D2 Semifinal Recap: GRC, Lakewood roll into finals

Throughout the 2020 season both Grand Rapids Christian and Lakewood have established themselves as the top two teams in Division. A 60-day layoff and Thursday’s state semifinals did nothing to change that opinion. Both squads looked dominant in their respective matches, earning sweeps to set up a rematch of the 2019 state final. “I expect a battle. I think it’s funny, we haven’t played them all year but there’s this underlying tension and rivalry there because we’ve been here over the past couple of years and played them and beaten them,” Grand Rapids Christian coach Tiffannie Gates said. “I think it’s been building. I’m hoping that it will be a really, really fun match and I think it will be.” Here’s how the two teams got to the finals: Lakewood overpowers Notre Dame Prep The Vikings looked like a team on a mission in a 25-15, 25-13, 25-22 win over a solid Notre Dame Prep team. Lakewood had a clear size advantage behind Aubrey O’GormanAubreyO’Gorman6'3" | MBLakewood | 2021StateMI (6’4”) and Maradith O’GormanMaradithO’Gorman6'2" | RSLakewood | 2022StateMI (6’2”) against the Irish, who don’t have a player listed at 6-feet. The sisters combined for 32 kills, with Maradith recording a match-high 21. Despite the offensive firepower, it was the Lakewood defense that really shined. Their passing game forced a lot of long rallies and frustrated the Irish hitters, who were already working hard around the Lakewood block. “I knew that if we came out and served and passed well, we would be super tough to defend because of our size at the net against them,” Lakewood coach Cam Rowland said. “As good as Notre Dame Prep is defensively, it’s tough to stop when the pace of the ball is coming over the net at which it was (Thursday).” Freshman Carley PiercefieldCarleyPiercefield5'4" | DS/LLakewood | 2024MI lived up to the hype of being an All-State libero, as she had 24 digs to lead the Viking defense. “Her poise in these types of moments, I haven’t had to worry about as a freshman libero,” Rowland said of Piercefield. “There is no second-guessing of herself. She’s super confident in her skills and using those in order to help us play our game.” The Irish showed their traditional fight in the third set and nearly forced a fourth, but the O’Gorman sisters put the match away. Skylar BumpSkylarBump5'7" | SLakewood | 2023StateMI had 30 assists, but also tallied 19 digs and six kills as she played with a lot of confidence for Lakewood. The Irish were led by junior Alyssa BorellisAlyssaBorellis5'11" | SNotre Dame Prep | 2022StateMI, who had six kills, 10 assists and 14 digs. Margo Sudzina added 12 assists and 12 digs. Defensively, Josie BloomJosieBloom5'6" | DS/LNotre Dame Prep | 2022StateMI had 12 digs while Olivia KowalkowskiOliviaKowalkowski5'4" | DS/LNotre Dame Prep | 2021StateMI had seven. Kowalkowski is the lone senior on the ND Prep roster and reached Battle Creek all four years of her prep career. The Vikings enter Friday’s final feeling confident and feeling fresh. Rowland believes that the two-month layoff actually has worked out well for his players, as they are fresher for the final than they may normally be. “I’m not managing bodies. I’m not worried about Aubrey and Maradith have taken 1,000 swings this season. They have two months of rest and their bodies are fresh and more able to go,” Rowland said. “We have been able to practice at a high level because I don’t have to worry about managing those bodies because we’re banged up.” Grand Rapids Christian pulls away from Cadillac The defending two-time state champs had a slow start against the Vikings, but eventually came through with a 25-21, 25-13, 25-11 victory. GRC used their talented attack to hit .333 as a team, while their defense focused on slowing down Macy BrownMacyBrown5'10" | OHCadillac | 2021StateMI of Cadillac. The senior outside for the Vikings had over 900 kills this season while hitting .300. GRC put all their attention on slowing her down, even throwing triple blocks at her along the way. While Brown found some success in the opening set, the openings were closing quickly throughout the match. The balls that did get across didn’t always land, as Lauren PealLaurenPeal5'10" | DS/LGrand Rapids Christian | 2021StateMI had a standout performance at libero. She finished with a match-high 22 digs. Her play opened the door for the high finishing rate for the Eagles. Junior Evie Doezema led the team with 19 kills while hitting .457. Miss Volleyball finalist Addie VanderWeideAddieVanderWeide6'1" | OHGrand Rapids Christian | 2021StateMI added 18 kills while also picking up nine digs. Junior setter Alyssa DeVries ran a smooth offense to the tune of 44 assists. Brown finished with 15 kills and seven digs on the night to lead Cadillac while junior teammate Renee BrinesReneeBrines5'9" | SCadillac | 2022StateMI had 17 assists, eight digs and a pair of kills. Brooke EllensBrookeEllens5'1" | DS/LCadillac | 2024MI had a team-high 13 digs. Thursday’s performance was another example of what Gates has been seeing in the two weeks of the restart, as she feels her squad hasn’t had much rust to shake off. “I think we really haven’t missed a beat…These guys have kept their eye on the ball, even with Christmas and all the stuff in between, they just kept holding out hope that they were going to play, so they never really checked out of volleyball season,” she said. Gates and the Eagles will meet up with Lakewood in the Division 2 final on Saturday at 4 p.m. from Kellogg Arena. Grand Rapids Central is looking to be the first Division 2/Class B team to win three consecutive state championships since Marysville won eight straight from 1997-2004.