Kestrels Eliminate Royals in District Final

The Lady Royals’ season came to an end at the hands of familiar foes at Dundee tonight. Blissfield was swept by Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central in the District final, 25-16, 25-23 and 25-19.

It was the sixth straight year the Royals were eliminated by the Kestrels.

“They’re just a really good team, and we weren’t at our best. The girls came out fired up. The wanted to win this so badly. We made some mistakes. Our serve receive hurt us early. And we had a tough time getting our shots through. But the girls worked really hard,” said coach Sandi Porter. “They had a great season and had a lot of fun.”

Things went the Kestrels’ way from the start. It was 1-0 for SMCC when Ashley LaRoy drilled a kill on to Kestrel floor. But the officials ruled it out of bounds. SMCC went on to score the game’s next three points for a 5-0 lead. They Royals got within two but just couldn’t close the gap.

Big hitters LaRoy, Laura Goetz, Celia Coophsaw and Zoe Brennan had a difficult time getting their shots beyond the Kestrels’ net players, and the SMCC back row seemed to know when Blissfield was going to tip.

Early in game two, the Royals feel behind 10-5. With Megan Knierim serving, Blissfield went on a five-point run to tie the game. Down 13-12 and with Taylor Jacob serving, Blissfield went on a four-point run to take a 16-13 lead. It looked like the Royals would increase their lead when a Kestrel shot went about a foot too long and out of bounds. But the official ruled it was in bounds, and SMCC went on a four point run to take a 17-16 lead. A kill each by Goetz and Brennan, and consecutive kills by LaRoy gave Blissfield a 22-19 lead, but SMCC went on a five-point run to take a 24-22 lead and the Kestrels won 25-23.

Blissfield fell behind 5-1 in game three and spent the first half of the game playing catch-up. After block by Taylor Jacob gave the Royals a 12-11 lead, and after a Kestral’s point, Zoe Brennan gave the Royals a 13-12 lead when her back-row volley somehow found SMCC’s floor. But SMCC went on an eight-point run to take control of the third and final game.