Milan, Dundee volleyball battle through to district finals

Sylvia Koch knows what it takes to win a district title.

The Milan senior was a key piece in the Big Reds' district championship in girls soccer this past spring.

That experience has been invaluable for Kathy Bradshaw in building Milan's volleyball team this fall.

PHOTO GALLERY: Airport, Milan, Dundee and Ida play in District volleyball at Jefferson

"Sylvia knows what it takes to win a district because she's done it," the Big Reds' coach said. "She leads the girls by telling them that stuff. ... She knows what you have to do. You've got to stay calm, you've got to work together, and you just have to be smart. And that's what she did."

Koch's steady hand helped Milan rally from a loss in the first set to defeat Airport 19-25, 25-11, 25-15, 25-23 in the Division 2 district semifinals Thursday at Jefferson. The Big Reds advanced to Friday's district final against Dundee, which survived a five-set thriller against arch-rival Ida in the night's second semifinal.

Milan defeated Airport twice during the regular season, but Airport played competitively in both matches.

That competitiveness spilled over into the first set Thursday.

"We played off both times against them and our energy was off again tonight," Koch said. "Everybody's nerves were off. It's districts, so if you lose, you'd done. It's just nerve-wracking. But we pushed through it."

Milan settled down and took control in the second set. Long service runs from Lauryn Parris, Amanda Gregorio, and Mariah Stines put the Big Reds ahead 16-2.

Koch scored 6 of her team-high 21 kills in the second set, added 4 kills and an ace in the final five points of the third set, and then added 6 more kills early in the fourth to put the Big Reds ahead 11-3.

"She is our go-to girl to get things done," Bradshaw said. "She is just somebody I know can put the ball away. She is so smart."

Malea Wourman added 8 kills, Gregorio contributed 13 digs, Koch had 10 digs, and Madison Slack finished with 37 assists.

Bradshaw said that Airport made a number of smart adjustments that caught the Big Reds off guard.

"Airport did their homework," Bradshaw said. "They gave us everything. They were tipping, they were hitting, they were serving short when the last two times we played them they went deep on us. That really kind of threw us for a loop. They're good."

Added Koch, "They're really scrappy. Their placement with the ball was really good and they played smart. They knew where our offense was going to go, like our tips and swings. They knew our weak spots on defense."

Airport coach Stephanie Miller said the team studied hard for this match.

"We were watching their lineups and how they lined up their outside and middle hitter. We adjusted our defense against them when those two (Koch and Wourman) were in the front row," Miller said. "The first time we played them they caught us off guard. ... The last few days we've been focusing on how we're going to adjust to their hitters."

Those adjustments helped Airport win the first set and stay competitive in the next three.

Airport fought back from an 8-point deficit in the fourth set to tie the score 15-15. Emmalin Whitwam was key to that surge, scoring an ace on three straight points and four overall during an 8-0 Jet run. Kills from Peyton Zajac, Savannah Barkley, RaeAnn Drummond, and Jocelyn Jondro helped Airport tie it again at 23-23, but back-to-back errors delivered the win for Milan.

Drummond finished with a team-high 11 kills and Barkley had 8. Joelle Shrewsbury recorded 17 assists and 15 digs and Jade Mittendorf added 18 digs. The Jets finished the season 13-20-1 overall.

"We ended with six freshmen on our team and four of them are starters," Miller said. "And we have five juniors returning next year too. I'm excited to see what we can do next year."

Dundee won an emotional battle against Ida in the night's second semifinal 26-24, 25-18, 17-25, 17-25, 15-13.

It was the fifth meeting of the season between the two rivals. Ida won the first three.

"Ida has really tough hitters and they know where to put it," Dundee coach Jennifer Hernandez said. "We've been working all season on defending it and blocking it and last time (against Ida) they put it together. We told them tonight that they needed to do the same thing. We had to put that defense together."

Dundee's defense was excellent in helping the team win the first two sets.

The Vikings rallied from a 20-15 deficit in the first set, never allowing Ida to score back-to-back points as they came back to tie the game 21-21, 22-22, and 23-23 before finally going ahead. A kill from Macy Salenbien gave Dundee a lead and Kennedy Irwin ended it with a scoring block.

Ida's longest scoring streak in the second set was just three straight to start the game before an 11-3 scoring run put the Vikings in control.

Dundee finished with big defensive numbers. Briley Bordine led the team with 26 digs, Kennedy Irwin had 23, and Katie Beaufait added 20.

Bordine came into the game needing just 19 digs to hit 500 for the season. She now has 507 digs and is within range of the school record of 533 for a season.

"It's a big milestone. I didn't think I was at that much yet," Bordine said. "We really just slowed down our side of the court and kept it controlled."

Defense helped Dundee rediscover its footing after Ida grabbed the third and fourth sets along with all of the momentum.

The Vikings changed the tone with a strong start 7-1 start to the fifth set.

Ida came back with kills from Mia Karl, Kaylee Stein, Ellie Jones, and Gabby Gobrecht to tie it 12-12, but the Blue Streaks never were able to gain the lead. Kills from Irwin and Lily Motylinski won the match for Dundee.

"I think we just wanted it more," Bordine said. "We just had to calm down and play our game."

Salenbien led Dundee with 14 kills, while Irwin and Ella Fowler scored 6 apiece. Lola Saleinbien added 25 assists and 5 aces. Dundee is back in the district finals for the second straight year.

"We're super excited," Hernandez said. "We didn't have the best season, but the girls were ready to come out here and do their best. They've played super hard all season and it's just really good to see them go out and there and get it done."

Ryleigh Eyler directed a great offensive match for Ida. She had 54 assists, spreading the offense well between Jones (14 kills), Stein (14 kills), Karl (14 kills), and Kylie Grieser (12 kills). Defensively, Jessica Schrader and Jones each had 17 digs, Stein 14, and Eyler 13.

The Blue Streaks struggled with efficiency through the first two sets but started finding their way around Dundee's defense in the third and fourth.

Gobrecht served a 6-0 Ida run in the third set to go up 20-11 aided by three kills from Karl. the Vikings fought off four straight set points before Jones set down the winning kill to avoid a sweep.

Stein had kills on seven of Ida's final nine points in the fourth set, including four straight to go up 23-15. Jones again had the winning spike to force a fifth set.

"Our outsides finally started connecting with our setter and they were able to put some balls away," Ida coach Ashley Begeman said. "Dundee's defense is insane. They get everything up, so you just have to keep hammering away at them. I'm sure my hitters are exhausted right now, but they finally picked up and were able to get some kills."

Ida finished the season 18-24-3.

"This is by far the best season we've had in the past few years," Begeman said. "I'm very happy with how everything went. We had our ups and downs, but overall we had a successful season. They fought to the very end. They could've given up in set three but they kept fighting."

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Milan, Dundee volleyball battle through to district finals