'This feels awesome': Harper Creek wins first volleyball district title since 2020
BATTLE CREEK — The last time Harper Creek won a district title, Reese Winter was a freshman and wearing a mask.
Now she is a senior and the smile on her face told the entire story.
"This one is so much better. To win a district championship as a senior ... this feels awesome," Winter said. "I love this team. I couldn't ask for anything more than to win this as a senior with this team."
The Beavers captured their first district title since 2020 with a 3-1 win over Coldwater in the Division 1 district tournament final Friday at Harper Creek High School.
Harper Creek lifted the district championship trophy after beating the Cardinals 25-18, 25-13, 15-25, 25-18. It is the first Division 1 district title for the school in volleyball since winning a Division 2 crown in 2020. The Beavers will face Portage Northern in a Division 1 regional Tuesday at Grand Ledge.
"Last time we won was the COVID year, in masks," Harper Creek coach Terra King said. "It's great to win it. It's amazing for the girls. We have a great group of girls. It's always fun to win but with this group of girls, it makes it extra, extra special to win, because they are such a great group."
Harper Creek rolled through the first two rounds of the district tournament without dropping a set. And Friday's match looked like it was going to follow the same script as the Beavers won the first two sets.
However, Coldwater jumped out to a 8-3 lead in the third set. Harper Creek climbed back to draw within 10-8, but that's as close as the Beavers would get as the Cardinals extended the match with the 25-15 win as senior outside hitter Kenzie Scheid played strong at the net, as well as getting kills from the back row.
"We think we killed ourselves with our own errors, and our energy was down," Winter said. "We knew we had to come back. We knew they were scrappy, have some good hitters, but we knew we were the better team if we didn't make errors and came out with good energy."
In the decisive fourth set, the two teams were even early at 4-4. From there, the Beavers ran off to a 14-6 lead to take back the momentum they enjoyed earlier. After Harper Creek led by as much as nine at 20-11, Coldwater stayed in the set and trailed just 22-17 before the home team put the match away 25-18.
Junior outside hitter Cassidy Pratley led Harper Creek with 19 kills with freshman Camille Robinson adding 15 kills as Ella Chantrenne chipped in 10 kills and four digs. Reese Winter had 23 digs to lead the defense with Taegen Andersen coming up with 48 assists.
"Set 3 is always the hardest set to win," King said. "We played Coldwater in league play and they were tough for us. Kenzie is a great player; hard to defend her. We have an excellent defense and we struggled against her.
"When we struggled in Set 3, we knew we had to answer back. In the postseason, the second you start to let down, it can be anybody's game. So we talked about that. We asked them, 'Is this gong to be the team that causes you to lose?' And we just said, 'Not tonight.'"
Division 4 at Bellevue
St. Philip won its 22nd straight district title as the Tigers swept Calhoun Christian 25-9, 25-10, 25-19 in a championship final on Thursday at Bellevue.
"It's always important to win a district title. It means you can move on," St. Philip coach Vicky Groat said. "So it's good for the tradition we have been building here for many years to keep that going. You lose in districts you are done. So it's the next part of the process."
Makenzee Grimm led St. Philip with 12 kills with Jaclyn Ashley adding 10 kills and seven digs. Rylee Altman had a team-high 10 digs and Addi Dzwik came up with 25 assists.
No. 7 St. Philip will face Lansing Christian in a regional semifinal Tuesday at Morenci High School. The other side of the regional bracket is loaded as well with No. 1 Adrian Lenawee Christian and No. 3 Hillsdale Academy.
Division 1 at Gull Lake
Reigning district champ Gull Lake saw its season come to an end after getting beat in a Division 1 tourney final. Portage Northern swept the Blue Devils 3-0 to advance to regionals.
Division 2 at Parma Western
Marshall saw its string of seven straight district titles come to an end as the Redhawks lost 3-2 to Parma Western. Parma Western advances to face Otsego in a Division 2 regional at Parchment.
Division 3 at Union City
Bronson swept Centreville 3-0 to win a Division 3 district final Thursday at Union City. The Vikings, listed as an honorable mention in the Division 3 state rankings, will face Homer in the regional semifinal Tuesday at Bronson High School.
Division 3 at Homer
Homer swept Springport 3-0 to win a Division 3 district final at Homer. The Trojans will face Bronson in a regional semifinal Tuesday at Bronson High School.
Division 4 at Mendon
No. 2-ranked Mendon knocked off No. 8 Colon 3-0 in the district final at Mendon. Mendon advances to a Division 4 regional semifinal Tuesday at Athens.
Bill Broderick can be reached at bbroderi@battlecreekenquirer.com. Follow him on X/Twitter: @billbroderick.
This article originally appeared on Battle Creek Enquirer: Harper Creek claims first Division 1 district title in volleyball
