GIRLS VOLLEYBALL: NMC ousts Troy Bethany in MACS state semifinals
Bruins make 14th straight Final Four appearance
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
MIDLAND — Troy Bethany Christian made its usual stop in the Michigan Association of Christian Schools Division I tournament Tuesday at Midland Calvary Baptist. The Bruins ran into a buzz saw.
Top-ranked Burt Lake Northern Michigan Christian halted plans of a state championship game appearance for Bethany Christian, posting a 25-10, 25-14, 25-19 victory to advance to the title game at Clarkston Springfield Christian.
It marked the Bruins 14th straight appearance in the MACS state semifinals.
“We had another good season. I know we’ve had a good run over the years,” said tom Hagspihl, who took over just before the start of the season. “We did a great job, winning our conference and making it back to the semis. This is my first year coaching, but we have been blessed with some very good teams over the years.”
So have the title-game-bound Eagles, who moved to 24-2-0 despite having just 32 students in grades 9-12. NMC will face Greenville Beth Haven Christian on Saturday in the title game at Springfield Christian.
Jennifer Thompson and Rebekah Laurie had five aces apiece, taking advantage of Bethany Christian losing junior setter Kelly Stonewall to injury. Natasha Vinz added nine kills and Laurie Vinz eight kills.
Like they have all season, senior outside hitter Lianna Sprankle, junior outside hitter Sarah Bishop and senior middle blocker Jordan Walraven led the Bruins (21-3-0) on the court.
“I think it hurt having lost Kelly Stonewall to injury. We had to shuffle some people around,” said Hagspihl.”But we lost to a very good team. Northern Michigan is very good defensively, they have a couple of nice hitters and a couple of great servers. We just couldn’t stop them the first couple of games.
“In the third game, we had a two-point lead at one point, but they just came right back at us,” added Haspihl. “They we just a better team. I can see why they were seeded so high.”
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