The Ishpeming Hematites made the most of their first opportunity in the MHSAA District 99 tournament, losing just one set on their way to the title.
“I’m just so proud of these girls. We worked towards this moment for seven years. Kudos to players from past teams that have set a precedent for this team for coming out every single day and working hard for this win,” said Ishpeming Head Coach Katt Beerling.
Ishpeming defeated Mid Pen, Superior Central and Munising on their way to win the district title. Volleyball championships were rare for the Hematites, who often faced tough competition in MHSAA Division 3, but moved down to Division 4 this season due to school size. Despite the division change, the roster was loaded with West PAC all-conference selections and showcased a lot of dynamic attacks from a well-rounded roster.
“Today and the rest of the districts, it was a full team effort. From the girls in their rotations, the people that sub in and brought up, we’re all working hard and to take this day by day and keep fighting. I’m proud of them,” Beerling said.
Ishpeming faced other Division 4 District Champions in Stephenson, Crystal Falls-Forest Park and Lake Linden-Hubbell in the Regional 25 tournament this week.
District Final: Ishpeming 3 Munising 0
The Hematites got off to an early start and never looked back in their final match with the Mustangs, winning 25-18, 25-21, 25-10.
“I thought that, from a spectator’s standpoint, the first two sets were really good games to watch,” Munising Head Coach Josh Cole said. “My girls played super hard trying to counter some of their powerful attackers.”
Unfortunately for the home team, it was mistakes that cost the host Mustangs the first set, as Munising had nine double hit, lift and net violations to just one from the Hematites. A sub-par 78 percent service accuracy from Ishpeming kept the score respectable.
“We have to clean up those hitting errors. You can’t have that,” Cole said. “You can maybe blame that on youth, but you can use that as an excuse moving forward.”
In a fairly even second set, Ishpeming’s standout hitters Addison Morton and Mya Hemmer led an impressive push at the net, scoring six points on blocks and kills. Getting good passes, the two were able to pick and choose where to attack Munising to establish a tone early on.
“I thought we did a good job offensively, but we had some mental mistakes,” Cole said. “But that’s credit to Ishpeming. They have a lot of good players making plays at the net and forcing hitters into mistakes.”
The Mustangs were able to get some points with good attacks from Hayden Bayer into the back corners and away from the net defense. A couple aces from Tamryn Nolan also added to the run for Munising in the middle of the set before Ishpeming pulled away late for the set win, and eventually the match.
Munising had no seniors on the playoff roster, meaning that the Mustangs will have a lot of depth going into next season. After focusing primarily on developing the players as a unit this season, Cole believes that individual competition and the success of the JV program this year will have a big impact on the success of the program moving forward.
“Definitely a bright future. That’s always a plus,” Cole said. “There’s a lot of those players that are going to come into summer and next season pushing for playing time, which will be unique compared to the last couple years. That will be great for a team to have multiple players competing for multiple spots.”
Ishpeming 3 Superior Central 1
In the District semifinals, the Superior Central Cougars put up a strong fight against the Hematites, falling 22-25, 25-18, 25-19, 25-22.
“We couldn’t get our energy up. We were in striking distance the whole time and we just weren’t able to keep our momentum and energy up because we were letting little mistakes get to us. Once we could figure out how to get our heads out of it we will be a much better team,” said Superior Central Head Coach Kris Bray.
The Cougars were able to get off to a strong start with a first set victory, thanks to good offense while Ruth Johnson and Alice Hancock were serving. Up eight points at one point in the first set, but the Hematites caught up after four aces on five serves by Ishpeming libero Sonja Kiviniemi.
The second set saw a much different matchup than any other set in the tournament, with Kiviniemi and SC junior Kate McGee combining for eight aces in nine consecutive serves. With points skyrocketing early on, it shortened the second set, allowing Ishpeming’s defensive specialist Jade Negiliski to pull her side away late to tie up the match 1-1.
Both teams went heavily to the bench in the third and fourth sets to try and get an advantage, rotating defensive specialists in the back row and bringing the big hitters back up front. While common for larger teams at pro and collegiate levels, it was a type of rotation that Superior Central hasn’t used in years, but Bray hoped that the moves would be helpful for keeping the intensity high.
“I was trying to keep our momentum going, so I did sub more than I usually do, just to help people keep their heads in it,” Bray said. “At one point I had an eighth grader and two freshmen out there and they were getting pounded (by the serves), but they were passing. That is what they needed to do.”
The Hematites, however, were able to stay ahead and win the third and fourth sets to advance. Beerling said the Cougars were a tough opponent.
“We knew going into that match that it was going to be a tough one. Superior Central is a solid team and we were very excited to pull off that win. We’re very thankful to play that program. (SC is) a great program,” Beerling said.
The Cougars lose one senior this year in CUP Player of the Year Alice Hancock.
“She’s our go-to person, when we need points, we work the ball to her and she’s been a leader on the court,” Bray said. “She’s definitely going to be missed, but I’m excited for our future as well.”
Superior Central’s Kylie Stuer (left) tries to split the Ishpeming defense in the District 99 semifinals.
