Indians win District title

By MICKEY ALVARADO

Nothing came easy for Tecumseh’s varsity volleyball team during the Michigan High School Athletic Association district No. 37 B tournament but after scratching and clawing past Ida and Onsted the Indians retained their title and set a new school win record.

“It’s a tough district, that’s for sure” said Tecumseh coach Kerri Watkins after accepting the district trophy.

Ida did everything it could to try and fend off the hard attacking Indians after winning the first match of the semifinal on Thursday, Nov. 3, hosted by Tecumseh High School.

The Bluestreaks took match one with a 25-22 final but Tecumseh won the next three in a row (25-22, 25-18, 25-19) to face the Wildcats in the district championship match on Saturday, Nov. 5.

The team that wins the best of five matches earns the championship title so Tecumseh came out swinging for an early advantage. The Indians jumped on Onsted in the opening match and while the Wildcats were close to shaking them off, lost 25-21.

Tecumseh again jumped out to an early lead in the second match but Onsted knotted the match six times before overtaking the Indians for a 28-26 victory.

Tecumseh held a 17-15 lead in the third match before Onsted turned the match around for a one-point, 21-20 advantage. The Indians regained the lead and went on to win the match 25-23.

Up two matches to one, the Indians went into match four with confidence but the Wildcats fought to a 9-8 lead. Tecumseh settled down and began pounding the ball for a 25-16 win and the district title.

The Indians had faced both teams several times during the season so Watkins knew they’d have to battle for their third consecutive district championship.

“The good thing is we knew what to expect and we knew how we were going to have to play,” she said. “So, just coming out and doing that, it was a fun atmosphere for them to play in.”

The Indians did an excellent job of setting the ball up for hard-hitting attacks and made a big difference during the tough tournament.

“Our goal is to get our hitters one-on-one with a blocker,” said Watkins. “So, if the pass is there blockers have to guess where we’re going to go...When our hitters are one-on-one I’m totally confident they can put the ball away.”

During practices Watkins splits the team into squads so the players have learned they have to be on their toes to defend hard blasts.

“We’ve got girls who can hit the ball so our back row is used to playing that ball and digging it up,” the coach said.

In the championship against Onsted, senior Kelsey Berrington finished with 17 digs, 15 kills and three blocks. Tecumseh sophomore Hannah Galloway recorded five blocks and 13 kills while senior Carly Tillotson finished with 32 assists, six kills, five aces and six service points. Junior Jordyn Norkey added 20 digs for Tecumseh.

In the semifinal against Ida, Tillotson had 35 assists: Berrington, 18 kills, 15 digs, served 17-19 with four aces; Galloway, three blocks and 11 kills; Brianne Nowak, served 18-of-20 with six aces and 10 digs and Sarah Harrison, 11 digs.

The Indians set a school wins record after claiming the championship trophy, improving to 51-3-1 overall.

Tecumseh competed against Haslett in regional action at Columbia Central on Tuesday and won 22-25, 25-21, 25-12, 25-20.

Berrington had 21 kills and 19 digs: Tillotson, 40 assists and four aces; Sam Diehl, 10 kills, three blocks and Norkey served 22-23 with 16 points and 13 digs.

Tecumseh is scheduled to play Jackson Lumen Christi, Thursday at 7 p.m., at Columbia Central in the regional final.