No. 2 Marian edges No. 1 Mercy to claim regional championship
TROY » T here wasn’t so much as a whisper near the end of Thursday night’s Division 1 regional volleyball final between Birmingham Marian and Farmington Hills Mercy.
The tension could be cut with a knife in the Troy Athens gymnasium.
But that’s the moment Mustang junior Ava Brizard and her teammates pulled it together against the state’s No. 1 team.
“It was really tense, but we all had faith in each other coming in,” Brizard said. “I told the girls that we had to trust each other, we’re all in this together and to play one point at a time. I think that really calmed us down, especially when we were up 14-11 (in the last set).”
When sophomore Ella Schomer’s spike hit the floor, giving her team the win, the entire team celebrated in the middle of the court. Marian had defeated defending state champion Mercy in five sets, 25-20, 19-25, 25-20, 20-25, 15-11.
“We knew three months ago, we knew over the summer, we knew at the end of last year that we were not going to come back here and lose in five like we did last year in the regional,” Marian head coach Mayssa Cook said. “We were better and knew we were going to continue to improve. This team has played for each other. They have heart. This team is one of my favorite teams that I’ve ever coached.”
The Marlins ended Marian’s 2019 season in a regional semifinal match. They also got the better of Cook’s team twice during the regular season — both in straight sets. But Marian turned the corner in the Catholic League finals, where it defeated Mercy in five sets, handing the Marlins their first loss of the season.
“We came into the Catholic League finals as underdogs. We had nothing to lose,” Brizard said. “But we won, which really propelled us forward into this match. We really felt like, ‘ hey, we’ve beat them before. We can do it again.’ “
The win in the CHSL championship match inspired the Mustangs heading into the state playoffs. They even had tshirts made up for their postseason run.
“I and the coaching staff truly believed we would win,” Cook said. “Essentially, our message was to believe in yourselves. On the back of our t- shirts for the playoffs was, ‘ Right now.’ We weren’t going to let it slip away from us.
“I know we don’t have a lot of seniors on the team, but one of the purposes we put ‘Right Now’ on the back of our t- shirts is because everyone all season was like, ‘ You don’t have any seniors. You’ve got next year, when ( Mercy) graduates all those kids.’ Right now, this team of sophomores and juniors can do it.”
Marian overcame a sluggish start to take the first set Thursday night. But Mercy wasn’t about to roll over. Behind all- state seniors Julia Bishop and Charli Atiemo, the Marlins battled back to take the second set, 25-19. A six-point run with the set tied 14-14 helped them pull away. Junior Amina Robinson capped off the run with an ace to give her team a 20-14 lead.
The Mustangs took an early 4-1 lead in set 3 and led the entire way, picking up a 25-20 win. Junior outside hitter Sophia Treder had a pair of aces early on to set the tone. Mercy again battled back to take the fourth set, 2520. Atiemo had four kills and a block in the game.
In the deciding set, Marian broke things open with a five- point run to take a commanding 9- 4 lead. Treder had a pair of kills during the stretch. Schomer had two kills and Brizard had four of her match-high 24 kills in the deciding set.
Junior Sarah Sylvester had eight kills and four blocks for the Mustangs, who advance on to a quarterfinal, where they will face Macomb Dakota, who beat Grosse Pointe South in straight sets.
For Mercy, which finished the season 34-2, senior Kaylin Collins finished with 14 kills. Bishop led the team with 47 assists. The Marlins graduate five seniors.
“Both teams played really well,” Mercy head coach Loretta Vogel said. “I really felt like that (match) was the state final. It went five. It’s too bad everyone couldn’t have watched this.
“We only lost two games all season and people forget that. We got through a season with one or two losses, that’s pretty significant for a program. The saddest thing is that they’re such close friends and we won’t be in the gym Monday at 3:30.”