Long Wait Ends For Lakewood
November 17, 2012
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
BATTLE CREEK – The Lake Odessa Lakewood volleyball team won the award Saturday at Kellogg Arena for most emotion shown after an MHSAA championship win.
Senior Emily Kutch was in tears as coach Kellie Rowland charged onto the court and grabbed her and senior Olivia Davis. Rowland and her assistants – husband Clair and former head coach Jeff Duits – then met for another hug as a few decades of almost-there dissolved into distant memory.
Those three – and a number of these players – have been at this championship chase for a while. But the Vikings finally got their title with a 25-20, 25-18, 25-17 victory over perennial power North Branch.
Rowland has brought Lakewood to the season’s final week seven more times during a 15-year career that has stretched over two tenures and includes 787 wins. But with four four-year varsity players on the court, she and a large group of fans and alumni finally got to celebrate ending with a victory for the first time.
“We worked so hard for this. Everybody’s been saying this was the year, this is the team to win it all. And we did,” Kutch said. “Just winning in three (sets), and dominating like that. All of us seniors; there are seven of us and we’ve been together forever. And I think that carried the emotion too.”
Lakewood finished 52-4 to cap its first trip back to Battle Creek since the final winter season, in 2007. The Vikings had played in one other championship game, in 1995, when they lost to Stevensville Lakeshore.
Lakewood thought for a moment that it had earned the first point of Saturday’s match, but a close call went North Branch’s way. The Broncos actually got off to a 2-0 start in that first set – but Lakewood would outlast them to take it, 25-20.
Both Kutch and Broncos coach Jim Fish agreed that first game was key. Lakewood seemed to build momentum in winning the second 25-18, and then closed out the title with a 25-17 win capped by a final kill by Kutch that touched just before the back line on the Broncos' side.
Kutch and Davis, two of those four-year seniors, had 18 and 14 kills, respectively. At 6-foot and 6-1 they had a slight height advantage on their opponents, and took advantage.
“Oh my gosh, I didn’t want it to go into a fourth game. The heart can only take so much, and I’m not very young,” Rowland said. “They just really executed and did what they needed to do to beat them.
“We have the size, we have the speed and we have the quickness. And Brooke Wieland, out setter, really felt it in warm-ups. Our hitters were like, ‘Just keep setting baby, because it’s right where we need it.’”
Wieland and libero Beth Tingley also were four-year varsity seniors. Weiland had 31 assists and 11 digs in the Final, and Tingley had 11 digs as she helped key a defensive adjustment meant to combat North Branch’s strong outside attack.
The Broncos (68-8-1) got 11 kills from senior Micaela Deshetsky and 13 digs from senior libero Rachel Fish, who were both contributors when the team finished Class B runner-up in 2010. This was its third trip to Battle Creek in four seasons – North Branch won the title in 2009.
“I couldn’t be here my freshman year because I was sick, but when we lost my sophomore year there was a bitter taste, so we were ready to be back,” said Fish, a daughter of the coach. “All our emotions, everyone’s heart was really in it. We wanted it bad. But they were really good. Lakewood played really well against us.”
And neither was able to dodge the other contenders. The Vikings were ranked No. 1 coming into the tournament and North Branch was No. 2. Lakewood then beat the Nos. 3, 6 and 7 teams to make it to the end, while the Broncos eliminated Nos. 4 and 5 plus two honorable mentions to get to this point.
“We had a rough road to be able to get here, and I’m extremely proud of what they’ve done,” Jim Fish said. “There is not a negative involved in this. It was very positive, a great run, what high school athletics is all about.
“It’s what we talked about. There’s always going to be a winner and always going to be a loser. Our team wants to win just as badly as you do. As long as you understand that and keep it in perspective, you’re a winner. And that’s what these kids are.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Lakewood players Emily Kutch (2), Beth Tingley (10), Jordan Kietzman (17) and Brooke Wieland (6) celebrate a point during Saturday's Class B Final. (Middle) North Branch's Ally Ruhlman (2) sets up a teammate.
