Youthful Notre Dame Prep back in familiar spot in regional play
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
PONTIAC — When Pontiac Notre Dame Prep walked off the volleyball court Saturday afternoon, the Fighting Irish were in a familiar position — they captured another district championship.
Yet veteran coach Betty Wroubel admits that she didn’t know if this group could do it after an up-and-down regular season.
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK: Pontiac Notre Dame Prep has multiple new faces on the its roster this season, including Maddie Blocki (No. 8) and Ashley Knutson (No. 10 ), who are preparing for a block in a recent game. File Photo | Dan Stickradt
The Irish are only 36-18-4 and were by no means the heavy favorites this season.
“There were times this season where I didn’t even know if this was possible,” said Wroubel, who in 2007 became the first coach in Oakland County history to lead a team to an MHSAA state championship. That title came in Class B in the fall 2007 season.
“We are very young, and we’ve had some injuries,” she added. “We were up and down a little. But we did well in some tournaments towards the end of the season and are playing our best volleyball now — I hope.”
Notre Dame Prep has won five straight districts. The Irish have also won 14 in 18 years overall since the school switched management and changed names from Pontiac Oakland Catholic to Pontiac Notre Dame Prep in 1994-95. In that span, NDP has also won five regionals (2002, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008) with a steady pipeline of talent.
There have been a few other teams that have won their regional semifinal match but lost in the regional finals. Last year’s team was knocked out in the regional semis by Class B state powerhouse Marysville.
When the school was still Pontiac Catholic in the 1970s and 1980s, the school had several quality teams and even reached the quarterfinals and state semifinals on one or more occasion before trailing off in the late 80s and early 90s.
The program began to ascend in the mid-90s and has become one of the most consistent programs in Oakland county in the past 15 years.
BRINGING IT: Pontiac Notre Dame Prep sophomore Danielle McCormick prepares to unleash this jump serve during a match this season against Macomb Lutheran North. File Photo | Dan Stickradt
Notre Dame Prep had a record tryout for its three teams back in August with close to 40 freshmen. The talent pool is young and so is the Irish’s varsity, as there are three freshmen and four sophomores on the roster against only four seniors. There are several other players that have been rotated between varsity and junior varsity this season, and the team has ventured through some growing pains.
“We always keep a lot of kids, that’s my philosophy,” offered Wroubel. “Maybe that hurt our growth some this year, I don’t know. But we had so many kids that I wanted to give as many a chance (to develop). But we are getting better.”
So far this group has come a long ways in three months. The Fighting Irish move on to regionals play at Armada, where they will take on Madison Heights Lamphere on Tuesday in the regional semifinals at 7 p.m. Marysville and Harper Woods will play in the first regional semifinal.
Senior setter Katia Jurkiw and senior defensive specialist Micaela Trembla are two of the few holdovers from last season’s team. Sophomore Dani McCormick and freshman Ashley Knutson have been key additions, along with junior Maddie Blocki.
McCormick made the CHSL All-Class A-B first team, while Jurkiw made the second team.
Notre Dame Prep had to go five games to defeat Macomb Lutheran North last Thursday in the district semifinals, claiming the rubber match to advance. Lutheran North beat NDP in a five-set comeback in September, while the Irish swept the Mustangs in October in CHSL play.
It took the Irish only three games to dispatch visiting Imlay City in the district finals, 25-18, 25-19, 25-21. McCormick led NDP with 10 kills. Jurkiw added 30 assists, 16 digs and five service points, while Diana Sciacca and Logan Rauker never missed a serve and combined for four aces against the Spartans.
“I don’t think we played particularly great in the (district finals),”admitted Wroubel. “I thought we played a lot better against Lutheran North. I knew we had to because we split with them in the regular season. I know having a young team you’ll have your moments. But we need to play a lot better in our regional.
KEY ADDITION: Freshman Catherine Carlson has been a nice addition to the rotation this season for Pontiac Notre Dame Prep. File Photo | Dan Stickradt
“Lamphere is a good team, kind of a surprise team in our regional. They have a good group (of seniors) and have had a really good year,” said Wroubel. “I know Marysville is always really good. There’s no secret there. Harper Woods is new in our region. It doesn’t matter who we play. We need to step up and play some very good volleyball (to advance).”
To submit information to www.northoaklandsports.com, e-mail dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com. To advertise, e-mail advertising@northoaklandsports.com . Follow us on Twitter @LocalSportsFans and more than a dozen other social media networks.
Category: Featured Articles, High School, High School (M-Z), Pontiac Notre Dame Prep, Prep Wraps
NORTH OAKLAND SPORTS VIDEOS: http://www.youtube.com/user/DJMightyRaton?ob=0&feature=results_main