive leading the Bearcats to two sweeps this week in conference play. Against Sandusky, Lautner had 15 points in the sweep with 10 coming from kills and 3 blocks. She added 12 against Marlette with 11 on kills.