HARRIS — Crystal Falls Forest Park brought plenty of momentum going into this week’s Division 4 District volleyball tournament.

The Trojans completed their regular season at 34-4-1 after posting a 3-0 (25-14, 25-10, 25-14) triumph over Bark River-Harris Broncos a week ago. That victory secured for Forest Park a fifth-consecutive Skyline Central Conference title and ran its league winning streak to 43 matches.

The No. 9-ranked Trojans (35-4-1) swept Powers North Central in Wednesday’s District Semifinal and will face District host Felch North Dickinson (19-13-4) for the title at 5 p.m. tonight.

“I think we have a lot of depth,” Trojans coach Bobbie Jo Anderson said that evening. “We have strong hitters across the board. We have a lot of momentum going into the (Division 4) District. We played a lot of good teams. We’ve been competitive and successful against the larger schools. We did everything we could.”

Forest Park is seeking to take another familiar step after finishing 42-2 and reaching the Division 4 Semifinals a year ago. The Trojans have reached the Semifinals in Battle Creek three of the last four seasons. 

Sophomore middle hitter Josie Anderson – also among the team’s leading hitters last fall as a freshman – created plenty of issues for the Broncos in last week’s regular-season finale.

“We’ve been working for it,” Anderson said. “We’re starting to pull it together. Winning the conference undefeated gives us a lot of momentum going into the District.”

In addition to earning the SCC title, senior Vienna Price says Forest Park’s victories over rival West Iron County were among highlights this fall.

The Trojans won in four sets at West Iron and swept the Wykons in three at home.

“They’re a pretty good team,” Price added. “Those were big wins for us, but winning the conference was definitely the biggest highlight. We’re super excited about going into the tournaments. We want to play well. We don’t want our season to end.”

Forest Park won the Escanaba Elks Invitational for the third straight time (Oct. 3) and its own invitational (Sept. 19). The Trojans were runners-up in the ‘Rock’ Invite at Gladstone, dropping a 16-25, 28-26, 15-9 decision to No. 5 Hancock in the title match.

Should both teams continue to advance, they would meet in a Regional Final.

“That would be a hard match,” Price said. “We’ve been looking at them all season.”

BR-H coach Brooke Bartley also was impressed with what she saw from the Trojans.

“They are very well-coached,” she said. “They have a great feeder program. The junior high program definitely helps them for varsity. They play a very up-tempo offense.”

The Trojans, who run a 6-2 offense, opened their season at Mount Pleasant where they finished 3-1-1 and placed third at the Heat on the Hardwood at Morey Courts. That run included a win over honorable mention Onekama, loss to No. 3 Traverse City Christian and tie with No. 2 Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart.

“I think that set the tone for the season,” Josie Anderson said. “We’ve been working hard and getting better, which has boosted our confidence. Our schedule has helped us.”

The Trojans also hosted the Class of the Divisions tournament Oct. 17 where they dropped a three-set decision to Division 2 Kingsford and defeated Division 3 honorable mention Calumet and Division 1 Marquette in two sets apiece.

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) Forest Park’s Vienna Price (4) sets for her teammates during the Trojans’ Oct. 20 win against West Iron County. (Middle) Harper Anderson elevates for a serve. (Photos by Kathy Holm.)