North Branch Prevails Over Familiar Foe
November 19, 2016
By Jeff Chaney
Special for Second Half
BATTLE CREEK – A championship rubber match between North Branch and Lake Odessa Lakewood closed the 2016 volleyball season Saturday night.
Twice before, these perennial powers had met for the Class B title. Lakewood beat the Broncos for the 2012 championship in three games, while North Branch came home with the title in 2014, also beating the Vikings in three.
With a noticeable height advantage across the board, North Branch this time took advantage of its size early and seized control in the first game on its way to a 25-15, 25-21, 25-20 victory that clinched the program's third Class B championship at Battle Creek's Kellogg Arena.
"I have never seen our team so focused," said North Branch coach James Fish, whose Broncos end their season with a 58-9 record. "We were so focused the whole match. We didn't get too high or too low. We had a great gameplan, and they executed it."
That gameplan was to attack the net, which the Broncos did all three games, finishing with a .222 attack percentage and 40 kills to Lakewood's .091 attack percentage and 31 kills.
"They were bigger than us, and we didn't have a way to stop them," said Lakewood coach Kellie Rowland, whose team ended its great run 54-6. "Their size played a huge factor. We did everything we could to get up and block them, but they just went over us."
Two tall Broncos for whom Lakewood had no answer were 6-foot-1 sophomore outside hitter Allyson Severance and 6-1 senior middle hitter Olivia Fike.
Severance led all net players with 12 kills, while Fike finished with seven.
"Thursday (a tough five-game Semifinal win over Buchanan) we were shaken because we didn't know what to expect because we never heard of them," Fike said. "But before tonight, we knew exactly what to expect because we have been here before against this team. We have been battling with them for the past few years back and forth, and we were more comfortable."
Fish was grateful his team was able to get through Thursday and into the Final.
"I apologized to our team for Thursday, because I got out-coached Thursday," Fish said. "They bailed me out Thursday, and that's just not saying that. We were lucky to win Thursday, because we played a great team, and we weren't prepared. So we made sure we were prepared tonight, because we practiced on it and practiced on it, and they executed the gameplan to perfection tonight."
That's saying a lot coming from a coach with 17 years experience, who stands 24 wins shy of 1,000 and now has won three MHSAA championships to go with three runner-up finishes.
"We beat a great team tonight," Fish said. "They are a phenomenal program with an outstanding coach. We just played extremely well tonight."
Senior Madee Miner completed her great career at North Branch with 33 assists, while senior libero Stephaney Fifield ended the match with 17 digs.
Junior middle blocker Brenna Wickerink paced Lakewood in kills with 11, while senior setter Gabie Shellenbarger led the Vikings with 23 assists.
PHOTOS: (Top) North Branch’s Olivia Fike (12) attempts to send the ball over the net and past a Lakewood blocker. (Middle) The Broncos raise their Class B championship trophy Saturday.
GR Christian Runs Finals Win Streak to 3
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
January 16, 2021
BATTLE CREEK – Grand Rapids Christian volleyball coach Tiffannie Gates said she knew Lake Odessa Lakewood wanted another crack at her team in this season’s Division 2 Final.
Lakewood earned that opportunity, but it was the Eagles who walked out of Kellogg Arena as champions.
Grand Rapids Christian defeated Lakewood 25-20, 25-20, 25-19 Saturday to claim its third-straight Finals title.
“I think each year has had its own special meaning to me as a coach with these championships,” Gates said. “This year, with this group of seniors, has a very special place in my heart – they all do – but they’ve been here, most of them, from Day 1 as freshmen. Just to see their determination to social distance and not go to parties and make sure they could get to this day, you don’t see that very often from kids this age. It really moved me.
“Our message today in the locker room was love each other above all else, and if we do that, we’re going to be fine.”
It’s the third title in as many Finals trips for the Grand Rapids Christian program – and second straight against Lakewood – and after the match, the players were sporting shirts that had been made up for the occasion, which read, “Our tweets 3-peat.”
“I can’t even really put it into words right now, I don’t think,” Grand Rapids Christian senior Lauren Peal said. “It’s still kind of setting in that that just happened, if I’m being honest. It’s just an overwhelming feeling of the love from our teammates every single year, and the support that we have for each other. How we go into this game is 100 percent loving on each other and being there for each other the whole entire time. That whole entire game, we were playing for each other. I think that over any other feeling is what comes out of this, the overwhelming feeling of love you have during this game.”
Lakewood coach Cameron Rowland said it was Grand Rapids Christian’s multi-dimensional attack that gave his team problems, specifically the contributions from middle hitters Stephanie Stewart and Kate Breems, who had nine and four kills, respectively.
Much of the credit for that goes to setter Alyssa DeVries, who had 43 assists while spreading the ball around the court.
“I think she had the best match of her season tonight,” Gates said. “She had big shoes to fill, and she came in and she worked her butt off. We did extra practice with her every day of the regular season. She transformed into a completely different player from the first day until today. I am extremely proud of her.”
Addie VanderWeide led the Eagles’ attack with 19 kills, while Evie Doezema had 16. Peal added 17 digs, while VanderWeide had 11.
It was VanderWeide and Doezema that Rowland said he was expecting to have to deal with, and while they had strong matches, the rest of the Eagles’ attack was enough to get his team off rhythm.
“When we got the ball to the net to (Lakewood setter Skylar Bump), they served really, really well so we were scrambling a little more than we were used to,” Rowland said. “We’ve been the team that’s been in system all year, and they kind of took that away from us with their ability to do what they did from the service line.”
Aubrey O’Gorman led Lakewood with 17 kills, while Maradith O’Gorman added eight kills and 15 digs. Bump had 23 assists and 14 digs, and Carley Piercefield had 14 digs.
“I’m just so incredibly honored to play in a program that is able to get to this point every single year, year after year,” Aubrey O’Gorman said. “It has been established that we will be here in November every single year – or January – and I’m just so incredibly honored to be a part of that.”
PHOTOS: (Top) A pair of Lakewood blockers defend against a Grand Rapids Christian kill attempt Saturday night at Kellogg Arena. (Middle) Maradith O’Gorman keeps a ball in play for the Vikings. (Click for more from Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)