MIGHTY MARLINS

Mercy holds off Bloomfield Hills for four-set district win

BLOOMFIELD HILLS » The Farmington Hills Mercy Marlins defeated the Bloomfield Hills Black Hawks 3 sets to 1 in the opening round of the MHSAA Division 1 district tournament on Monday, taking the match 25-13, 25-22, 21-25, and 25-23.

“We had played earlier in the year, (and) we went five with them. So we anticipated something similar to that,” Mercy head coach Loretta Vogel said.

The Marlins trailed most of the fourth set, but senior Leah LaFontaine came through in the clutch. LaFontaine had six kills and ace in the final set, including a stretch midway through where she put the team on her back.

With the Marlins trailing 129, Lafontaine would score the

next four points for the Marlins on three kills and an ace to help them pull within a point at 1413. Then, at the end of the set, it was LaFontaine who served it out. It was 23-22 when LaFontaine went back to serve and Bloomfield couldn’t get another point.

“When you have such a group of young kids, like the freshmen, you can anticipate a little bit of those situations to happen. But I tell you for Leah LaFontaine, in the end, really gutsy — nice plays, composure, everything. Kudos to her. I think our setter, Campbell (Flynn), our freshman did a really nice job distributing the ball,” Vogel said.

The Marlins service had been dominant early, particularly in the first set when they had seven aces as a team including three by Campbell Flynn in the same rotation. Flynn and Amina Robinson seemed to get at least a couple of points every time they went back to serve for Mercy in the first two games. And that let the Marlins roll through the first set 25-13 and then win a tight second set 25-22.

“The first game we were successful because we passed well, and then they started passing better. That changed the whole game. Once they started connecting it made a difference in the whole game,” Vogel said.

When the Marlins won the first seven points of the third set on

PHOTOS BY KEN SWART — FOR MEDIANEWS GROUP Ashlea Nwabueze of Bloomfield Hills keeps her eyes on the ball as Farmington Hills Mercy’s Ella Craigs (22) and Lauren Mullan (24) go for the block during the MHSAA D1Volleyball district quarter-final played on Monday at Marian High School. The Marlins defeated the Black Hawks 3-1 (25-13, 25-22, 21-25, 25-23.)

MEDIANEWS GROUP PHOTO BY KEN SWART Farmington Hills Mercy’s Leah LaFontaine (6) watches her hit as Bloomfield Hills’ Natalie Petrucci (7) and Gabrielle Jeffries (4) go for the block during the MHSAA D1Volleyball district quarter-final played on Monday.