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"I have told the girls that they have the ability all year long and it finally sunk in," remarked Wesley after watching her team win the championship with a dramatic 25-22, 17-25, 25-23, 25-23 triumph over Swan Valley in the finals. "They played their hearts out today and it is just a great feeling."

The district title ends a 23-year drought for Chesaning.

"I know exactly how long it has been," said Wesley. "I was a junior when this was last done and then it was really nice because I have a junior daughter that is on this team."

Chesaning began the day as underdogs in the tournament, facing a tough semi-final challenge against host Montrose in the morning and then confronting a Swan Valley squad in the finals that had swept them in three straight games during the regular season.

The Indians battled through a five-game match with the Rams before finally prevailing, 22-25, 26-24, 26-24, 18-25, 15-12. Swan Valley cruised past Ovid-Elsie in the next semi-final contest to set up the title match.

The Tribe won the first game against Swan Valley as Brooke Beckman served for the last three points of the contest, breaking a tie and helping the Indians to a 25-22 win. Swan Valley responded in Game Two by taking an early lead which they never relinquished en route to a 17-25 triumph.

Katie Vincke drove home a pair of aces to help the Indians open up a 19-15 lead in the pivotal third game, but the Vikings stormed back to within 24-23. Megan Newton slammed home a kill on the next point, however, to give her team the critical 25-23 win.

Game Four was a classic nail biter as the two teams fought through a game that was tied 14 times. After falling behind, 5-9, Chesaning rallied to an 11-11 tie. Neither team trailed by more than two points the rest of the game. Perhaps the biggest play of the game was a clutch dig by Brooke Jastrzembowski on an apparent SV kill with the score knotted at 22-all. Her save kept the point alive and the Indians eventually took the lead at 23-22. Chesaning scored the next two points behind Newton's serves, giving the Tribe the game and the district crown.

Jastrzembowski turned in a solid performance on Saturday, registering 39 attacks, 27 kills, 26 digs, 15 solo blocks and l7 set assists on the day. Vincke keyed the offense with 23 attacks, 12 kills, 100 sets and 21 digs. Several other Indians contributed to the championship effort, including Megan Buck (28 attacks, 14 kills), Amanda Mort (26 attacks, 16 kills, 76 sets) and Beckman (30 attacks, 12 kills, 10 solo blocks, 16 digs).

The wins advanced Chesaning to the Alma Regional yesterday (Saturday, November 10) where the Indians took on the host Panthers in the semi-finals.

NL wins 9th district volleyball title in 10 years Tourney-tough Hornets survive stiff challenges

LANSING - New Lothrop played one of the toughest schedules in the state this fall, taking on many of the best volleyball programs in all classes, A through D. In addition, the Hornets had to wade through a tough GAC slate en route to yet another league championship.

It wasn't always easy for Sheri Warner's team, but the killer schedule earlier in the season seems to be paying huge dividends as NL appears to now be hitting on all cylinders at the most important time of the year.

The Hornets defeated two tough opponents, both of which they had met earlier this season, to capture their 9th district championship in the last 10 years at Lansing Christian on Saturday, November 3.

New Lothrop defeated a valiant Portland St. Pats squad in the semi-finals, 22-25, 25-17, 22-25, 25-20, 15-10 before winning the title against Morrice, 26-24, 22-25, 25-23, 25-16. The down-to-the-wire finishes came as no surprise to Coach Warner.

"We knew this was going to be a very competitive district because we had faced St. Pats and Morrice already this year," commented the Hornet mentor. "It was truly a day of good teams battling it out and leaving it all on the court. My hat is off to both of our opponents-they pushed us hard, but by the same token I have to give credit to my kids because they kept fighting and never gave up."

New Lothrop, whose record hovered near .500 during the first portion of the 2007 campaign as it played a string of state powers, has now bumped its overall mark to 33-16-3 on the season.

Several Hornets contributed to the district championship, led by Sabrina Besaw, who amassed 74 assist, 25 digs, 5 kills, an ace and a block on the day. Other key contributors were Kayla Krupp (36 kills, 29 digs, 4 aces), Monica Confer (35 kills, 2l7 digs, 6 blocks, 3 aces), Kelsey Gasper (41 digs, 15 kills), Rachelle Kviz (24 kills, 6 digs, a block), Shauna Henige (15 digs and a pair of aces) and Gracie Theodore (25 digs).

New Lothrop advanced to the Region 29 tournament at Morrice yesterday (Saturday, November 10) where they took on Beal City in a 3:30 PM semi-final showdown.

St. Charles wins Class C volleyball district title

ST. LOUIS - St. Charles won its first volleyball district title in over 30 years on Friday, November 2, when the Lady Bulldogs downed the host Sharks, 24-26, 25-16, 25-17, 25-14 in the finals.

Joe Cribbs' crew reached the title match by downing Merrill in the semi-finals, 21-25, 25-21, 25-12, 25-5.

"The girls are writing their own script this season as they continue to inspire each other to great plays on the ball," praised Cribbs after his team's impressive wins. "We're attempting to limit our own mistakes and capitalize on the mistakes of our opponents. This team has shown the persistence of a championship team."

While proud of the effort and performance of his team, overall, Cribbs also singled out a few individuals for their stand-out contributions.

"Camille LeFevre and Megan McSweyn served well against both opponents, giving us lots of momentum," said Cribbs. "Also, our captain, Sara Mead, performed her passing duties well by coordinating our offense and assisting with several kills for the evening."

The district-champ 'Dawgs advanced to Regional competition at Morley Stanwood yesterday (Saturday, November 10) where they faced White Cloud in a 10:00 AM semi-final battle.