During player introductions of the Division 1 volleyball district final on Nov. 6 at Northville, legendary KLAA announcer Robert Mitchell boomed across the speakers, “No. 13, Lexi Coleman!” when announcing fifth-ranked South Lyon East’s roster.
The only problem?
Coleman wasn’t there.
The freshman was in Costa Rica. As one of the top-ranked outside hitters in the country, she was representing USA Volleyball’s U-17 team in the NORCECA Continental Championship, meaning she was unavailable to help the Cougars during the district tournament.
And they could’ve used her, too, as they got one of the toughest draws in Michigan.
Not only did they have to beat defending state champion Northville on the Mustangs’ home floor in the district semifinal, but they faced rival South Lyon in the championship.
And the Lions? They’re no slouches either. Heck, South Lyon (35-10-0) lost by only a handful of points when the two met in Lakes Valley Conference play on Oct. 7.
“Absolutely, losing close to them in the regular season gave us confidence,” Lions coach Deena Maher said. “We’ve always believed that it was possible to beat them. We know Lexi is an incredible player, and she’s very hard to beat, and we’ve had a mental block with them. East has always been a hurdle for us, but we’ve known that we could get over it.
“I’m just so happy that we finally did it.”
That’s right, the Lions finally did it, swinging point for point with East (38-8-1), forcing a fifth set and holding on for the 3-2 upset to repeat as district champions.
They’ll face Brighton in the regional semifinal on Nov. 11 at Hartland.
“We knew this was something that we’ve needed to get over,” said Teagan Wesner, who recorded the match-clinching point. “I’ve been on the team for four years now — I’m a senior — and I’ve never beaten them. We wanted to prove ourselves and to everybody else that we could. And it feels great to knock them out of the tournament as well.”
It was about as back-and-forth a match as they get, with the Cougars proving they’re a stellar program, with or without Coleman.
In the opening set, South Lyon erased a late deficit, secured match point twice and relied on a kill from Kennedy Duncan and an East error to ensure a 26-25 win.
East bounced back with 25-17 and 25-18 wins in the following sets, including Maggie Stack going on two long serving runs that gave the Cougars some mojo.
But the Lions didn’t back down. Set 4 saw Wesner record two late kills to erase a 22-22 tie and set up South Lyon with the eventual 25-23 victory.
And in the deciding fifth set? South Lyon dominated the whole way, despite East taking two timeouts to try and slow down the Lions. Down the stretch, Duncan and Wesner each had key blocks, Aby Dafforn and Wesner had monster kills and then Wesner clinched the win by sailing a ball over the net that no East defender could get under.
“We knew what we had to do,” Wesner said. “I think we could’ve done it had Lexi been here or not. We’re a great team, and we knew we could all push through. … In the past couple of years, we’ve been so close. We just couldn’t get those one or two points. Now, knowing we could, it feels great.”
Despite losing two straight sets, the Lions never fell apart. Every time they faltered, they battled back. Which is saying something, because Maher worried their history with the Cougars might affect their mental focus at low points in the match.
“I’m not sure we were composed for most of it,” Maher said. “We’ve had such a mental block when playing East for so long. They’re such a great team without Lexi, and they proved that last night (in the district semifinal vs. Salem) and tonight. It was so much of a mental hurdle for us to get past them. When we finally realized that we could do it, they just came alive, and I’m just proud of them.”
Finally beating East and winning another district check two marks off their to-do list, proving they have the mental fortitude to push through adverse moments.
Getting past Brighton and advancing to the regional final is up next.
“We knew we could do it,” Maher said. “We talked right from the beginning of the season that this is what we wanted. We brought it up throughout the season that this was a goal, and we’ve just kept working toward it. I think we really had to push ourselves tonight, and I’m just happy it all came together in the end.”
Brandon Folsom covers high school sports in metro Detroit for Hometown Life. Follow him on his new X.com account at @folsomwrites.
This article originally appeared on Hometownlife.com: District champs! South Lyon volleyball’s seniors finally beat rival East
Reporting by Brandon Folsom, Hometownlife.com / Hometownlife.com
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
