#TBT: Mules Kick Into Championship Gear
November 6, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Temperance Bedford’s volleyball team entered this week’s MHSAA Class A tournament ranked No. 1 and in pursuit of its fourth Class A championship.
Their most recent titles, in 2001 and 2005, both saw the Kicking Mules come back to win after falling in the first games of their championship matches – with the 2001 team in particular traveling into unfamiliar territory on the way to finishing as one of the winningest in MHSAA history.
That Temperance Bedford team finished 82-1, with what remains the third most wins in MHSAA volleyball history. The Mules won 72 straight matches and nine tournaments for coach Jodi Manore, who entered this season with the second-most wins in MHSAA volleyball history and a record of 1,743-292-50.
The 2001 Final saw Temperance Bedford face Portage Northern in a rematch of the 1999 and 1992 LP Class A Finals, both Portage Northern wins during that program’s run of six titles over eight seasons.
The Mules dropped the first game in 2001 by a score of 15-8 and trailed 14-13 in the second before edging Northern 16-14 and then controlling the deciding game for the majority on the way to winning 15-11.
The final kill was put down by Missy Mohrbach, who had a team-high 15, off an assist by Lindi Bankowski – whose 39 total are tied for eighth on the now-retired Finals record list from the pre-rally scoring era. (Rally scoring was introduced for the 2004-05 season.)
Bankowski also had 10 kills and 12 digs and had played on the 1998 Class A championship team. She went on to play at Indiana-Purdue at Fort Wayne. After a record-setting career there and some coaching at the high school level, Bankowski (now Sallach) went on to coach at Austin Peay State University in Tennessee and then Mississippi State University until stepping down after the 2012 season.
Mohrbach played at Owens Community College in Ohio and then Wayne State University, while Melissa Meinhart (nine kills, 18 digs in the 2001 Final) also was on the 1998 Mules championship team and then played at IPFW. Erica Kaczorowski went on to play at Xavier University, and Jennifer Sulewski, a sophomore who came off the bench with nine kills, eventually played at Western Michigan University.
Bedford defeated a Portage Northern team that featured hitter Katie Bright, who went on to play at the University of Kentucky, and setter Laura Bellinger, who set a pre-rally scoring Finals record of 49 assists in the match and later played at Army and then the University of North Alabama.
Temperance Bedford faces Ypsilanti Lincoln in a District Semifinal tonight after opening with a 3-0 win over Ypsilanti Community on Tuesday.
PHOTO: Temperance Bedford's Missy Mohrbach winds up for the final kill of the 2001 Class A Volleyball Final at Western Michigan University.
D2/3 Recap: Bronson edges St. Mary in 5
November 15, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
It would make sense that Bronson’s most important win to date this season would come in Thursday’s Division 3 Semifinal at Kellogg Arena.
It’s also fair to assume that the No. 2-ranked Vikings’ comeback 3-2 win over No. 1 Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central will remain one of the program’s most memorable wins for years to come – regardless of whether Bronson adds to its streak of three straight MHSAA championships Saturday.
The Vikings will face No. 6 Unionville-Sebewaing in a noon championship match after twice coming back from one-set deficits against the Kestrels (45-4).
Bronson (57-6) won the fourth set Thursday 25-18 to even the match, and continued the breakaway 15-4 in the deciding set. Bronson had lost its only other match with St. Mary this season.
Junior Keona Salesman had a team-high 23 kills and team-best 26 digs for the Vikings, while sophomore Meagan Lasky had 47 assists.
Senior Abby Jackson had 28 digs to pace St. Mary, while sophomore Mikayla Haut had 18 kills and 18 digs and senior Jessica Long had 24 assists.
Division 3: Unionville-Sebewaing 3, Traverse City St. Francis 1
USA (44-4-4) earned its first Finals berth by holding off a Gladiators comeback attempt after the No. 6 Patriots won the first two sets.
St. Francis (34-14) bounced back from a 26-24 loss in the second set with a 25-18 win in the third as it made only four errors in 35 attacks that game.
But USA came back with just two errors in 38 attacks in the deciding fourth in downing the Gladiators 25-21.
Senior Rylee Zimmer had 27 kills and 14 digs, and senior Nichole Schember had 38 assists for the Patriots.
Senior Molly Mirabelli led No. 8 St. Francis with 22 kills and 28 digs, and sophomore Hannah Sidorowicz had 38 assists.
Division 2: Grand Rapids Christian 3, Lake Odessa Lakewood 0
Top-ranked Grand Rapids Christian (45-5) also will play in its first Final and for its first championship after sweeping the No. 3 Vikings, last season’s runner-up in the former Class B.
Sophomore Addie VanderWeide had 15 kills to lead the Eagles, and junior Jordyn Gates had 35 assists and three aces. Christian had a .349 kill percentage as a team.
Freshman Maradith O’Gorman had a team-high 10 kills for Lakewood, and sophomore Sophie Duits had 13 assists for the Vikings (46-8-2).
Division 2: Pontiac Notre Dame Prep 3, Corunna 0
The reigning Class B champion Irish will play for the first Division 2 championship after ending the longest tournament run in Corunna’s history.
Recently-named Miss Volleyball Award winner Maddy Chinn had 17 kills and three blocks to lead the No. 2-ranked Fighting Irish (64-5). Senior Maria Famularo had 22 assists.
Junior Elizabeth Norris led honorable mention Corunna (50-7-5) with 14 kills, and senior Alexa Mort had 22 assists.
PHOTO: Bronson celebrates during its comeback win over Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central on Thursday.