Pewamo-Westphalia volleyball gets redemption, takes down top-ranked Monroe SMCC in quarterfinal
DANSVILLE − Dani Pohl and the Pewamo-Westphalia volleyball team remembered the disappointment they felt a year ago when their banner season ended with a state quarterfinal loss to Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central.
The No. 2-ranked Pirates got a shot at redemption Tuesday in the exact same stage of the Michigan High School Athletic Association state tournament.
And they made the most of that chance.
P-W bounced back from an opening-set loss to knock off top-ranked Monroe SMCC in four sets in a Division 3 state quarterfinal at Dansville High School.
"(This was a) redemption game for us from last year," P-W coach Jon Thelen said. "We had a great team last year and that (loss) stung. It stung last year. They worked so hard this year and to finally get the chance to knock them off in the same setting, same point in the postseason (was great). We played very, very good. I couldn't be happier."
The victory sends the Pirates (44-2-2) to a state semifinal Friday against Cass City at Kellogg Arena in Battle Creek. It marks the first state semifinal appearance for P-W since 1994.
"This is just a great step for us," said Pohl, who had a team-high 15 kills. "Last year we got so close so it's great to know that all the hard work we put in and all the teams before us put in for us to get us to the point. It's a great moment for our program and we're just really excited to hopefully go win a state championship."
Taylor Smith finished with 37 assists and seven blocks, Caroline Hengesbach had 33 digs and Saige Martin and Sierra Schneider had seven blocks for the Pirates, who are a win away from reaching the state title game for the first time since their 1994 final four trip.
P-W never led in the opening set after falling behind 5-0 while suffering a 25-15 loss. But the Pirates responded in the second set. P-W had its biggest lead at 18-12 and then fended off a late push. Monroe SMCC eventually tied the game at 23, but the Pirates got big hits from Pohl to close out the 25-23 victory and even the match.
"That was the springboard that we needed," Thelen said. "We knew they were going to push back. That's a very good team and they are No. 1 for a reason and they are always around in the state finals every year. We knew there wasn't going to be any quit in them so us being able to finish that set and get the momentum that we needed the rest of the match was huge. It was absolutely huge."
More:See the matchups, results for Greater Lansing volleyball teams in MHSAA quarterfinals
In the pivotal third set, P-W prevailed in a tight set. The Pirates scored four points after trailing 18-17 and then scored four of the final five points to close out a 25-21 win.
P-W scored five straight in the fourth set to build a 13-7 lead and prevailed with each push made by Monroe SMCC to earn a trip to the state semifinals.
"Everything just came together in the next sets," Pohl said.
Contact Brian Calloway at bcalloway@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @brian_calloway.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Volleyball: Pewamo-Westphalia beats top-ranked Monroe SMCC
