The Southwest 10 Conference volleyball tournament took place Saturday at Decatur. Regular season and defending tournament champion Centreville would ultimately come out on top, defeating Mendon in the final.
“When you come into a tournament like this, you know you have a target on your back and everyone is aiming to take you down,” said Bulldogs coach Deric Mostrom. “Most of the time, the other teams have nothing to lose, so they give everything that they got.”
“We saw some good play today from some teams and it was a welcomed site for the conference tournament,” added Mostrom. “You see teams over a month ago at the beginning of conference play that are different then what they are today with a month of practice and getting better.”
Centreville went unbeaten in pool play, defeating White Pigeon (25-20, 25-17), Marcellus (25-9, 25-20), Bangor (25-10, 25-7), and Cassopolis (25-18, 25-13). The Chiefs would defeat the Vikings (25-23, 25-18) and split with Wildcats (25-22, 17-25) and Rangers (15-25, 25-23), ending their run in pool play.
“It was a bummer to not make it out of pool play,” said WP coach Natalie Saunders. “We were fully capable of it but a bit out of sorts this morning and it cost us. But proud how we played overall and especially versus Centreville, our last game. We were playing with passion, intensity and heart. We competed! To me that’s what volleyball is all about and I’m glad my girls showed up to work.”
In the other pool, Mendon went 5-0 with wins over Lawrence (25-4, 25-4), Bloomingdale (25-19, 25-13), Hartford (25-11, 25-15), Comstock (25-12, 25-10), and Decatur (25-22, 25-17). The Hornets and Raiders advanced from their pool to face the Bulldogs and Cassopolis.
In the semifinals, Centreville beat Decatur 25-11, 25-14 and Mendon topped Cassopolis 25-22, 25-16., setting up the championship match. In the finale, the Bulldogs were victorious over the Hornets 25-23, 25-17.
“The girls played some really good volleyball today and did a lot of good things that we can continue to work on the next week as we prepare for districts next Monday,” said Mendon coach Kenneth Herbert.
Centreville moves to 30-9-1 overall and with combined tournament and regular league duals finish a perfect 16-0 against the Southwest 10. Mendon sits 23-9-3 overall and 15-2 combined in league play. White Pigeon is now 9-13-3 overall and 6-6-2 in combined conference play.
Photo courtesy Deric Mostrom
“Every single player on the team had a opportunity to leave a mark on the outcome of the day and every single player did that,” said Mostrom. “It was good to see the girls come in at different times throughout the day and play well.”
“I felt like today really showed the depth we have as a team,” Mostrom continued. “Almost all of our five starting hitters had 20+ kills on the day. You don’t see that from high school teams and that was a fun part of the day to watch.”
Centreville statistics
Abbe Wherrett 5 aces, 1 assist, 31 digs
Bella Kessler 25 kills, 12 aces, 1 assist, 41 digs
Hailey Miller 16 kills, 8 digs, 4 blocks
Mara Webb 1 kill, 3 digs
Rilyn Younts 8 aces, 27 digs
Riley Buchner 7 aces, 1 assist, 18 digs
Adi Hackett 22 kills, 11 digs, 5 blocks
Faith Edwards 21 kills, 5 aces, 1 assist, 35 digs, 5 blocks
Kali Evans 3 kills, 7 aces, 100 assists, 27 digs, 1 block
Mia Yoder 2 kills, 1 dig
Sophia Deeds 32 kills, 7 digs, 3 blocks
August Blair 1 kill
White Pigeon statistics
Megan Kemp 19 digs, 2 aces
Dani Steel 3 digs, 6 aces, 10 kills, 3 blocks
Jaylee McBride 47 assists, 23 digs, 5 aces, 8 kills
Taylor Wesolek 10 digs, 4 assists, 1 ace, 10 kills, 1 block
Shelby McDaniel 8 digs, 7 kills
Holli Sellers 1 dig, 7 kills, 4 blocks
Emily Byler 7 digs, 4 aces
Hannah Eckert 1 dig
Ellie McBride 27 kills, 10 digs, 7 aces, 1 block
Kenlee Schrader 1 assist, 1 dig
Mendon statistics
Kayla Wenzel 2 kills, 11 aces, 85 assists, 42 digs
Makennah Mullin 26 kills, 4 aces, 9 digs, 10 blocks
Alexis Ames 44 kills, 3 aces, 16 digs, 3 blocks
Carlie Doehring 11 kills, 13 aces, 3 assists, 40 digs
Caylena Briggs 1 kill, 4 aces, 10 assists, 56 digs
Cienna Nightingale 10 kills, 1 ace, 1 assist, 6 digs, 3 blocks
Alicyn Arevalo 15 kills, 2 digs, 4 blocks
Jadyn Samson 1 kill, 15 aces, 1 assist, 34 digs
Brianna Heitkamp 7 kills, 2 aces, 1 block
Gracie Schultz 2 aces, 3 digs
Lila Schinker 3 kills, 1 ace, 1 assist, 19 digs
Keyara Szymanski 1 ace, 1 dig
Elsewhere, Three Rivers was in action Saturday at the Williamston tournament. In pool play, the Wildcats earned wins over Charyl Stockwell Prep Academy (25-14, 25-10) and Haslett (25-17, 25-15), but lost to Lansing Catholic (25-18, 25-17).
TR advanced to the gold bracket with their 2-1 pool mark, but were eliminated by Birch Run 25-18, 25-23.
Three Rivers statistics
Jenna Southland 42 kills, 15 blocks, 9 digs, 4 aces
Gabby Charvat 8 kills, 7 aces, 11 digs
Allie McGlothlen 5 kills, 9 aces, 11 digs
Aliza Munro 23 digs
Payge Ellifritz 11 kills, 5 blocks, 3 digs
Miley Southland 43 kills, 19 digs, 4 blocks
Kenna Cottingham 13 assists, 5 digs
Sturgis also hit the court Saturday as part of the Mattawan tournament. The Trojans went 2-1 in pool play; defeating Schoolcraft (19-25, 25-22, 15-13) and Plainwell (25-18, 25-12) and losing to Okemos (25-16, 25-22). In bracket play, Sturgis fell to DeWitt (25-14, 25-13), then was knocked out in a rematch with Okemos (25-19, 25-8). The Trojans move to 32-18-4 with Saturday’s results.
Sturgis statistics
Harlie Blum 8 kills, 5 aces, 72 assists, 31 digs
Taylor Miller 16 kills, 6 aces, 2 blocks, 39 digs
Adison Nettleman 37 kills, 1 ace, 4 assists, 57 digs
Emy Claar 7 aces, 15 digs
Keyanne O’Tey 13 kills, 7 blocks, 3 digs
Anglea Cary 5 kills, 1 ace, 4 blocks, 3 digs
Megan Hecht -29 kills, 5 aces, 1 assist, 9 blocks,4 digs
Rylee Carver 3 aces, 2 assists, 27 digs