Thank You from Second Half
January 25, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Next week will mark the one-year birthday of Second Half, our place to tell your high school sports stories.
And I thank you for helping us to such a great start.
We knew what we hoped to accomplish starting this site a year ago, but we've learned quite a bit during a relatively short time. Although we continue to pursue the mission of being home of the state’s best high school stories and a daily stop for fans, we’ll continue to experiment to figure out what you'd most like to see and how best we can continue to pass along the great things happening in MHSAA athletics.
A few things to call to your attention as we move ahead:
- First and foremost, we strive to tell your stories – hoping to hit every sport and all regions of our state – and have some intriguing ones coming up as we get into the second half of the winter season. Stay tuned.
- Second Half is the home for the “Battle of the Fans II.” We have visits to Buchanan and Vandercook Lake next week, followed by Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard and Zeeland East the week after. We’ll announce the winner Feb. 22. All will be found here first.
- We've revamped our video page (see menu across the top of this screen) and will be adding more videos more regularly in the year to come.
- After a brief hiatus, we’ll next week bring back “High 5s” featuring two athletes and a team that have done great things this season.
- What you’re reading now is the first of a weekly “First Pitch” blog that will allow us to post more of the quick hits we run across in our regular travels. Make sure to continue checking out the twice-weekly blog by Executive Director Jack Roberts, as well as the Viewpoints and SAC Sound-Offs supplied regularly by our friends from the Michigan State University Institute for the Study of Youth Sports and the members of our Student Advisory Council, respectively.
- We began providing in-depth statewide coverage – both previewing and then postgame reporting – of our Finals in every sport this fall, and hope to become your first and fastest source for the stories behind our championships.
We’re always looking for ideas both for stories or any other features you’d like to see – and feel free to send them directly to me at [email protected].
And again, thank you again for coming to our site today. We look forward to seeing you more in the year to come.
Italian Exchange Student Cerma Lends Big Swing, Enthusiasm to Escanaba
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
October 31, 2023
ESCANABA — Andrea Cerma is not new to volleyball.
Playing at Escanaba High School, this fall, however, was a new experience for the exchange student from Italy.
The senior left-handed hitter made the most of her opportunity while becoming one of the team’s leaders. Escanaba’s season came to an end Monday with a Division 2 District loss to Houghton.
“Andrea has brought a lot of passion,” coach Adam Lambert said. “She celebrates every point, which is something Escanaba has struggled with. Here, they celebrate the big points. I think some of it has rubbed off on the other girls. It’s contagious.”
There are no school-sponsored teams in Italy, where athletes instead play on club teams.
“The culture is completely different,” Cerma said. “We play outside. It would be warm over there for Michigan people. We also get a lot of wind. The wind has zero effect when you play inside, but it’s more of a factor outside.
Cerma is a left-handed hitter and said she believes that threw opponents off at first. Also an 88-percent server, she averaged five kills, three assists and three digs a game and had a 1.71 serve receive rating through the end of the regular season last week. She collected six kills in a 3-0 victory over Menominee and added seven kills and five assists in last Tuesday’s 3-1 (25-23, 20-25, 25-17, 25-22) loss to Marquette.
“Andrea is our leading scorer,” Lambert said last week. “She’s very coachable and not afraid to ask questions if she doesn’t understand a drill or an assignment.
"Over there, they do more stretching. Here, teams shake hands and go home after the matches. Andrea does stretching after every match and leads the other girls in stretching, although it hasn’t really caught on here yet.”
“Andrea has brought a lot of excitement and new things to our team,” senior Aleaha Lambert added. “She has a great swing. We’re learning new ways to do things. Right now we need to work on reaching high and following through on our swings.”
Prior to last Thursday’s 3-0 loss (25-21, 25-14, 25-15) to Manistique, Cerma had 132 kills, 87 digs, 77 assists and 12 blocks on the season.
“Andrea has been real flexible,” Coach Lambert said. “We moved her to an outside hitter position which made it easier for her to get some shots. She had one perfect night where she didn’t have any hitting errors. She's a very accurate hitter. She had as many (as) 17-18 kills in one match. Other teams didn’t see that coming. She can see the court real well. Andrea has been a nice addition to our team.”
Cerma finished with three kills and three digs in Thursday’s regular-season finale against the Emeralds. She added two kills, an assist and three digs against Houghton in the closing 18-25, 18-25, 25-23, 23-25 defeat.
“(Manistique’s) energy is very high,” junior Lily Nelson said after that match. “They were paying attention to Andrea for sure. She’s a real good all-around player who brings a lot of energy to our team.”
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.
PHOTOS (top) Escanaba’s Andrea Cerma prepares to serve against Marquette on Oct. 24. (Middle) Cerma (13) ascends to kill the ball during a match against Manistique on Thursday. (Photos courtesy of the Escanaba Daily Press.)