Traverse City Record-Eagle

Sports

November 4, 2012

TC West, St. Francis win district volleyball crowns

West, St. Francis advance to regionals

From staff reports ----

Regional volleyball action is coming to Traverse City on Tuesday — twice.

After Traverse City West and TC St. Francis posted district championship wins Saturday, the two teams will play regional semifinal contests in their home town Tuesday.

The Titans (28-14-1) had to win a pair of matches Saturday to claim the district trophy and move on.

TC West topped TC Central 25-15, 25-17, 25-13 in the semifinals and then defeated Petoskey 25-13, 25-17, 22-25, 25-16 in the finals.

"We just were pretty strong all around," West coach Emily Baumann said. "We were strong on defense, made our hits and did everything well. We had everything hitting on all cylinders."

Up next for West is Grand Haven in Tuesday's regional semi at 5:30 p.m. at Traverse City Central. The two teams split a match in tournament play early this season.

"They have a really big middle," Baumann said. "They remind me of Petoskey — a big players in the middle and some other good players around her."

The Titans were led by katie Placek (34 kills, 28 digs, 10 blocks), Courtney VanHouzen (23 kills, 20 digs, eight blocks), Megan Traines (16 kills, 16 digs), Anna O'Hara (22 kills, 11 digs), Mattison Mokanyk (83 assists) and Kimmy Bilinski (16 digs).

Central's top performers were Brie Goodno (12 kills), Kiley Kowal (four kills), Paige Emmott (nine digs) and Maddy Duensing (17 assists).

St. Francis (38-7-3) won its second district crown in three years with a 25-13, 25-17, 25-21 win over Manton, coming back from a 7-1 deficit in the third game to close it out.

"We started out strong," Gladiators coach Heather Simpson said. "They were a little nervous at first, but once we got through that, we played good defense and went from there."

The Glads were led by Bridget Bussell (16 kills, four aces, 18 digs), Kaitlyn Hegewald (29 assists, three aces, three blocks), Madison Rysztak (nine kills, six digs) and Leah Schmerheim (three aces).

St. Francis will host Boyne City Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.

"They've improved," Simpson said. "We'll be looking forward to it. They'll have their big hitter back, and they didn't have her the last time we played."

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