VOLLEYBALL: Notre Dame Prep fends off Cranbrook for seventh straight district crown
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BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
BLOOMFIELD HILLS — A tell-tale sign of a good volleyball team is not becoming rattled by the opposition’s level of play.
Pontiac Notre Dame Prep proved its worth by doing just that Thursday night.
The Fighting Irish, the top-ranked team in Class B and ranked 24th nationally, overcame host Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood’s high intensity and boisterous crowd — and even a brief deficit in Game 3 — to post a 25-14, 25-20, 25-17 victory over the Cranes in a Class B district final.
The win propels Notre Dame Prep, which established a new school record for wins in a season with 57, into Tuesday’s 5:30 p.m. regional semifinals at home against Center Line. The victory also gave NDP its seventh straight district crown and 16th in 20 seasons. The Irish were playing in their 16th straight district finals match overall.
“I think the difference for us is chemistry,” offered 6-foot-2 middle blocker Dani McCormick. “We have such great chemistry. When I was a sophomore, we had a bunch of young players on the team, but we grew up together. We know each other so well and know how to play with each other.”
Notre Dame Prep (57-2-1), which is on a mission to reach the Final Four for the first time since 2007, the year the Irish won their first and only state title, bounced back from a 10-8 deficit in Game 3. The response was a 9-3 run that turned the two-point hole into a 17-13 lead.
That run took the wind out of the Cranes’ sails. Cranbrook finishes with a 28-8-4 record, which is believed to be the school’s best all-time record for the sport.
“I thought that Cranbrook was a really good team. We had a hard time blocking them at times,” said Notre Dame Prep veteran coach Betty Wrubel. “I thought we did a good job responding to them every time they made a little bit of a run. They had a hard time blocking us and we did a great job defensively digging the ball up and made some great plays. I thought Dani McCormick had a great night. She’s been playing really well the past 4-5 weeks.”
On the other side, Margaret Payne had 11 kills, Dee Dee Morrow finished with nine kills, Kaite Kernen followed with six kills and Meg Harney chipped in with 22 assists for Cranbrook, which gave the Irish their first postseason scare after a pair of blowouts in the first two rounds.
“We have never been a fast-starting team and you can’t do that against a team like Notre Dame Prep,” said Cranbrook Kingswood coach Kathy O’Connor, whose team fell into a big hole in Game 1. “We were able to fight back in against a really good team.”
Putting together an upset of the No. 1 team in the state after losing the first game was too much for the Cranes to overcome.
“(Notre Dame Prep) does a great job of keeping the ball in play,” added O’Connor. “Balls that would be down against other teams they dig up. They have great ball control, so when they are out of system they still keep balls on the court. So they kind of wait you out and let you make the mistake. They also have some great athletes, some great players. Katherine Carlson I expect to contend for Miss Volleyball next year and I think Dani McCormick is a great player. She puts ball down that most teams can’t defend. They have a lot of (weapons).”
McCormick finished 19-for-23 attacking with a .435 kills percentage, slamming 14 attack to the floor to lead NDP. Carlson added 15 digs, 11 service receptions and hammered home 19 kills in 41 attacks, while Hannah Antosz collected 28 assists and had nine service points for the Irish.
Bella Bucchi also stepped in the limelight with 18 service points with nine digs and 11 serve receptions for Notre Dame Prep, which reached the regional finals the past two seasons only to see the end of the road.
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FOR MORE VOLLEYBALL COVERAGE: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Volleyball&x=0&y=9
Have photos or video of this event that you wish to share? E-mail pertinent information to www.northoaklandsports.com Senior Editor Dan Stickradt at dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com or e-mail results@northoaklandsports.com.
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