KINGSLEY — Kingsley senior Jenna Middleton etched her name into the Stag record books as she spiked her 2,000th kill during a home Kingsley Invitational Saturday.
“It’s hard to wrap my head around because I see a bunch of really great volleyball players at every game we play and, I don’t really see myself as that much better than everyone,” Middleton said. “It comes down to having a great team and support system by my side to help push me to this point.”
Middleton became the fourth northern Michigan player to accomplish the feat, and she hopes to break the school record currently held by 2018 graduate Jessica Loeffler with 2,026 kills.
Middleton earned the achievement against Negaunee as the Stags went 5-0.
Middleton had no idea she was approaching the milestone when the game suddenly stopped after she reached it.
“I was really confused. I had no idea what was happening and then everyone in the crowd held up signs and started cheering, and it was a pretty special moment to get to celebrate,” Middleton said. “It felt a lot more like a whole team accomplishment rather than an individual. … It was just the whole team environment of it. My coaches and teammates believed in me since I was a freshman and helped push me to where I am today.”
Kingsley (18-2, 2-0 conference) defeated McBain (25-20, 25-21), Midland Calvary Baptist (25-17, 25-12), Pine River (25-12, 25-16), Manistee (25-7, 25-7), and Negaunee (25-17, 25-12) without dropping a set all day.
Middleton led the day with 64 kills, 27 digs and four aces, while Aizlyn McKinley had 32 kills, 26 digs and 16 aces.
“(Middleton) is one of the hardest-working kids and one of the most humble kids I’ve ever been around,” Kingsley coach Dave Hall said. “She is extremely talented and a fun player to have on our team.”
Delaney Case added another 17 kills and was a force at the net with five blocks.
Kylen Orton was serving her teammates up all night with 97 assists, 40 digs and five aces. Ariyah McKinley had 34 digs and nine aces, while Alivia Dear had 22 digs and two aces m.
Kingsley is the reigning Division 3 state champion, hoping to make another run at it this season.
The Stags have four starters back, but several first-year players will need to blossom if they want to continue their winning ways.
“It’s starting to come together,” Hall said. “We were winning, but I would say we weren’t playing great earlier in the season. They’re starting to gel a little bit now. The chemistry is starting to come together and had a dominant day today against some good teams.”
Kingsley battles Grayling at home Tuesday.
VOLLEYBALL
Kemp reaches 2,000 digs
Charlevoix’s Ayla Kemp made Rayder history by gathering her 2,000th dig Saturday as the Rayders went 4-1 on the day.
McBain Volleyball goes 4-1
The Ramblers lost to Kingsley 19-25, 21-25; def. Negaunee 25-11, 17-25, 15-9; def. Calvary Baptist 25-22, 25-13; def. Pine River 25-23, 25-17; def. Manistee 25-15, 25-16.
“We struggled to find our rhythm today” McBain coach Shawn Murphy said. “We continue to have moments that are really good and moments that aren’t so good. We need to figure out how to keep the competitive stamina going for an entire match. I keep seeing glimpses of what this team is capable of, and I feel like any day, they are going to take that turn and start playing at a consistently high level,”
McBain (3-7-1): Adyson Schut 31 kills, 6 blocks, 4 aces, 11 digs; Lilah Gladu 61 assists, 9 aces, 4 digs; Brooklyn Hall 25 kills, 6 blocks, 3 aces, 9 digs; Adria Rozeveld 23 kills, 3 blocks, 3 aces, 11 digs; Makala VanPolen 10 kills, 2 blocks, 7 aces.
Elks win home invitational
Elk Rapids won the Elk Rapids Invitational, defeating Alpena 25-15, 25-22, 27-26; def. Bear Lake 25-13, 25-14, 25-15; def. Charlevoix 25-17, 25-22; def. Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart 27-26, 25-18.
Elk Rapids (5-1-2): Maggie Best 23 Kills 17 digs; Caris Bush 24 kills, 15 digs; Payton Friess 27 kills; Harper Hall 29 digs; Rylie Kaltenbach 10 kills, 4 blocks in finals; setters Izzy Koch and Lily Wierema combined for 77 assists.
Lake City 3-2 in own tourney
Lake City volleyball went 3-2 Saturday with wins against Gaylord St. Mary 25-10, 25-10; Gladwin 25-16, 25-12; fell to TC Christian 25-16, 25-12; def. Suttons Bay 28-26, 25-15; fell to Traverse City St. Francis 23-25, 25-15,3-15).
“Overall, we played well on the day! It was great to see some hard competition. We had our chances against St. Francis and TC Christian but couldn’t pull out a win. It showed our team our potential and allowed us to gain some insight into what to work on next week before we open up conference play,” Lake City coach Amber Besko said.
Lake City (7-6-0): Bella Wetzel 5 aces, 3 kills, 34 digs; Evelyn Read 13 digs, 9 kills; Marlee Manick 4 aces, 37 assists; Riely Hogan 4 blocks, 6 digs, 6 kills; Kalli Davis 12 aces, 20 digs; Lexi Comp 5 aces, 24 digs; Scarlett Park 5 blocks, 23 kills; Paige Wilson 12 kills, 9 digs; Piper McLeod 10 digs, 3 blocks, 4 kills; Aubree Knuth 11 digs, 49 assists; Lola Manick 5 blocks, 10 digs, 35 kills.