Carney-Nadeau Serving Up Fast Start
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
October 13, 2020
CARNEY — It has often been said practice makes perfect.
So far that has applied to the Carney-Nadeau Wolves, who have won all 10 of their volleyball meets this season. They are ranked No. 9 in Division 4 by the Michigan Interscholastic Volleyball Coaches Association.
“We spend a lot of time together on and off the court,” said senior outside hitter Taylor Kedsch, who recorded 10 kills and four digs against Munising in the team’s most recent match last week. “That helps our communication and helps us jell as a team.
“We didn’t really expect to be undefeated, but we’ve worked hard. When we were under ‘stay at home’ orders (due to Covid-19), I did some weight training at home. Then, we got to a point (5-6 weeks later) where we could practice once a week. It definitely felt great to get together again.”
Senior hitter Liana Blahnik, who collected 12 service aces, seven kills, two blocks and eight digs against Munising, also stayed in shape by doing some workouts at home.
“We’re kicking off the season real well,” she said. “We’ve cleaned up a lot of things and been improving steadily. Having to wear a mask during matches and practices has worked real well for us. It’s safer and not much of a problem.”
Senior setter Haley Ernest tallied 26 assists and seven digs in her latest outing.
“I feel it’s working pretty well,” she said. “I look to see who’s hitting well. When (Coach Steve Kedsch) finds a hole, he lets us know. We work real well together. Our team chemistry and communication have really picked up. During the ‘stay at home’ orders, a friend of mine who’s in college and I would skype and do practices together, which I think really helped.”
Among the Wolves’ achievements is a 25-19, 25-17 triumph over Kingsford in the final round of their quadrangular meet Sept. 26.
“That was probably our best match,” said Taylor Kedsch. “We were doing pretty well defensively. I think our team is doing real well. We’re grateful for everything.”
Coach Kedsch has similar thoughts about this season.
“We were fortunate enough to know we were going to have a season,” he said. “The girls came into the season in pretty good shape. Our seniors did a good job leading the juniors and motivating them. Our role players are getting better. Mel Baumler and Mackenzie Walcher have kind of gone to a place where they needed to be. I give a lot of credit to the girls for accepting different roles. This is a different game from jayvees. This is a faster game. We can only control what we can control. We try to run a fast-paced game.”
Coach Kedsch says serving has been a key to the Wolves’ success.
“We knew we had good servers on this team,” he said. “But we’ve been serving more than 92 percent as a team which was a surprise.
“This has been such an enjoyable season for me. We’ve gotten great support from our assistant coaches Dale Harris and Maisy Johnson and we have a senior group that’s so dedicated to the sport. They’re very focused and doing well this season. Give credit to the kids for buying into the program, taking ownership and providing input.”
Next up for the Wolves is a trip to Peshtigo, Wis. Monday.
“Taylor and I play on a club team with some of the Peshtigo girls,” said Ernest. “We’ve gotten to know them pretty well. We can put a game plan together. It should be a good match.”
Blahnik is also looking forward to Monday’s match.
“I think that will be a good challenge,” she said. “We’re going to have to know where their strengths are and make our adjustments.”
John Vrancic has covered high school sports in the Upper Peninsula since joining the Escanaba Daily Press staff in 1985. He is known most prominently across the peninsula for his extensive coverage of cross country and track & field that frequently appears in newspapers from the Wisconsin border to Lake Huron. He received the James Trethewey Award for Distinguished Service in 2015 from the Upper Peninsula Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association.
PHOTOS: (Top) Carney-Nadeau’s Taylor Kedsch (10) unloads a spike against Bark River-Harris during a match this season. (Middle) The Wolves Liana Blahnik (9) spikes the ball against Crystal Falls Forest Park. (Photos courtesy of the Escanaba Daily Press.