Inland Lakes falls short of reaching Battle Creek, loses to Forest Park in quarterfinal

MARQUETTE – After one set, it appeared the Inland Lakes volleyball team was poised for a return trip to Battle Creek.

But then the Crystal Falls Forest Park Trojans gained a little momentum, and then some more momentum, and then even more momentum.

In the end, the Bulldogs weren’t able to halt the momentum of the Trojans, who came back after losing the first set and captured a 3-1 victory (13-25, 25-17, 25-18, 25-23) in a MHSAA Division 4 quarterfinal clash at Marquette High School on Tuesday.

“Momentum is a huge deal in volleyball, and energy, moods and all of that, so I felt like one thing would go wrong and we’d be right back to where we were and had to start all over again,” said Inland Lakes coach Nicole Moore. “We do not get aced often. Their servers were good, I guess, or our serve receive just wasn’t very good tonight. It was a combination of both, so that was something new from us and something we haven’t had a problem with.

“(Forest Park was) scrappy, they’ve got some strong hitters, one of them had a really good night. They got us on tips, they kept the pressure up for sure.”

The loss ended what was another fantastic campaign for the Bulldogs (32-11-6), who were looking to reach the state semifinals for a second consecutive year.

However, mistakes and surrendering big Forest Park runs over the final three sets ended up sinking their chances.

“The second set, we’ve done that before – drop a set, kind of let some things go – so it was surprising that it went into the third set and the fourth set,” Moore said. “Normally, we’re able to shake that and get back on track, but we were not able to tonight. They’ve showed up for big games, and can execute when they needed to. Tonight was the exception, and that’s why the season ends.”

The Bulldogs got off to a dream start in the opening set, taking an 8-1 lead behind some powerful hitting from senior Natalie Wandrie, who had three kills during the stretch, and fellow senior Hannah Robinson, who added two. The Bulldogs built their lead to 11 points after senior Ryann Clancy served an ace for an 18-7 advantage. The Bulldogs continued their solid play and took a 1-0 lead in the match with the set win.

But while the Bulldogs looked to be in control, the scrappy Trojans responded by opening up a 5-1 lead in the second, then later pushed their advantage to 13-5 behind fluid play of their own. The Trojans maintained a big lead and eventually evened things up at 1-1.

Another slow start by the Bulldogs saw them fall behind 6-2 in the third. But after the Trojans pushed their advantage to 16-10, the Bulldogs stormed back to tie up the set with a 6-0 run, receiving two kills from Wandrie and a kill apiece from Robinson and sophomore Brooklyn LaBrecque. The teams remained tied at 17-apiece, but then the Trojans went on a 5-0 spurt to take a 22-17 lead. A few points later, the Trojans took a 2-1 edge in the match when they finished off the set with a block kill.

With their season on the line, the Bulldogs avenged an early 3-0 deficit by answering with a 6-0 run keyed by four kills from Wandrie and an ace from LaBrecque. But once again, the Bulldogs, who led 13-9 at one point, surrendered a 5-0 run that saw them lose their lead. The set remained back and forth as both teams were in a 21-21 deadlock. From there, the Trojans won three out of the next four points to take a 24-22 lead. Wandrie kept the Bulldogs alive with a kill to trim the deficit to just one, but the Trojans won the next point and earned a trip to Battle Creek.

It was a tough end to the season for the Bulldogs, who made history again this fall by winning a first Ski Valley Conference title since 2000, along with district and regional titles.

“I think that’s (coming up short of reaching Battle Creek) the hardest part, is that Natalie (Wandrie) and Ryann (Clancy) have been with me my whole coaching career at Inland Lakes since they were sophomores, so I really thought this was the crew that could do it again,” Moore said. “That’s a real bummer, because they’ve kind of been the original switch of the program.”

Inland Lakes will say goodbye to its four-player senior class of Natalie Wandrie, Ryann Clancy, Hannah Robinson and KC Cain, who each helped transform the Bulldogs into the current Northern Michigan volleyball power they are now.

“They have had roles since sophomore year,” Moore said. “KC (Cain) joined us junior year, but all three of them (Clancy, Wandrie and Robinson) have been a critical piece for three years now, so there’s big shoes to fill. These seniors have been with me since my first year coaching at Inland Lakes and have been a critical part of our success and culture change. I've loved being their coach and it's hard to believe that we won't be working together in the gym anymore."

Wandrie led the Bulldogs with 25 kills, four aces and six digs, while Robinson tallied nine kills, Clancy finished with 20 digs and three aces, and Erica Taglauer recorded 34 assists and six digs.

With the win, Crystal Falls Forest Park advances to face Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart in a Division 4 state semifinal at Battle Creek’s Kellogg Arena on Thursday at 2 p.m. Sacred Heart captured a 3-1 victory over Leland in its quarterfinal matchup at Buckley on Tuesday. The Forest Park-Sacred Heart winner will meet the Athens-Lansing Christian semifinal winner in the championship match on Saturday at 10 a.m.

This article originally appeared on Cheboygan Daily Tribune: Inland Lakes volleyball loses to Forest Park in state quarterfinal