Latest stoppage won’t slow down motivated Shrine

Latest stoppage won’t slow down motivated Shrine team

Stoppages have been nothing new to the Royal Oak Shrine volleyball team.

The Knights struggled to get much action during the month of October due to COVID-19, so the latest challenge of waiting multiple weeks to play their Division 3 quarterfinal match is nothing Shrine isn’t prepared for.

“Taking a few weeks off isn’t new to us because we had to quarantine for a couple weeks during the season. The girls came back ready to fight after those two weeks were up, and they hit the ground running,” said Shrine coach Annette DeMartino. “I know they will be ready to go whenever they are given the opportunity to play again.”

The Knights did hit the ground running in November, tearing through their district bracket by winning three matches without dropping a single set.

That momentum continued during the regional tournament, as Shrine swept Brown City in the semifinal before topping Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest in four sets to claim their fi rst regional title since 2007.

“We have been building the program for a few years now. I have a group of five seniors that have been with me to help build the program and they deserve a lot of the credit,” DeMartino said of the team’s success. “They have come in focused every day for years to help us get to this point. They have really put in the work to succeed and it’s been great to see their hard work get rewarded.”

Those five seniors are outside hitter Mary Mulcahy, setter Ellie Plunkey, libero Mya Minjares,

PHOTOS BY TIMOTHY ARRICK — FOR MEDIANEWS GROUP Royal Oak Shrine’s volleyball team captured its first regional championship since 2007 back on Nov. 12. The Knights now wait to play their Division 3 quarterfinal match with Saginaw Valley Lutheran once the epidemic order is lifted.

Royal Oak Shrine coach Annette DeMartino raises the Division 3 regional championship after her Knights defeated Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest on Nov. 12.