GIRLS VOLLEYBALL: Pontiac Notre Dame Prep takes three-time defending state champion Grand Rapids Christian to reach state finals
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
BATTLE CREEK — Never in its storied history has Pontiac Notre Dame Prep entered the Final Four of the volleyball season with nine seniors and four fourth-year veterans.
The stellar group will come together one final time Saturday and compete in the Division 2 state finals at Battle Creek’s Kellogg Arena.
Top-ranked Notre Dame Prep out-dueled No. 2 Grand Rapids Christian Friday in the state semifinals, 3-1, to earn its right to play in the state finals for the fifth time in school history.
Notre Dame Prep prevailed with a hard-fought 25-23, 21-25, 25-23, 25-16 victory over the Eagles.
“We’ve never had nine seniors before — we’ve had eight — and we’ve never had four four-year players before,” noted veteran Notre Dame Prep coach Betty Wroubel. “This group has worked so hard to get here (again) and it’s going to be hard to see them go.”
Alyssa Borellis, Bianca Giglio, Sophie Sudzina and Josephine Bloom are the fourth-year veteran players in the Irish uniform who were making a fourth appearance in the Division 2 Final Four. All of them factored into the win.
Borellis recorded 26 kills, 23 assists and 11 digs in the win. Giglio added 17 kills and two blocks, Sudzina slammed 12 kills and Bloom recorded 24 digs in the victory.
“We just wanted this so bad,” said Borellis, who missed nearly a month with a hand injury. “When their top player (Evie Doezema) was in the back row we used that time to our advantage. We have a lot of players who (contribute). We are a family.”
“We didn’t come out very good defensive-wise in the first and second set, but in the third set we really came out and played great defense and played NDP volleyball and that was the difference,” added Bloom.
With the match knotted 1-1, Notre Dame Prep rose up to grab the final two sets to prevail.
In Game 3, Grand Rapids Christian led 4-0 early before the Irish weathered that storm. Tied at 15-15, NDP closed with a 10-8 run, capped by a kill from Sara Nouhan.
The the fourth and final set, Grand Rapids Christian led only once at 1-0 before NDP went on a long run to open up a 16-5 advantage. The Irish led by as many as 12 points at 23-11 before finally sealing off the Eagles’ last ditch effort. A Borellis kill fittingly ended the set and match.
“This is what we’ve worked for — to play in the state finals one final time,” said Sudzina, who came off the bench as a freshman on the 2018 runner-up team.
Grand Rapids Christian was the three-time defending state champions — even defeating Notre Dame Prep in the 2018 state finals. The Eagles were never in command this time around.
In Game 1, Notre Dame Prep held early leads of 9-3, 14-6 and 15-8 before Grand Rapids Christian stormed back to tie the game at 20-20. The Irish closed with a 5-3 run with Giglio slamming it home to end the set.
In Game 2, the Eagles led 3-1 early before the Irish were able to draw even at 10-10. Grand Rapids Christian continually went to Doezema to earn the set victory, as the 6-foot-3 all-stater came through time and time again.
The Eagles could never grab the set lead on the night.
“We’ve had some slow starts this year and that hurt us tonight,” said first-year Grand Rapids Christian coach Betsy DeVries. “But we fought back and it was close the whole way until that last set. I couldn’t be more proud of my team for the way we fought the whole night.
“Notre Dame (Prep) is a great team and so are we,” continued DeVries. “They do everything so well. They have hitters, setters, their liber is very good. They are a hard team to play.”
The Fighting Irish (63-1-0) will play the winner of the third-ranked Lake Odessa Lakewood and fifth-ranked North Branch at 4 p.m. Saturday in the state finals at Kellogg Arena. The Final Four featured four of the top-five ranked teams entering the state tournament.
Notre Dame Prep is 3-1 all-time in state finals, winning in the fall 2007, 2013 and 2017 seasons to go along with the runner-up finish in 2018. The Fighting Irish lost in the semifinals to Lake Odessa Lakewood the last two years.
Overall, Notre Dame Prep was making its fifth straight Final Four appearance and eighth in 15 seasons. The Irish have won at least a district title in 24 of their 28 seasons as a program, have reached at least the state quarterfinals 13 times and are 13-1 in regional finals (Sweet 16) in its storied history.
A traditional top-20 team in Class A/Division 1, the Eagles moved down to D-2 in 2018 and have enjoyed tremendous success. Grand Rapids Christian’s last postseason defeat came in the 2017 Class A state quarterfinals against DeWitt (3-0).
Margo Sudzina added 19 digs and two aces for Notre Dame Prep, while Allison Berent recorded 12 digs and three aces as part of the Fighting Irish’s well-balanced machine.
Boezema slammed 29 kills and 14 digs on the night to lead Grand Rapids Christian, who consistently went to its to top gun for firepower. Alyssa DeVries had 39 assists and 12 digs, Katie Breems added nine kills, Abby Ames served up four aces, and Grace Spoelma supplied 15 digs for the Eagles (33-10-0).
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