VICKSBURG — Harper Creek made it a long way down the road to the state finals last year, ending in the Final Four at Kellogg Arena.
If the Beavers want to take a similar trip back to the final weekend in Battle Creek this year, it had to start on Monday as teams across the state began district tournament play in the Michigan High School Athletic Association volleyball state tournament.
Harper Creek earned a hard-fought win over city rival Pennfield 3-1 in a Division 2 district tourney opener at Vicksburg High School on Monday, Nov. 3.
MORE: Volleyball district tourney schedule for Battle Creek-area teams
“We have been looking forward to this day, start of districts, since Aug. 11, whenever the first day of practice was,” Harper Creek coach Terra King said. “These girls know about this time of the year. The more times you make deep runs, the more you understand what it is you want. Anything can happen in postseason, they want it and they are ready.”
Harper Creek won 25-16, 20-25, 25-19, 25-23. The Beavers improved to 28-21-1 and advance to the district semifinals to see host Vicksburg in Wednesday action. Vicksburg is 30-15-1.
Harper Creek opened tournament play without its all-state junior outside hitter Camille Robinson, who has been out with an injury for two weeks.
“She is sidelined for now. We don’t really have all the answers yet as when she will be back. But we have a lot of depth, so we are uniquely prepared for this,” King said. “The other thing is, we have had to rely on her a lot during the season. So during this stretch without her, we have had other people step up and realize they are maybe a little stronger than they thought they were.
“Don’t get me wrong, I would love to have her back. But I think we are stronger for the time she’s been out and if she jumps back in now, I think we will be all the better.”
Taegen Anderson led Harper Creek with 18 kills with 18 digs. Ella Brannen added nine kills and 17 digs for the Beavers. Ande King came up with 39 assists and had eight digs.
It was the sixth meeting between the two city schools this season, with Harper Creek sweeping all the matchups against Pennfield. However, the Panthers pushed the Interstate 8 Conference champion Beavers to the limit this time around.
Harper Creek started fast with a 7-1 lead in the first set and was in control all the way for the 25-16 win.
It was Pennfield that set the tone in the second set, leading 7-4 in the early going. Harper Creek rallied to eventually tie things up at 13-13. After reaching the 19-19 mark, Pennfield stretched the lead late and outscored the Beavers 6-1 to win 25-20.
Another quick start was key for Harper Creek in the third set, leading 6-3. This time, Pennfield didn’t go away so easily and cut the lead to 11-10. From there, the Beavers went on a 10-3 run to lead 21-13 before finishing up the 25-19 win.
Pennfield’s last chance to keep its season alive made for a back-and-forth fourth set as it was tied at 14-14 before Harper Creek took a 22-17 lead. However, the Panthers put together five straight points to knot it up at 22-22 before Harper Creek secured the match with a 25-23 win.
“I was proud of how my girls played. They showed up. They gave it everything they had. This is the sixth time we have seen Harper Creek this year, we knew what they had,” Pennfield coach Brooke Wells said. “Everyone stepped up. We had a great season. I couldn’t be more proud.”
Irelynn Sedore led Pennfield with 18 kills and 19 digs to go along with two aces. Natalie Jackson had 11 kills. Charli Greger had 33 assists and 17 digs with Danika Rothchild finishing with 22 digs. Greger reached the 1,000 assist milestone for her career. The Panthers end the year at 26-18-6.
Division 1 at Portage Central
Coldwater opened tourney play with a 3-0 victory over Battle Creek Central at a Division 1 district at Portage Central. The Cardinals won 25-6, 25-14, 25-9 to improve to 23-17-5 and advance to face host Portage Central (20-20) in a 7 p.m. Wednesday meeting. Battle Creek Central ends the season at 2-25.
Division 3 at Bronson
Homer saw its season come to an end with a 3-2 loss to Centreville in the opener of this Division 3 district at Bronson. Homer finishes at 27-20-4. Centreville won a marathon match, 24-26, 25-10, 25-15, 15-25, and improves to 16-17-4 and advances to face host Bronson, which is 26-17-4.
In the other half of the district opening night at Bronson, Union City defeated Quincy, 3-1. Union City won 25-20, 25-18, 14-25, 25-23 and improves to 24-18-2 and advances to see Galesburg-Augusta (21-5-4) on Wednesday.
Division 4 at St. Philip
The Division 4 district at St. Philip begins Tuesday with Athens facing Calhoun Christian in one first-round matchup and Bellevue seeing Marshall Academy in the other.
Division 4 at Colon
The Division 4 district at Colon begins Tuesday with host Colon facing Burr Oak in the opener.
Bill Broderick can be reached at bbroderi@battlecreekenquirer.com. Follow him on X/Twitter: @billbroderick
This article originally appeared on Battle Creek Enquirer: Volleyball districts get started; Harper Creek, Coldwater advance out of first round
Reporting by Bill Broderick, Battle Creek Enquirer / Battle Creek Enquirer
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