TRAVERSE CITY — Suttons Bay gave Traverse City St. Francis more than just a good tuneup a couple weeks before the postseason kicks in.
The Gladiators won 25-23, 25-23, 25-10 against the Lady Norse in Thursday’s nonconference volleyball match at St. Francis.
“it was really fun that we got to play really good competition,” TCSF middle blocker Lola Brown said. “Normally in our home games we’re a lot better than the other team we’re playing. So it was nice to get some competition at our home gym. To be able to play against these teams prepares us and helps us play up to our potential.”
TC St. Francis, ranked No. 8 in Division 3 and a two-time defending state finalist, has four events left before the postseason, while Suttons Bay’s schedule is a bit more packed with six competitions remaining.
Suttons Bay, an honorable mention pick in the Division 4 state rankings, lost just its second match of the season. The other came against Onekama, with the Portagers, Norse and Buckley splitting the Northwest Conference crown three ways with one league setback each.
“They’ve worked so hard this season, and they continue to push themselves,” Norse coach Olivia Dohm said. “That last set wasn’t our best reflection of the year, but the first two were some of our best sets we’ve seen all season, and I’m really proud of them for that.”
Thursday’s match was also St. Francis’ Dig Pink game, raising funds for breast cancer.
TCSF players threw shirts into the crowd during pregame player announcements, many players on both sides sported pink ribbons in their hair, the Gladiators wore pink jerseys and the gym floor’s lines were taped out in pink.
“Our blocking was definitely really good today,” Brown said. “We practiced a lot of transitioning yesterday, and that helped a lot with the speed of our game. We were able to speed it up and catch the other team off guard a little bit. We’ve just been working on a faster offense in general.”
Brown, a junior who stands almost 6-foot-3, had five blocks to lead the Glads, as she and Quinn Yenshaw each produced a dozen kills.
St. Francis (19-13) went up 17-12 in the first set as Yenshaw recorded back-to-back aces off the tape, but Suttons Bay rallied to take the next six points for an 18-17 lead before TCSF pulled out a narrow 25-23 win.
Suttons Bay (17-2) led 11-6 on a Megan U’Ren tip in the second set. The Gladiators would battle back to tie the set several times, but couldn’t take the lead until late. Lucy Wichern’s reverse set tip found the floor to tie it up again at 23 and Brown finished off the set with a kill and a block.
“Lola is getting really fast on her transitioning and her approaches, being aggressive with her swings,” TCSF co-head coach Allison Yenshaw said. “She’s really good at reading the other team’s hitters, quick on blocking. She absolutely stood out.”
St. Francis took control early in the third, leading 17-6 on a Wichern ace.
Wichern was an outside hitter and middle blocker in middle school, making the switch to setting this season. She’s picked it up well enough that the Glads were able to move to a 5-1 offense instead of a 6-2 and let Reese Jones concentrate on libero duties to shore up SF’s back line defense.
“It’s a big ask for a freshman going from eighth grade volleyball to the big leap to varsity high school volleyball,” Yenshaw said. “She has come along by leaps and bounds. I’m so impressed by her. You’re the quarterback of the team, and she is. She’s a kid who works so hard. She’s super coachable. She wants to know how she can improve each and every day.”
Ava Anderson led the Norse with an ace, seven kills and 12 digs, while U’Ren added an ace, five kills and eight digs.
“They all worked really diligently to make sure that they were communicating and getting the points when we needed them,” Dohm said. “We have some really great leaders on our team right now. Ava Anderson is a great leader. Megan U’Ren, Olivia Schmidt and Anna Porter have really been helping out with our setter Leah Clark as well.”
Harper Nausadis and Wichern each had four kills, while Jones had 15 digs and Yenshaw 11. Coco Miller had eight digs, Yenshaw served up eight aces on the night and Wichern dished out 32 assists for the Glads, who play Saturday in the McBain Invitational.
St. Francis’ height advantage was apparent in the match, but the Norse still kept up for the first very close sets.
“We don’t grow tall people in Leelanau County,” Dohm joked. “We do, but we just don’t have the height right now. This is a really good test of what’s to come. I’m excited for the rest of the season and to finish strong.”
Suttons Bay brings in Grand Traverse Academy on Tuesday, then host the rebooted Leelanau Quad with Glen Lake, Leland and Lake Leelanau St. Mary.
“Suttons Bay is a great team,” Alison Yenshaw said. “Very scrappy. I’m really happy we got to play them. Super impressive team. Really talented girls. They go for every ball, they go all out.”