SUTTONS BAY — Traverse City Christian defeated Lake Leelanau St. Mary in Suttons Bay to win the program’s first volleyball district crown since 2021.
It’s the fourth time the Sabres and Eagles played in the last month, with St. Mary taking the first two and TC Christian the last pair, all in close matches — 25-13, 25-17, 25-18
TC Christian leaders: Shelby Oster 3 kills, 6 blocks; Olivia Strehl 14 kills, 7 digs, 5 aces, 2 blocks; Scarlet Bouwmeester 9 kills, 6 digs, 2 aces, 1 block; Lydia Critchfield 15 assists, 2 kills, 2 digs, 1 block, 1 ace; Cahill Stimpson 12 assists, 2 aces, 2 digs.
Lake Leelanau St. Mary leaders: Cathryn Mikowski 6 kills, 3 digs; Kyla Barnowski 4 kills, 11 digs, 2 aces; Lydia Bramer 10 assists, 1 kill, 7 digs; Maggie Ursu 1 kill, 6 digs; Madelyn Hamilton 1 kill, 2 digs; Daisy Serrano 4 digs.
The Sabres (21-19-2) take on Hale (16-10-3) in Division 4 regionals Tuesday at Boyne Falls. TC Christian plays at 6 p.m., followed by Bellaire (25-9-4) vs. Buckley (29-8) at 8 p.m.
Lake Leelanau St. Mary concludes the season with a 27-15-3 record.
DIVISION 4
Buckley 3
McBain NMC 1
Buckley won its first volleyball district championship in 19 years with a 18-25, 26-24, 25-20, 25-14 victory over McBain Northern Michigan Christian in Marion.
Buckley: Maddi Sladek 8 digs, 8 kills, 4 aces; Lucy Moyer 7 digs, 3 kills, 5 blocks, 2 aces; Alison Moyer 7 kills, 5 blocks, 3 aces; Maddie Chilson 2 digs, 8 kills, 2 blocks.
“We had a very slow start but gained lots of momentum after winning the second set,” Bears coach Jordin Ellens said. “We had an awesome blocking game, and I firmly believe that’s what pushed us to win.”
McBain NMC: Ava Johns 6 aces, 6 kills, 12 digs; Maria DeRuiter 2 kills, 8 digs, 24 assists; Renee Kuperus 1 ace, 3 kills, 1 block, 10 digs; Harper Tossey 1 ace, 9 kills, 5 blocks, 10 digs; Melanie Bennett 1 ace, 9 kills, 10 digs; Myra Yount 4 kills, 2 blocks, 9 digs.
“We came out strong the first set tonight and it was so fun to see us play with grit and power,” NMC coach Janelle Winkle said. “We fought the other 3 sets mostly point to point with Buckley. They got hot and found our holes, and we just got out of system and made simple errors. I am so proud of my girls and the fight they brought this year.”
UP NEXT: The Bears (29-8-0) face Bellaire in regionals Tuesday at Boyne Falls.
Bellaire 3
Central Lake 0
Brooklyn Fischer returned from a one-game absence due to illness to lead Bellaire to a 25-19, 25-17, 25-17 win over Central Lake at Gaylord St. Mary to take a Division 4 district championship.
Bellaire: Addy Patton 26 digs, 10 assists, 5 aces, 2 kills; Fischer 7 kills, 15 digs, 2 aces, 1 block; Abi Yuhaus 5 kills, 10 digs; Taum Molski 4 digs, 1 block; Madi DePew 5 digs, 2 kills; Alayna Elandt 14 digs; Rianna Slabosz 13 digs, 4 aces; Brooklyn Stevens 5 aces.
UP NEXT: The Eagles (25-9-4) take on Buckley in regionals Tuesday at Boyne City.
Onekama 3
Frankfort 0
Onekama def. Frankfort 25-13, 25-16, 25-8 in Onekama.
UP NEXT: The Portagers (33-10-3) take on the winner of Friday’s match between Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart (38-4-2) and Breckenridge (41-5-4) in Tuesday’s regional semifinal at Sacred Heart.
