In the bag: Lutheran Northwest sweeps Shrine for district title
CLAWSON – With the way it began games Thursday night, it felt like Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest could no wrong.
The Crusaders were overwhelming in the second set, and needed just one more after that to defeat Royal Oak Shrine 25-23, 25-9, 25-14 for their second Division 3 district championship in as many seasons.
Trailing 21-18 in the opener, the Knights reeled off the following four points before Lutheran Northwest deadlocked the game at 22 each and eventually captured it behind a play from sophomore Keaira Speighs at the net.
Lutheran Northwest took that momentum and ran with it, far. The Crusaders led 15-1 to start the second set, amassing a number of points with senior Grace Wieleba serving and front line players like Brooke Hehl and Charlotte Gramzow tipping balls over the net.
Shrine played a relatively even set after the run, but the damage had been done.
"The goal was really just to keep the same energy going from the first set," Crusaders senior Abbie Morris said. "Even though the first set was pretty tight, I think the energy was just through the roof, so it was just about keeping it at that high level and not letting it dropped. And I think the score clearly showed what that did for us.
Morris spoke about having empathy for an opponent going against such a spell in a game of that magnitude, saying, "We've all been there before. It's not a fun time ... Being on the right side, it's definitely a privilege."
The final game wasn't as lopsided, but again the Crusaders showed their swagger and forced Shrine to fight back from a double-digit deficit after beginning it up 12-2.
"I think it was confidence, not cockiness," Morris said of the team's attitude by the last set. "We knew we had it in our duffy, right coach? We're teaching (head coach Heather Lower) new terms. We got it in our bag (laughs). So yeah, I think that was the feeling."
Lower gave her own assessment, adding, "I always say in the postseason that anything can happen, whether it's great or not, and tonight was really great for us. Emotionally, we were prepared. Usually we start off pretty slow, but tonight we started strong and just kept it going.
"It's easy as a coach to keep feeding them energy because they already had it. It was very exciting. Internally, they were very motivated. Sometimes they can get comfortable, but they were really motivated to put the nail in the coffin to finish it. It was a good time to see it."
Gramzow and Wieleba led Lutheran Northwest with 14 and 11 kills, respectively, while Hehl was responsible for eight kills and blocks apiece. Speighs, meanwhile, added eight kills.
Photo gallery of Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest vs. Royal Oak Shrine in D3 volleyball district championship action
Last fall the Crusaders won a regional match in five sets against Brown City before being eliminated by Cass City. Brown City may again be their next opponent depending on if the Green Devils win their district championship versus Memphis.
Whoever the opponent, the regional will be a hike for the Crusaders with it being hosted by Bad Axe on Tuesday.
"We're not new to the region experience, which is cool," Lower said. "We have four seniors, they've been in this position a couple times. We didn't have a libero (in last year's regional final) because of injury, and we did the best we could. But I'm hoping it helps us experience-wise. The travel will be tough, a two-hour ride on a bus. We'll see how it goes. Like I said before, it's the postseason, anything can happen. If we come out like we did tonight, it could be very fun."
