Ford cashes in on Allison Deon’s clutch hitting to sweep Utica
Sets to Allison Deon were like money in the bank for Ford's volleyball team.
The senior middle hitter set the Falcons' school record for hitting percentage Thursday to help Ford defeat Utica 25-23, 25-20, 25-12 in a Macomb Area Conference White Division volleyball match.
"She was set eight times and seven of them were kills — and no errors," said coach Randy Schantz. "Anytime we needed a side out she got it. At least five of those were in a situation where we really needed a point. She was clutch."
Deon's .875 hitting percentage wiped out the old mark of .783 set by Antonia Nunnery in 2019.
Last season Deon backed up three-time All-County selection Kaitlyn Marsh, who holds the season and career records for hitting percentage among her seven school records.
"She was really good. She's a D2 player (at Davenport University) and I learned a lot from her," Deon said. "I learned leadership and to always have a positive attitude. She showed me a lot of tricks, like how to get around a block and how to call your setter off."
Deon gives a lot of credit to setter Natalie Filipovski.
"My setter's my best friend," Deon said. "I can tell her what to do and she doesn't get mad at me. We communicate well together. We've played all of our club years and all of our school years together. She just knows where to set me."
Deon said the Falcons are a close-knit group.
"We're all best friends," she said. "I'm playing with my twin sister (Emerson) and four other friends I've gone to elementary school with. It's a good group of girls."
Schantz admitted he had some concerns about going into the season without having Marsh, but those fears have been alleviated.
"We lost one of the best players the school has ever had and I was worried that we might not be the same but the seniors have stepped up," he said. "We have seven seniors and they're all key role players on this team. They're all veterans now."
Utica doesn't have the seasoning that Ford possesses and it hurt the Chieftains, especially in the third set.
"We have only two seniors on the roster so we're playing with 90 percent underclassmen," said coach Jeff LaPratt. "We're learning as the season goes on. I told the girls after the match that winning is a learning process. We have to learn how to win — to play from ahead and to play from behind.
"The first two sets were really good. Once they got behind in the third set they were nervous because if they lost the set the match was over. They start pressing. They have to learn to play through that and force a fourth set, but I have nothing but praise for them."
A key to Ford's victory was jumping out to early four-point leads in each of the first two sets.
"You can't spot a team four-point leads," LaPratt said. "Then we're going on runs just to tie it, while they're going on runs to extend the lead."
Schantz was pleased with the way the Falcons played from start to finish.
"We had a game plan and they stuck to it," he said. "We had to serve really tough and we had to pass with no errors. We had only three errors. We played smart in certain moments at the end of games."
Ford got the deciding point in the first set on a kill by Abigail Shaner. The Falcons got the final two points of the second set on kills by Allison Deon and Emerson Deon. The serving of Shaner was the key to the final set. She served five straight points, including four aces, to put Ford ahead 8-4. She then had an ace for the winning point.
Photo gallery from Henry Ford II vs. Utica in MAC White volleyball action
Vanessa King led Ford with 10 kills, Shaner had eight and Emerson Deon and Natalia Malewicz each had five kills. Bella Allen had 18 digs and two ace serves. Malewicz had 17 digs. Shaner served 12 points, including seven aces, and Riley Touchton had 10 service points.
Jada Austin led Utica with six kills and she had one block. Chloe Johnson had three kills and three blocks. Rachell Rettell led the Chieftains with 20 assists.
Ford improved to 2-1 in the MAC White and 5-5-2 overall. Utica is 1-2 in the division and 12-8 overall.
