District champs! Bronson takes down Centreville in four sets for title

CONSTANTINE, MI. — The Bronson Lady Vikings always seem to rise to the occasion when it comes to postseason play, and as it turns out this year is no different. Thursday night the Vikings battled their way back from an early one set deficit to defeat the Centreville Lady Bulldogs in four intense sets, claiming the MHSAA Division Three District 80 championship in the process thanks to scores of 18-25, 25-18, 25-23, 25-21.

“I don’t really know what we did right tonight, I can tell you though that we only served 82% as a team and a varsity team serving at 82% and getting a win is tough,” said Bronson head coach Jean LaClair. “I will say that Brealyn (Lasky) really took over the game tonight and got our middle hitters into the game with some really tough passes. She was setting from 12 feet away from the net and still setting them up well. Once she started getting our middles back into the game that’s when things turned around for us. Really we struggled passing tonight and Centreville is a very good team and we knew that coming in. In the end we were just the lucky ones that came out with the win tonight.”

Bronson actually led things in the early going, jumping out to a quick four point lead, only to see Centreville claw their way back to knot up the score at 6-6. As it turns out, this would not be the last time either team would see the other battle back and tie the score.

Centreville started to wrestle away control of the first set and managed to build a 13-10 lead, their largest of the first set, on an absolutely booming kill from Centreville’s Adalae Hackett, forcing a Bronson timeout.

The Bulldogs would hold a steady two point lead for much of the remainder of the set until Bronson managed to tie up the score again at 17-17. Centreville turned it on after that, controlling the rest of the set as they closed out the first set victory with an 8-1 run, taking set one and the early lead 25-18.

It was Centreville’s turn to lead things in the early going as the Bulldogs managed to build an early 3-1 advantage in set two, one that would not hold up for long. Bronson quickly tied the score up and the teams proceeded to trade point for point, with each squad taking turns moving into the lead. Bronson was able to take control of the second set with the score tied up at 17-17, starting off with a quick two point burst that gave the Vikings a 19-17 lead, forcing a Centerville timeout. The timeout only emboldened Bronson who, behind some solid serving from sophomore Jaiden Hayes and some big hits from their middle hitters, ended the set on an 8-1 run. Another booming kill from the Bronson front line ended the second set, giving the Vikings a 25-18 victory, tying up the match one set each.

Set three also saw the Bulldogs jump out to an early advantage as it was Centreville leading Bronson 6-1 in the early moments, leading to an early Bronson timeout. As they had done all night long, the Vikings battled right back, closing to within 6-5. Centreville again rattled off a solid run, outscoring the Vikings on a 4-0 run to lead 10-6, only to see the Vikings claw right back again, climbing to within a single point at 11-10, forcing a Bulldog timeout.

Once again the teams traded points back and forth midway through the set, with Bronson taking their first lead at 17-16 thanks to a big kill from Payton Springstead, leading to a Bulldog timeout. The teams again traded intense points throughout the rest of the set, with Bronson seemingly taking control at 22-20, only to see Centreville battle right back to 22-22. After two straight Springstead kills set up set point at 24-22 for the Vikings, it was ultimately a kill from Kaylee Wilber that ended things for Bronson, giving the purple and gold a 25-23 set three victory and a two sets to one advantage heading to the fourth set.

A new set, the same ole story, as Centreville jumped out to an early advantage in the fourth set, building an early 4-0 lead, a lead they would ride to a 11-7 advantage midway through the set. Bronson finally found their footing on offense and battled right back, quickly knotting up the score at 11-11 thanks to huge kills from the front line, key digs from the back row, and some pinpoint serving from setter Brealyn Lasky. Bronson eventually took their first lead of the set at 12-11, leading to a Centerville timeout.

The second half of the fourth set was some of the most back and forth volleyball seen east of the Mississippi, with both teams trading point after point. Bronson managed a 3-0 run to extend their lead to 16-14, only to see Centerville claw right back. The Vikings managed a key run, rattling off a 3-1 spurt, building a 19-15 lead before the Bulldogs again responded, clawing right back to within a single point at 20-19, leading to a Bronson timeout.

The break favored Bronson greatly, as the Vikings quickly rattled off big point after big point, bringing about set point in a blink with the score at 24-19. Centreville added a pair of points to close to within 24-21, but alas the night belonged to the Vikings. After a long scramble on game point, the district championship point came off of an acrobatic tip from Lasky that saw the junior tip the ball backwards, freezing the Bulldog defense. The ball fell quietly to the floor and the crowd erupted as it was Bronson securing the Division Three District 80 championship with the four set victory, winning set four 25-21.

“I told the girls after the first set that hey, we lost the first game against St. Phil a week ago and we were able to come back and beat them in four sets, then we went on and beat a very good Lenawee Christian team. I was very confident that we had what it would take to come back and win it tonight,” said LaClair. “We go to some very tough tournaments throughout the season to prepare for games like this, and I love for games to go to the fourth and fifth sets throughout the year because that forces you to play from behind. We did that a few times this year against some quality competition and I think that definitely helped us tonight. It certainly wasn’t our best outing but we kept fighting and we kept our heads in the game. I am very proud of every one of our players for how they did tonight!”

Junior setter Brealyn Lasky had an outstanding outing, leading the offense with precision and solid passing, recording 30 assists to go with one ace, six digs, one block and four kills, including the district championship clincher.

The sophomore middle hitting duo of Aubree Calloway and Payton Springstead had a truly dominant performance at the net. Springstead led the team with 17 kills and a team high four blocks while Calloway added 12 kills, a team high four blocks and one dig.

Also adding to the Bronson championship effort was Aleah Brackett with four kills, three assists, one ace, three digs and four blocks; Ciara Blankenship with five digs; Haylie Wilson with one ace and 10 digs; Jaiden Hayes with one ace; Kaylee Wilber with one kill, two assists, one ace and 16 digs; Kennedy Clemens with four digs and two blocks; and Mya Webb with one dig and some solid serving.

With the victory Bronson now advances to the Division Three Regional 20 semifinals to be hosted by Coloma High School. Bronson will make the long trip to face off with the fourth ranked team according to the Michigan Interscholastic Volleyball Coaches Association (MIVCA) in the Kalamazoo Christian Lady Comets. The teams will face off next Tuesday beginning at 7:30 p.m. The winner of that regional semifinal will move on to the regional championship to face either #5 Watervliet or the winner of the Bangor/Lawton District championship happening on Friday night.

This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Bronson wins District 3 District volleyball championship