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.
Watch Volleyball, Football LIVE
November 4, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
District and Regional Volleyball action will be featured over the next two weeks on MHSAA.tv, while Football Playoff coverage moves into its second round and will be available live via multiple online channels this weekend.
Coverage of Girls Volleyball includes District Quarterfinal/Semifinal Matches each evening for four straight. Football this weekend can be viewed Friday from Fox Sports Detroit and Saturday from MHSAA.tv.
Volleyball
Here’s the complete District schedule, with links to each game's page on the MHSAA.tv site (all coverage available with subscription):
Monday – Class C Quarterfinals at Hanover-Horton
East Jackson vs. Michigan Center, 5:30 p.m.
Napoleon vs. Vandercook Lake, 7 p.m.
Tuesday – Class C Semifinals at Calumet
Ironwood vs. L’Anse, 6 p.m.
Calumet vs. Hancock, 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday – Class B Semifinals at Frankenmuth
Frankenmuth vs. North Branch, 6 p.m.
Caro vs. Mt. Morris, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday – Class A Semifinals at Hudsonville
Jenison vs. Grandville/Holland West Ottawa winner, 5 p.m.
Hudsonville/Holland winner vs. Wyoming/Zeeland East winner, 7 p.m.
Regional Semifinal coverage takes place next Tuesday (Nov. 11) at two locations:
Class A at Mason
Okemos District winner vs. Dexter District winner, 5 p.m.
Holt District winner vs. Portage Central District winner, 7 p.m.
Class C at Morley-Stanwood
Shelby District winner vs. White Cloud District winner, 6 p.m.
Muskegon Western Michigan Christian District winner vs. Pewamo-Westphalia District winner, 8 p.m.
Football
It’s the fourth season for the popular PrepZone on FoxSportsDetroit.com, which will provide free live coverage of four Football Playoff games each week for the first four weekends of the tournament. Games to be covered this week are:
Division 1 – Lapeer at Clarkston
Division 4 – Saginaw Swan Valley at Lansing Sexton
Division 5 – Clare at Freeland
Division 5 – Almont at Marine City
All games will take place Friday at 7 p.m., with short-term archives available on FoxSportsDetroit.com and long-term archives and DVDs available through MHSAA.tv.
Football Friday Overtime is in its fourth season on FOX Sports Detroit, airing at Midnight each Friday and running for 13 weeks. Mickey York and Rob Rubick host this 30-minute highlights show. The show re-airs Saturdays at 11 a.m. and Sunday mornings – check your local listings (this week at 7 a.m.).
The following games are scheduled to be highlighted this week:
- Wyandotte Roosevelt at Brownstown Woodhaven
- Trenton at New Boston Huron
- Southfield at Oak Park
- Walled Lake Central at West Bloomfield
- Detroit East English at Warren DeLaSalle
- Detroit Cass Tech at Dearborn Fordson
- Plus coverage from the Prep Zone games
MHSAA.tv also will cover two Football Playoff games live each Saturday the first three weeks of the tournament, and 12 Semifinal games on Nov. 22. Here’s this week’s District Final schedule (all coverage with subscription):
Division 1 – Grand Ledge at East Kentwood, 1 p.m.
Division 7 – Pewamo-Westphalia at Hudson, 1 p.m.
A Day Pass subscription to MHSAA.tv is $9.95. A Month Pass subscription is $14.95, enabling purchasers to watch all of this week’s action plus two more weeks of coverage of the Girls Volleyball Tournament, weekly Football Playoff coverage, and the Preliminaries and Finals of the Lower Peninsula Girls Swimming & Diving Finals. All events become available for free on demand viewing three days after the date of the contest.
MHSAA Highlights: This week's package includes clips from the Okemos/East Lansing volleyball match and the Plainwell/Battle Creek Harper Creek and Watervliet/Niles Brandywine football games.