Week 8 Recap: All-Thumb Edition
As the season begins to wind down, the heat is only going up. This past week saw the race in conference championships get tighter. As players begin to hit their stride, the volleyball is only getting better. Here’s your recap…
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Continue ReadingAs the season begins to wind down, the heat is only going up. This past week saw the race in conference championships get tighter. As players begin to hit their stride, the volleyball is only getting better.
Here’s your recap of the volleyball happenings in the thumb during week 8.
Harbor Beach Topples Their Biggest Hurdles
This past week was the test to see if Harbor Beach could pull it off. They passed with flying colors. Harbor Beach was in utter control. The Pirates won straight sets against Brown City and Ubly, holding both opponents to no more than 20 points in a set. Both were going to be Beach’s biggest hurdle in taking the conference crown, now they’re one win away from at least a tie. Against Ubly, the Bearcats were unable to shut down the middle. Amber Pleiness and Makayla Roberts both combined for 23 kills on a blistering .647 hitting efficiency. Pleiness would also add three aces and two blocks to her performance. Ubly’s Allison Lautner was able to get down four aces in their efforts.
Brown City arrived in treacherous waters in Harbor Beach on Thursday. With a packed house behind them, the Pirates were the captains. Amber Pleiness had yet another stellar performance. Brown City was unable to handle Pleiness’ serve. Pleiness would rocket 8 aces to the Devil’s way, along with 11 kills and 6 blocks! Behind Pleiness was OH Leandra Wolschleger. Wolschlege had a season-high 9 kills, hitting above .500. On Brown City’s side, libero Lauren Woods tallied 18 digs and two aces on the night.
Cass City Avenges Early Season Loss
Cass City played host to Bad Axe and Vassar this past week. The Hatchets being Cass City’s lone conference loss didn’t bare well for the Hawks. Behind superb passing from Abbey Salcido, the Hawks shot out to a two-set to none lead. After dropping a highly contested third set, the Hawks took it home in four. Amy Cuthrell commended Salcido’s 24 dig effort on the night. Due to the passing, Cass City was able to be in system all night. The middle blocking duo of Hailey Beckrow and Sierra Spry were on fire, combining for 34 terminations.
The Hawks then made quick work of the Vulcans on Thursday. Beckrow and Spry again impressed, going for 23 kills and 3 blocks. Cass City combined for 12 aces on the night with four different players bagging three aces.
Cass City wasn’t the only team avenging a loss. Unionville-Sebewaing defended their home court well when the Caro Tigers came to town. In another riveting five-set match between the two, it was a matter of who could outlast the other. In the fifth set, the Tigers were their own worst enemy notching nine errors in the abbreviated set and USA capitalized. The defense was on showcase Thursday, Caro held the Pats to hit under .200 for the match as USA returned the favor. Both teams notched over 10 blocks in the match. Kaitlyn Arebalo for Caro knocked down 5 blocks to go with 19 kills. On the left pin for USA, Allyson Kemp had a career-high night in blocking with four. She also added 16 kills which is her second-best mark on the season.
North Branch Claims Lone Lead in the BWAC
North Branch and Croswell-Lexington are the top two teams in the Blue Water Area Conference. Both were undefeated in conference play until now. North Branch secured the win in Pioneer territory in four tight sets. While Cros-Lex was able to slow down North Branch’s offense, the Bronco’s were still sending bullets from all over. Hannah Farnsworth led the Broncos with 17 kills and two blocks in the victory. Kyler Kolakovich was stable for the Pioneers notching 9 kills and 3 blocks in the effort. Fellow middle Ashley Westbrook was a wall, putting up 5 blocks.
Frankenmuth Falls to Top-Ranked Valley Luthern in Caro
Frankenmuth had one of the best performances of the season in Caro Saturday. In the nine-team tournament, Frankenmuth was victorious in pool play against Ogemaw Heights and Port Huron, sweeping both. Moving on to power pool play, Muth split with both Caro and Valley Luthern. They’d go on to sweep Marlette in quarters, beating Caro in the semis and then drop to Valley Luthern in the championship. Brooklin Karwat was the go-to throughout the day averaging over four kills/set. Jordyn Conrad was also having a great day, the setter averaged over 10.5 assists throughout the day.
Caro also had a good day. In pool play, the Tigers swept both Sandusky and Marlette. They would then go 1-3 in sets during power pool play. Before dropping a three-set match to Muth in the semis, Caro toppled over Millington in straight sets. On the day, Ellie Hornbacher led all with 43 kills and 3 aces. Kaitlyn Arebalo put up a wall at the net, she knocked down 18 blocks while adding 32 kills. Behind the service line, setter Jenna Topham rocketed 11 aces and contributed 62 assists.