Shrine captures fourth straight district championship
There’s something to be said about success.
And when you’ve had as much success as Royal Oak Shrine has had over the past few years, it certainly shows out on the volleyball court.
The Knights exude confidence, and that confidence overflowed throughout the deciding fourth set, as Shrine defeated Madison Heights Bishop Foley Friday to capture its fourth straight district championship at Clawson High School.
Coach Mary Findling’s team defeated the Ventures, 25-16, 25-19, 23-25 and 2513, to advance to the Division 3 regional, which will be back at Clawson Tuesday night.
The Knights were rarely challenged in the first two sets, but things changed in the third, as the Ventures built a six-point lead before holding on to extend the match.
Shrine then answered, jumping out to a quick lead in the fourth before pulling away for the easy win.
“I told my girls at the beginning of the fourth set, ‘One good run can really set you back,’ and we paid for it. We paid the price and had to regroup,” Findling said. “We went on some great service runs. To see the hustle and the leadership of those girls out there, they really played with their hearts. We really laid it all out there and showed hard hard we’ve worked to be here. They showed a lot of poise and confidence.”
Leading 7-5 in the fourth, Shrine scored four straight to pull away. Sophomore Mary Jones had a pair of kills and sophomore Maya LaChance had another, before the pair combined for a block kill to give their team an 11-5 lead. LaChance finished with six kills in the deciding game
“She’s just peaking at the right time for us,” Findling said of LaChance. “She played wonderfully tonight. She gets her hands on a lot of stuff. Today, she had a really standout performance.”
One of a number of Knights to stand out Friday night. Senior Mackenzie Kress led the team in kills, while senior Alice Mikula and LaChance led the team in blocks in their team’s victory.
“Mackenzie played incredible tonight, especially in those first two sets,” Findling said. “She was moving the ball around and was on fire. Alice is our go-to-kid, our ‘It’ kid. She’s our captain. She’s a huge leader for our team. We look for her to fire us up. She’s the one that keeps us high when we’re low and steady when we’re low. Just a real wonderful presence to have on the court.”
Mikula has been a part of Shrine’s four straight district championships. She’s played in some very big
matches over the years and Friday was no exception.
“I think in the third set, we underestimated them,” Mikula said. “We lost focus and found ourselves down seven or eight points and didn’t have the energy to pick it back up. By slowly chipping away, we built our confidence back up and then in the fourth set, we got it all back.”
After finding themselves down and out in each of the first two sets, the Ventures jumped out to a quick lead in the third thanks in part to some big hits by junior outside hitter Emma Behnke.
She had two early kills and followed them up with big hits when her team needed them most, giving her team leads of 15-14 and 24-23 en route to the win.
“We never got down on ourselves in that third set,” Bishop Foley head coach Colleen Szakacs said.
“In the first and second set, and especially in the fourth set, we made a couple mistakes.
“You could physically see it and each of the girls, mentally, just shut down. Volleyball is such a huge mental game. In that third game, we didn’t have that block. We kept the momentum, everything
up.
“They started looking over at me after every single play, looking for answers.
“I told them, ‘You don’t need that.’”
Senior Jakyra Bonner led the Ventures in assists, while senior Rachel Maltese led the team in digs.
Shrine, which has reached the state quarterfinals in each of the last three years, will face Plymouth Christian in Tuesday’s second regional semifinal (7 p.m.).
Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett will face Riverview Gabriel Richard in the night’s first semifinal.