Today in the MHSAA: 9/9/15

September 9, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

The first day of school for most in Michigan brought with it a flood of notable matchups and results, many of which we’ve touched on below.

Boys Soccer

East Grand Rapids, No. 11 in Division 2, topped Division 1 No. 4 East Kentwood 1-0 in a matchup of two of the best in the Grand Rapids area – Grand Rapids Press

Walled Lake Central handed Waterford Mott the latter's first loss this season, scoring with 26:24 to play – Oakland Press

North Muskegon, ranked in Division 4, needed overtime to outlast Ravenna 3-2 – Muskegon Chronicle

Girls Swimming & Diving

Saginaw Heritage beat Midland Dow for the first time since 2010 with first places in 10 events – Saginaw News

Holland West Ottawa, No. 4 in Lower Peninsula Division 1, beat No. 6 Zeeland by a mere 16 points, with Jacklyn Vande Poel earning a Finals cut time in the 100-yard freestyle – Holland Sentinel

Volleyball

Mattawan claimed the championship over a strong field at Portage Central’s six-team tournament, besting previously-undefeated Battle Creek Harper Creek in the final – Kalamazoo Gazette

It’s hard to imagine a closer four-set match than Houghton’s win over Lake Linden-Hubbell 25-23, 25-23, 23-25, 25-22 – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette

Midland Dow’s Nadia Atton had an impressive 23 kills to lead the Chargers past Mount Pleasant in four sets – Midland Daily News

Today in the MHSAA: 9/16/2015

September 16, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

MHSAA Finals favorites in cross country and boys tennis got an early look at each other Tuesday, while a Corunna volleyball standout set a school record – literally.

Cross Country

Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart has become arguably the team to beat in Lower Peninsula Division 4 girls cross country, evidenced again by its win at the Beal City Invitational ahead of the reigning MHSAA champion Aggies – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

Boys Soccer

Division 2 No. 14 Fruitport scored with six minutes to play to push past Division 3 No. 12 Ludington 4-3 – Muskegon Chronicle

Northville, ranked No. 4 in Division 1, improved to 8-0 with a 4-1 win over Livonia Stevenson – Detroit News

Boys Tennis

The top-ranked teams in LP Division 4 met Tuesday, with No. 1 Ann Arbor Greenhills prevailing in close matches to claim a 6-2 win over No. 2 Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett – Mlive-Detroit

We’ve heard of lots of traveling trophies in football, but this might be a first for tennis; Clio tied Swartz Creek 4-4, and with a 5-3 win as well this season, retained “The Rock” – Flint Journal

From Saturday, we’ve got a more detailed account of how the strong competition played out at the Grosse Pointe North Invitational – Grand Rapids Press

Girls Tennis

Iron Mountain, last season’s Upper Peninsula Division 2 runner-up, moved to 14-0 this season in a close match against reigning Division 1 runner-up Kingsford – Iron Mountain Daily News

Volleyball

Reigning Class A champion Romeo rode a strong finishing run by Miss Volleyball favorite Gia Milana to down always-powerful Marysville – Macomb Daily

Corunna’s Skylar Napier broke her school’s career assists record with 2,328 during a pair of wins over Lake Fenton and Montrose – Flint Journal

Midland Bullock Creek may be unranked, but at least locally has been nearly unstoppable, moving to 19-2-1 with a pair of wins Monday – Midland Daily News

Good Read

And a good cause – Okemos and Mason’s boys soccer teams introduced this season’s "Compete for a Cause" game, which will be played Sept. 26 under the lights at Okemos High School. The teams combined last season to raise $11,000 for childhood cancer research – Lansing State Journal