Michigan high school volleyball finals: Clarkston Everest stunning comeback wins Division 4

BATTLE CREEK — Clarkston Everest Collegiate entered its first ever Division 4 volleyball state final on Saturday with a first-year head coach and a first-year setter — yet the underdog Mountaineers won the championship, coming from behind to defeat traditional powerhouse Leland, 25-27, 18-25, 25-22, 25-19, 15-13.

In the final set, Everest trailed, 10-3, before winning 12 of the final 15 points.

Everest was fresh off of a thrilling state semifinal on Friday at Kellogg Arena, overcoming a two-set deficit against the top-ranked team in the state in Division 4, Adrian Lenawee Christian.

“I’m blown away by these girls,” said Everest coach Danielle Walker. “To come back two days in a row, from two sets down, is just amazing.”

Erica Walker, the coach's niece, decided to join the team this season after never playing organized volleyball before. On Saturday, she tied for second in state finals history with 57 assists in one match.

“First off, I want to succeed so my hitters can succeed,” Erica Walker said. “I want them to have the spotlight, and in order to do that I have to have good sets. Just to set them up and see them succeed makes me so happy.”

Her aunt was pretty darn happy, too.

“Erica has adapted and grown … to fit right in with this team and jump right in and learn so quickly.”

Junior outside hitter Madelyn Krappmann said the team never doubted the outcomes despite it seeming almost impossible.

“We trusted ourselves and we trusted in the abilities of our team and in each other," she said." We know that we’re a strong team, we know our strengths and we know our weaknesses and we know how to adapt to the other team’s strengths and their weaknesses. I think we literally just dug in and took a deep breath and said, ‘all right, we did it yesterday, we can do it today.’ We knew it could be done and just pushed as hard as we could. And it didn’t even cross our minds that we would lose.”

Division 1

The Farmington Hills Mercy huddle between the fourth and fifth sets was very upbeat and fierce in tone, especially compared to when the second set concluded, when it looked like the state final against Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern would end in a sweep.

Northern had rather convincingly controlled the first two sets, but Mercy rallied to win the final three sets and take home its second state championship in the last four years.

Mercy won 13-25, 23-25, 25-21, 25-22 and 15-12. The Marlins beat Clarkston in straight sets in the semifinals on Friday to advance.

“Unbelievable, that’s the headline, unbelievable,” said Mercy coach Loretta Vogel. After composing herself, Vogel went on to explain that much of the first two sets was about a young team with three sophomore starters who needed to settle into the state finals experience."

“I think by the third (set), we had nothing to lose,” Vogel said. “I felt (Northern) also had some really great serves that just popped, and it took us two full games to realize it. And then all of a sudden when you take that away from them, they needed to come back with something else.

“I think in the third game we started hitting, putting the ball to the floor, using the block. They scrambled and then, all of a sudden for the individuals who are young, it changes the game for still young high school athletes. So, composure can become a challenge in that regards.”

Kate Kalczynski led Mercy with 25 kills while Campbell Flynn had 41 assists. Elana Erickson had 22 kills for Northern, while teammate Lexie Stotenbur also had 41 assists.

Division 2

It’s not uncommon for high school athletes to cry tears of joy when they win a huge event.

In the case of North Branch winning a second consecutive Division 2 volleyball state championship, there was some of that, but most of the tears were from the seniors realizing they’ll no longer be playing volleyball together, after mostly playing together since elementary school.

North Branch won a second consecutive state title, in three sets over Grand Rapids West Catholic, 25-18, 25-14, 25-18.

“We have a deeper connection than a lot of other teams, having played together since we were 8 … so it’s very sad to think about these girls I’ll never play with again. Most teams end on a low, but when you end on a high, you just want it to keep going,’ said senior Alana Deshetsky.

Adrienne Greschaw, one of two Miss Volleyball finalists for North Branch, finished with 33 assists.

“Coaches have been watching us for four years,” Deshetsky said. “So, these teams scouted us very hard all season long. I think our last tournament we looked around and there were like five cameras on the court. So, this post season was very difficult because teams knew us as much as they could, inside and out. When you’re at the top (ranked No. 1 all season), you’re the target. Everyone was coming for us.”

Division 3

Kalamazoo Christian defeated Traverse City St. Francis, 26-24, 16-25, 25-23, 25-20. St. Francis got out to an early lead, 22-19 in the first set, but Kalamazoo fought back to win the first set 26-24, with Makenna Ekkens scoring the last three consecutive points.

St. Francis commanded the second set, before Kalamazoo, state runner-up last year, closed out the final with two consecutive set wins.

Ekkens and Holland DeVries led Kalamazoo with 17 and 16 kills, respectively. Lola Stecker had 39 assists.

Quinn Yenshaw and Garnet Mullet led St. Francis with 15 kills each, while Reese Jones had 24 assists.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: MHSAA volleyball finals: Clarkston Everest wins Division 4