L’ANSE — This has been quite a ride for the Crystal Falls Forest Park volleyball team.

The Trojans improved to 41-1 on Thursday, defeating Ishpeming 25-13, 25-18, 25-14 in a Division 4 Regional championship match.

“I didn’t imagine we would win 41 matches this season.” Forest Park coach Bobbie Jo Anderson said. “That’s beyond our expectations, although the girls worked hard.”

The Trojans will continue their postseason journey tonight when they meet Atlanta (36-1-2) in Quarterfinal match at 6 p.m. in Manistique.

The Regional championship was the third in four years for the Trojans, who fell to Hancock in straight sets in last year’s Regional Final at Baraga. Forest Park met Hancock in last week’s Regional Semifinal, this time winning 26-24, 25-23, 25-21.

“We didn’t like the outcome last year,” Trojans senior Ava Fischer said. “It’s absolutely a relief to win the Regional this year. We came into this season knowing we had a real good team. I’m so excited.”

Forest Park’s only loss took place Aug. 23 during a season-opening tournament in Mount Pleasant, where it dropped a 2-1 decision in the semifinals to Division 3 Saginaw Valley Lutheran, a team it had beaten in pool play earlier that day. Valley Lutheran also advanced to tonight’s Quarterfinals.

The Trojans had reached the Division 4 Semifinals twice in a row before last year’s earlier exit, and just missed reaching the 2023 championship match in falling to Leland in five sets at Battle Creek’s Kellogg Arena.

“After losing to Hancock last year, we knew we were going to come back stronger,” junior Tessa Bartoszek said. “We did morning workouts and open gyms during the summer. It’s awesome to be moving on.”

Bartoszek produced a key defensive play during the second set against Ishpeming, which featured Baylor recruit Mya Hemmer and finished this fall 23-6-2. The Hematites were trailing 14-11 when it appeared the ball was going to land on Forest Park’s side of the net. Bartoszek somehow prevented that from happening, dug up the ball and returned it to Ishpeming’s side, enabling the Trojans to go up 15-11 on a defensive error.

A seven-point service run by sophomore Harper Anderson also helped the Trojans get going in the opener.

“That was huge,” Coach Anderson said. “Volleyball is a game of momentum, and you want to keep that on your side.

“The first set definitely set the tone. The girls were able to relax a little more after winning that one.”

The Trojans have won their own invitational, ‘The Rock’ Invite at Gladstone, Escanaba Invitational and defeated Great Northern Conference champion Kingsford, Marquette and Calumet in a quadrangular at Kingsford during the regular season.

Forest Park also captured the Skyline Central Conference title prior to taking District and Regional championships.

Fischer is the team’s leading hitter with 467 kills this season, with five more Trojans totaling at least 100. Senior Elsie Williams and junior Vienna Price share setting duties, and Williams also is second on the team with 196 kills to go with her 502 assists. Fischer also leads the team with 351 digs, and Anderson has a team-high 89 aces.

Fischer and Williams are the team’s only seniors. Right behind Williams in kills is freshman Josie Anderson, one of three underclassmen in the primary playing group.

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.

PHOTO The Crystal Falls Forest Park girls volleyball team takes a photo after winning its District championship against Wakefield-Marenisco on Nov. 6. (Photo courtesy of the Forest Park school district.)