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: 9/25/15

September 25, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Here’s some great Friday morning reading, including a look at some of the special impacts made on the football field from a coach fighting to stay on the sideline and two more recently retired from it.

Girls Golf

Frankenmuth saw all of its scoring records fall this week, for 18-hole team, 18-hole individual, 9-hole team and 9-hole individual – Saginaw News

Boys Soccer

Portage Central rebounded off its first loss of the season earlier this week to beat Division 2 No. 19 Stevensville Lakeshore 1-0 – Kalamazoo Gazette

Volleyball

Class A No. 4 Grand Haven downed No. 10 Rockford 3-1, gaining an edge in the Ottawa-Kent Conference Red standings – Muskegon Chronicle 

Class D No. 10 Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart lost the first set against annual power Beal City but came back to win the next three – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

Good Reads

Gibraltar Carlson’s Zach Kohn stars in three sports, managing his time to train for them all, and locked down a Division I scholarship for baseball – Monroe Evening News

Battle Creek Harper Creek’s Ed Greenman and Battle Creek Pennfield’s Nick Koenigsknecht stepped away from the football sideline this season after a combined 44 years. They share some of their thoughts from the other side of the field – Battle Creek Enquirer

Tonight’s Richmond/Almont football game will be “Kocher Strong Night” in honor of Richmond co-coach John Kocher, who continues his fight against cancer – Port Huron Times-Herald