Brown City celebrates a semifinal win over Adrian Madison on Nov. 17, 2016.
BATTLE CREEK – Brown City had been to Kellogg Arena before. Last season it lost to Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central in the semifinals.
Thursday afternoon, the Green Devils used that experience to advance past Adrian Madison, 21-25, 25-20, 25-22, 21-25, 15-12 and reach Saturday’s Class C championship.
“They were pretty upset after that loss last year,” said coach Jenna Welke. “This was their goal, to make it one step further. I thought in the pressure situations they responded. We needed to stay composed and calm.”
Becki Krause was spectacular with 36 kills and Alexia Mason had 58 assists for Brown City (45-9-5).
“Last year we were really nervous coming in, it was a much bigger gym then we were used to playing in,” said Krause. “Today we came in and we were more relaxed and comfortable being here.”
In the deciding fifth game, Brown City jumped out to a 6-3 lead, but three aces by Trojans sophomore Kaiya Wall helped tie the game at 9.
Another kill by Wall after a timeout gave the Trojans a lead when Breigha Donnelly hit into the net. The lead grew to 12-9 and Welke was forced to call a timeout.
“I told them we had to play with poise,” said Welke.
Brown City rallied, and a kill by Annie Schlaud tied it at 12-12.
“She stepped up and gave us some huge momentum,” said Welke.
Brown City eventually scored the final six points, the last on a kill by Schlaud.
The first game was tied at 15 and again at 21 before the Trojans’ pressure at the net accounted for three straight points. A kill by Courtney Benschoter ended the game.
Despite trailing early in the second game, Brown City fought back to open up a 20-16 lead on a kill by Donnelly and eventually tied the match on a kill by Krause.
The Green Devils rode that wave of momentum in the third game, leading 5-0 and 17-11, until the Trojans rallied, scoring seven of the next nine points to trail 19-18. But Brown City went up by a game when a Madison serve went long.
Down, 16-5, in the fourth game, Brown City made an all-out effort to rally, getting as close as 19-15 before a kill by Benschoter stemmed the tide and the Trojans eventually tied the match.
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