By Robert Tomlinson
News Director
THREE RIVERS — Winning a district championship is pretty sweet. Making it to the regional finals after a win the following week? Even sweeter.
Three Rivers’ volleyball team accomplished that this past week, winning the Division 2 district championship on their home court after defeating Wolverine Conference foes Edwardsburg in the semifinals 3-1 Wednesday, Nov. 6 (25-17, 17-25, 25-23, 25-22) and Vicksburg in the district finals 3-1 on Thursday, Nov. 7 (13-25, 26-24, 25-11, 25-23).
The district title was the fourth overall for the program, the first since 2021, and the first under Jergens, who also won a district title as a player in the 2013 season.
“It feels really good, especially winning it here on our home court, especially for our seniors, their last home match, they get to go out with a bang,” Three Rivers head coach Megan Jergens said about the Wildcats’ district championship.
Then, on Tuesday, the Wildcats defeated Lansing Catholic 3-1 (25-17, 22-25, 25-21, 25-15) to advance to Thursday’s regional championship match against No. 3-ranked Harper Creek at Harper Creek High School in Battle Creek. The results of that match will be in next week’s edition.
Against Edwardsburg, Allie Yost and Bekah Beachey led the way for Three Rivers with 10 kills each, with Yost adding seven digs and two aces and Beachey adding three digs. Dani Glass had nine kills and 16 digs, London Hoffmaster had five kills and three blocks, Braylee Burg had four blocks and three digs, Tori Thorbjornsen had 18 digs, and Miley Southland had 26 assists, 13 digs, and four aces.
In the Vicksburg matchup, Bekah Beachey had four kills, including the match-winning kill in the fourth set, and five digs, Yost had 13 kills and seven digs, Hoffmaster had 11 kills and three digs, Dani Glass had seven kills and a team-high 31 digs, Thorbjornsen had 24 digs and two kills, Peyton Roberts had two aces, Natalie Bachinski had eight digs and three aces, Leah Kane had 13 digs, and Southland had 33 assists, 10 digs and two kills.
In the regionals match against Lansing Catholic, Hoffmaster had 12 kills and five blocks to lead the team in both categories. Beachey had seven kills and three blocks, Yost had six kills and four digs, Southland had 34 assists, 13 digs and four kills, Glass racked up a whopping 11 aces and 16 digs, Thorbjornsen had 21 digs and two kills, and Kane had 19 digs.
Mendon advances to regionals with win over Burr Oak, moves to finals with win over Hillsdale Academy
ATHENS — The Mendon Hornets made it two district championships in a row last Friday, as they swept the Burr Oak Bobcats 25-13, 25-10 and 25-20.
The Hornets then went on to sweep Hillsdale Academy Tuesday to make it to Thursday’s regional final against Concord at Bellevue High School. The results of that match will be in next week’s edition.
For the Lady Hornets against Burr Oak, Kayla Wenzel, posted 29 assists, four kills and seven digs, while teammate Cienna Nightingale came up with 16 kills, six digs and two aces. Gracie Schultz recorded nine kills and 21 digs, and Jadyn Samson added 27 digs and four assists. Rounding out the Mendon totals were Lila Schinker, who had six kills and nine digs, and Brianna Heitkamp, who finished with two aces and three digs.
Sarah Hirschy led the Burr Oak effort, as she had 14 kills and 13 digs, Braylyn Hernandez contributed 18 assists and 13 digs, and Cristal Hernandez had 21 digs and four kills. Also for the Lady Bobcats, Addison Eldridge recorded seven digs. Burr Oak completes the season with a record of 19-4.
Burr Oak moved on to the district championship game against Mendon with a hard-fought five game win over the Lady Magi on Wednesday, Nov. 6. Colon out-pointed the Lady Bobcats in the first game, 25-19, but Burr Oak came back to take the second game, 25-14. In the closest tilt of the evening, the Lady Magi held on for a 28-26 win, but the Bobcats captured the match by winning the next two by the scores of 25-13 and 15-11.
Sarah Hirschy had 21 kills, 18 digs and three aces, Braylyn Hernandez came up with 35 assists, 32 digs and three aces, while Cristal Hernandez added 21 digs, six kills and one block. Makaila Whittington had four kills and two blocks, Addison Eldridge contributed eight digs and three aces, Linda Ultz had 11 digs, and Inez Ultz booked six digs.
Constantine moves on to district final with win over rival White Pigeon
WHITE PIGEON — The White Pigeon volleyball season came to an end last week, as the Constantine Falcons took down the Lady Chiefs in district action 25-14, 25-20 and 25-19.
“It’s never easy watching your seniors play their last games, especially on your home court,” stated coach Melissa Gales. “While it wasn’t the outcome we wanted, our season improved, and we couldn’t have had a better finale.”
Kenlee Schrader had 17 assists, 14 digs and one kill, Grace Bontrager finished with 15 digs and three kills, while teammate Ellie McBride had 13 digs, seven kills and one ace. Layla Abner added 11 digs, two assists and one ace, and Sadie McDaniel contributed nine kills and eight digs. Shelby McDaniel booked three digs, two kills and one block, Mable Post had seven digs and one block, and Addison Smith rounded out the White Pigeon effort by recording five digs.
Coach Gales also added “I loved the season we had and couldn’t ask for anything more from these girls. We played a tough district schedule against many talented players and coaches. I love how far White Pigeon volleyball has come, and where it’s going.”
“We played a little nervous and tight tonight but this team has fought through ups and downs all season,” Constantine Head Coach Tiffany Lewis said. “They know tomorrow they will have to stay even tempered and not let Bronson get a big lead on them. They are going to have to make spur of the moment adjustments and just go out there have fun and play their game.”
Constantine, however, would get upended in the district finals Thursday, Nov. 7 with a 3-1 loss to Bronson.
Centreville bows out in districts against Bronson
WHITE PIGEON — Centreville’s volleyball season came to an end last week in the district semifinals against Bronson, 3-1 (13-25, 7-25, 25-23, 18-25).
“I am proud of the girls and what they did to compete after 2 rough losses to start the match,” head coach Deric Mostrom said. “It would have been really easy to just fold, but they came out fighting, they took the info and made their adjustments and it showed that they weren’t ready to be done. I am very proud of the group of seniors that we have as well. They were a great example, they were passionate and I believe they will be a part of many memories made not only for our team, but families and our Bulldog Community.”
Mara Webb had nine kills, including her 500th career kill, to lead the Bulldogs to go along with 10 digs. Mary Stears had seven kills and four digs, Kali Evans had six kills, two aces, 24 assists, 11 digs and a block, Mia Yoder had five kills and four digs, Drew Alexander had 24 digs and an assist, and Lena Reed had two kills.
