Rochester is Stoney Creek’s postseason nightmare

BY DAN STICKRADT

SENIOR EDITOR

dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com

ROCHESTER — Rochester Stoney Creek had the dream of facing state-ranked Lake Orion in the district finals two years in a row. Both times, Rochester became such a dream wrecker.

Host Rochester rallied back from a 2-0 deficit to post a 3-2 victory over Stoney Creek in a Class A girls volleyball district semifinal to advance to Saturday’s 12 noon district finals against seventh-ranked Lake Orion.

In fact the Falcons’ comeback was improbable after they seemingly could not do anything right in the first two games, which Stoney Creek won 25-16 and 25-17. The Falcons rallied back with wins of 25-21, 25-23 and 17-15 to advance to the district finals for the second straight season had fifth time in seven seasons.

Rochester (11-25-5) gained some momentum back with a win in the third game and fought off the Cougars in the final two games for the match victory.

A year ago, Rochester rallied for a similar win, where they were down 13-11 to the Cougars in Game 5 before scoring the final four points. This time, Stoney Creek tied the fifth game at 13-13, 14-14 and 15-15 before a kill from Rochester’s Whitney Arnold and a block-kill from Stephanie Sikorski ended the marathon match.

“We got the momentum back, got some energy and we just came through (in the end),” said senior captain Stephanie Sikorski, the team’s setter. “I think we got a lot of confidence in the third game and that led to the fourth and fifth games.

Rochester coach Lauren Duquette believed her team could be the Cougars for the second time in two weeks.

“I knew from the beginning that we could beat them. We already beat them (at the Rochester City Cup last week),” said Duquette. “I think we came out scared. We came out and played not to lose. I had to (tell them) between those sets, ‘you go out there and play to win. Don’t play not to lose. Don’t play not to make an error. Go out there and want the dig, want the kill and want the block.’ I think they stepped it up (in the last three games).”

Maggie Irvine had eight kills, Catie Wiacek added five kills and Stephanie Sikorski chipped in 15 assists for Rochester, which had a balanced effort with multiple players coming through with points in a wide variety of ways.

Lisa Kisil had 10 kills and 21 digs, Alex Caporuscio added 34 assists, Sam Wingerter contributed nine kills and five blocks and Olivia Radke had 11 blocks and six kills for Stoney Creek, which finished the season with a 21-10-3 mark.

Stoney Creek coach Katie Pederson felt her team didn’t play through Rochester’s energy and some questionable calls, even with a 2-0 lead.

“Those few bad calls in the third and fourth games we just couldn’t play through,” said Pederson. “We just lost the momentum. I think we lost our voices, our energy after the first couple of games. I’m not taking anything away from Rochester (because) they stepped up. We had some really good things happen tonight. Lisa Kisil played her heart out. I have never seen her play that way. We wanted it really bad, we just couldn’t finish it.”

In the third game, Stoney Creek closed the deficit down to 18-16 but could never take the lead. In Game 4, Stoney Creek led 11-10 at one point. Later in the set, the Cougars closed to within 22-21 and 23-22 but could not find enough to pull ahead and take the match.

For Rochester, it’s another shot to play for a district title. The Falcons were swept by Lake Orion in last year’s district championship match and lost in the district finals in 2008 to Troy. They also lost in the first round of district play to Lake Orion in 2009.

“We are going to go out and be really pumped and go out and give it everything that we have,” said Sikosrski. “If we win, we’ll be really excited. But we have to try really hard to beat them.”

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Tags: High School Girls Volleyball, MHSAA Class A Girls Volleyball Districts, Prep Girls Volleyball, Rochester Girls Volleyball, Rochester Stoney Creek Girls Volleyball, volleyball

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