Today in the MHSAA: 11/9/18

November 9, 2018

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Each weekday of the school year, we break down the top headlines courtesy of Michigan’s sports media.

Thursday’s 32 Volleyball Regional Finals saw the elimination of 12 top-10 teams but all eight contenders ranked No. 1 or 2 move on as next week’s Quarterfinals were set.

1. Volleyball: No. 2 Pontiac Notre Dame Prep downed No. 3 North Branch in a power-packed Division 2 Regional title matchup – Oakland Press

2. Volleyball: Reigning Class C champion and current top-ranked Bronson moved on in Division 3 with a 3-2 Regional title win over No. 3 Schoolcraft – Sturgis Journal

3. Volleyball: Top-ranked Farmington Hills Mercy continued its run this fall over rival and No. 6 Bloomfield Hills Marian with a Division 1 Regional Final sweep – Oakland Press

4. Volleyball: Unranked Richland Gull Lake avenged two sweeps by No. 3 Mattawan this season with a 3-1 Regional Final win in Division 1 – Kalamazoo Gazette

5. Volleyball: No. 2 Lake Orion swept league rival and No. 9 Rochester Hills Stoney Creek for a Division 1 Regional title – Oakland Press

6. Volleyball: No. 2 Mendon came back from dropping the first set to clinch a Division 4 Regional title with a four-set win over No. 5 Battle Creek St. Philip – Sturgis Journal

7. Volleyball: Honorable mention Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian continued a title-filled run with a 3-1 win over No. 7 North Muskegon in a Division 3 Regional Final – Grand Rapids Press

8. Volleyball: No. 7 Adrian Lenawee Christian came back from a two-set deficit to down No. 3 Camden-Frontier in a Division 4 Regional Final – Adrian Daily Telegram

9. Volleyball: Honorable mention Onaway came back from losing the first set to upset No. 10 Rudyard in five in a Division 4 Regional Final – Alpena News

10. Volleyball: Kingsley won its first Regional since 2009 and ended Cadillac’s streak at nine with a sweep in a Division 2 matchup of honorable mention teams – Traverse City Record-Eagle

Also of note …

Volleyball: No. 5 Manchester swept Bath in Division 3 to earn its first Regional title in 25 years – Jackson Citizen Patriot

Volleyball: Kingston downed No. 8 Merrill in Division 4 to clinch its first Regional title in this sport – Saginaw News

Football: Central Lake coach Rob Heeke has announced his retirement; he led the team to the 8-player Division 1 title in 2017 – Traverse City Record-Eagle

Today in the MHSAA: 10/23/2018

October 23, 2018

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Each weekday of the school year, we break down the top headlines courtesy of Michigan’s sports media.

A pair of Detroit Catholic League Tournament championship celebrations lead a list filled with Monday volleyball winners and a pair of cross country invitational pacesetters.

1. Volleyball: Division 1 top-ranked Farmington Hills Mercy swept No. 7 Bloomfield Hills Marian to win the Detroit Catholic League A-B championship for the second straight season – Observer & Eccentric

2. Volleyball: Division 2 No. 6 Wixom St. Catherine claimed its second straight Catholic League C-D title with a sweep of Division 3 No. 4 Riverview Gabriel Richard – Oakland Press

3. Volleyball: Division 2 honorable mention Kingsley and Traverse City St. Francis both went 2-1 at the ABCD quad with Division 4 top-ranked Leland with Traverse City Central also playing – Traverse City Record-Eagle

4. Cross Country: The Hanover-Horton boys and Pittsford girls won Sand Creek Invitational championships; Pittsford’s girls are ranked No. 4 in Lower Peninsula Division 4 and Hanover-Horton’s boys are No. 3 in LPD3 – Adrian Daily Telegram

5. Volleyball: Midland came out on top in a matchup of second-place finishers in the Saginaw Valley League with a crossover sweep of Flint Powers Catholic – Midland Daily News

6. Volleyball: Pellston earned wins over Gaylord and Harbor Springs – Petoskey News-Review

7. Volleyball: L’Anse took the season’s second “Battle of the Bay” meeting with Baraga with a three-set sweep – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette

8. Volleyball: Kalamazoo Central swept Climax-Scotts on the Maroon Giants’ senior night – JoeInsider.com

9. Volleyball: Petoskey swept Cheboygan in nonleague play to improve to 33-4-1 – Petoskey News-Review

10. Volleyball: Chassell continued to make strides with a sweep of Dollar Bay – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette

Also of note …

Cross Country: From last week, Grand Rapids Ottawa Hills girls won the Ottawa-Kent Conference White championship, believed to be the first in program history – Grand Rapids Press

Cross Country: From Saturday, Portage Northern’s boys won their first Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference meet championship in a decade – Kalamazoo Gazette

Cross Country: From Saturday, Parma Western held on at the Interstate 8 Athletic Conference meet to sweep the overall league championships – Coldwater Daily Reporter

Cross Country: From Saturday, Brownstown Woodhaven swept Downriver League meet titles and the boys won the league outright; Allen Park’s girls held on to their overall league championship – Southgate News-Herald girls | boys