Inland Lakes 3
Charlevoix 0
Inland Lakes def. Charlevoix 25-7, 25-21, 25-22 at Johannesburg-Lewiston.
UP NEXT: The Bulldogs (30-9-1) play the winner of Friday’s district final match between Traverse City St Francis (30-12-3) and Elk Rapids (25-10-1) in regionals Tuesday at East Jordan; Charlevoix ends the season at 9-25-4.
DIVISION 1
Petoskey 3
Gaylord 0
Petoskey downed Gaylord for the fourth time this season to win a district championship, winning 25-22, 25-14, 25-13.
UP NEXT: Petoskey (25-10-0) awaits the winner of Saturday’s district final between Traverse City Central (36-1-1) and Mount Pleasant (24-16-3); the Blue Devils conclude the season at 23-14-3.
DIVSION 2
Kingsley 3
Boyne City 1
Kingsley avenged a loss to Boyne City in last year’s Division 3 district final with a win this time around, 25-27, 25-19, 25-16, 25-22 on Boyne’s home court.
The Stags and Ramblers played three times this season, with Kingsley taking the last two meetings.
Kingsley: Jenna Middleton 33 kills, 22 digs; Marisa Graham 11 kills, 2 blocks, 6 digs; Sarah Wooer 2 kills, 57 assists, 26 digs; Isabelle Seitz 40 digs, 2 aces; Aizlyn McKinley 4 kills, 26 digs, 4 aces; Olivia Reamer 4 kills, 1 block, 7 digs; Alena Stewart 12 digs; Delaney Case 8 kills, 3 blocks; Hanna Curtis 7 digs, 1 ace.
Boyne City: Josie Wilson 14 kills, 13 digs, 1 block; Morgan Erickson 2 aces, 34 digs; Ameilia Dunstan 11 kills, 5 blocks, 1 ace, 8 digs; Adonae Patton 100% serve receive, 12 digs; Lily Payton 37 assists, 14 digs; Elly Wilcox 8 kills, 16 digs, 1 block; Hailey Van Horn 10 kills; Katelyn Dittmar 5 kills.
UP NEXT: The Stags (46-7-3) head to Manistique for regionals Tuesday against Kingsford (31-4-0).
Mt. Pleasant 3
Cadillac 1
Mt. Pleasant def. Cadillac 26-24, 24-26, 22-25, 18-25.
Cadillac: Cassie Jenema 31 assists, 8 kills, 2 blocks, 26 digs; Sophia Clough 28 digs, 14 kills, 2 blocks, 2 assists, 1 ace; Lydia Owens 11 kills, 9 digs, 2 aces; Kaylee Tweedale 8 digs, 2 kills, 2 blocks, 1 ace, 1 assist; Maddie Taylor 4 kills, 3 digs, 2 aces, 1 block; Chloe Lijewski 3 digs, 2 kills, 1 assist; Ari Bryant 33 digs, 3 assists, 2 aces; Alivia Lorenz 18 digs, 1 assist; Grace Zuback 10 digs, 2 assists; Gabi Schepers 3 kills, 1 dig, 1 block.
UP NEXT: The Vikings finish the season with a 26-15-1 record.
DIVISION 3
McBain 3
Manton 0
McBain won its five consecutive district championship with a straight-sets win over Manton, 25-19, 25-21, 25-17.
“This is just about as good of following the game plan as I could have expected from the girls,” coach Shawn Murphy said. “We set some goals going into this match and I felt like the girls really stepped into the gym tonight focused and ready to play. There were a few points that we definitely had to earn, but at this point in the season, that is what you expect.”
McBain: Ayla Fredin 10 kills, 1 ace, 8 digs; Gwyneth VerBerkmoes 8 kills, 3 blocks, 13 digs, 2 aces; Madison Ochampaugh 26 assists, 1 ace, 4 digs; Adria Rozeveld 5 kills, 1 ace, 7 digs; Brooklyn Hall 4 kills, 1 block, 3 aces, 10 digs; Megan Kile 1 ace; Shannon Maloney 3 kills, 1 block.
UP NEXT: The Ramblers (22-12-2) head to regionals Tuesday in Houghton Lake; the Rangers finish the season with a 28-13-3 record.