Volleyball
BATTLE CREEK – Same Navy blue shirts, same Navy blue shorts and same Viking nickname.
But where the differences counted the most, No. 1-ranked Lake Odessa Lakewood won out over Cadillac, Thursday night in the Class B semifinal at Kellogg Arena with a final score of 25-22, 25-16, 14-25, 25-21 (3-1).
The Cadillac Vikings just wouldn’t give up. In the third set, Cadillac jumped out to a 6-0 edge and 13-2 lead, causing Lakewood veteran coach Kellie Rowland to use two time-outs. Despite the pep talk, Cadillac pulled out the win to extend a match that almost looked like it was over after two.
In the fourth set, Lakewood’s first all year, Cadillac jumped out again, to a 6-1 lead before expanding it to 13-7. That’s when Lakewood made a move, scoring five straight times to close the gap to one. Lakewood’s 18-8 run resulted in the four-point win.
“We kind of got in a slumber there,” Rowland said about the third set. “I told the kids we never play like this, it’s not our style. But they tightened it up and that spark came back again.
“We haven’t played a fourth set all year. The first time was tonight, so it was new to us. I think they just needed to know we’d be OK if we got the spark again.”
Lakewood (54-5) was led by Breanna Wickerink’s 20 kills, with Alivia Benedict chipping in 14 more. Gabie Shellenbarger put up 41 sets for the hitters.
Cadillac (50-8-2) was led by 21 kills from Kylie Christensen, many coming from the 37 sets of Ali Finch.
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