Norse battle at Lake City
Suttons Bay volleyball fell to Traverse City St. Francis 25-21, 22-25; Reed City 26-28, 15-25; Lake City 22-25, 25-16.
Suttons Bay (9-2-0): Ava Anderson 4 aces, 39 kills, 16 digs; Leah Clarke 8 aces, 65 assists; Olive Craker 4 aces, 12 kills, 16 digs; Cecelia Koleno 8 aces, 8 kills; Bella Wilson 14 kills.
BOYS SOCCER
TC West 1
Hudsonville 0
Traverse City West (at Byron Center Mini-Invite): Trier Fritz goal; Cruz Lockhart assist; Oscar Woell shutout.
TC West 1
Byron Center 0
Traverse City West (7-2-1, 3-0-1 BNC): Lockhart goal; Woell shutout.
Flint Powers 1
Elk Rapids 0
Elk Rapids (at Williamston Showcase): Corbin Bogard 3 saves.
“This was our first loss of the season, and we probably had our worst half of the season as well (in the first half),” coach Nate Plum said. “We didn’t communicate well or move off the ball to support possession. But that is what good teams will do, they will frustrate you, pressure you, and force you into mistakes. … In the second half, we played much better, generating a lot more possession in our attacking third of the field.”
Elk Rapids 2
Mason 0
Elk Rapids (at Williamston Showcase): Tyler Standfest goal; Miles Prabhaker assist; Jayden Poniatoski goal; Quinn Standfest assist; Corbin Bogard 3 saves; Drew Plum, Jake Garrow, Garret Goddin, Eli Zbytowski led defense.
Area scores with no details reported: Kingsley 4, Suttons Bay 3; Midland 7, Cadillac 0.
CROSS COUNTRY
TC West wins Titans Takeoff
Traverse City West boys cross country earned a win over Traverse City Central and Lake City Saturday at the Titans Takeoff.
Titan senior Liam Wierzba won with a time of 16:26.
Lake City girls took first, followed by Traverse City West and Pine River.
Lake City freshman Issadore Shaw placed first (19:12).
In the middle school division, Traverse City East and Traverse City West finished first and second, with Mount Pleasant in third place. In the middle school girls division, TC West defeated TC East for second and Mount Pleasant for third.
Glads take Buckley Invite
Traverse City St. Francis girls and boys cross country teams both took first at the Buckley Invite Saturday.
Gladiator freshman Maggie Mohrhardt led the team with a fifth-place finish, followed closely by Ellery Kemner at sixth, and Molly Kate Hollandsworth in seventh, Kate Rowe eighth, Emma Kerr ninth, Ruby Rhein 10th, and Emily Dunphey in 15th. Both Rowe and Kemner posted personal-best times on the day.
William Ready led Traverse City St. Francis boys with a fourth-place finish, followed by Hayden Mohrhardt in eighth, Harper Mullet (11th), Louis Ready (14th), Padraig Hollandsworth (31st), Lucas Quintanilla (39th), Henry Hager (40th).
Both Quintanilla and Hollandsworth posted personal-best times during the competitive races.
The Benzie boys and girls team finished second in both races.
Benzie junior Avery Kelly finished second behind Roscommon’s Alaina Civinskas in first.
Leland’s Sophie Grinage finished third, followed by Maggie McClellan (Benzie Central) during the competitive race.
For the Buckley Bears, Ethan Harrand led with a 13th-place finish (17:58) and Brooklyn Griffin finished 20th (22:36).
Benzie Central’s Eli VanPoortfliet finished first, followed by Kyle Redman (Mesick), Cage Edingfield (Benzie), William Read (TCSF), Tristan Hernandez (Kingsley), Donovan Reist (Mancelona), Evan Civinskas (Roscommon), H. Mohrhardt (TCSF), Nolan Koscinski (Bear Lake) and Carter Suttman (Leland) in 10th.
Harbor Springs sweeps Charlevoix XC Classic
Both Harbor Springs boys and girls teams earned wins at the Charlevoix XC Classic Saturday.
Stefi Reskevics and Gabi Rempe led the Rams in the girls’ race with times of 21:35 and 22:33, and Reese Woodham finished third, along with Taya Price-Thatcher and Sophia Balistreri finishing eighth and ninth, respectively.
On the boys’ side, Harbor Springs junior Ryan Latimer finished second; freshman Zander Springer and freshman Duke Roder led the Rams in fourth and fifth place.
Chance Tomlin also had a ninth-place finish for the Rams while freshman Gabe Burch claimed a 20th finish.
Boyne City boys finished second as senior Finn Parish won the race by over a minute with a time of 18:02.
The Rambler girls team also finished second as Boyne City sophomore Allison Kujawski led with a third-place finishing time of 22:36.