NCMC volleyball builds win streak, Simney earns first win leading Rayder soccer
PETOSKEY — The home fans for the North Central Michigan College women’s volleyball team received just what they were looking for when the Timberwolves opened their 2023 slate Thursday morning.
A match sweep over Henry Ford College was then followed by another home victory Friday, then another sweeping win Friday afternoon.
The perfect home quad for the Timberwolves included wins over Macomb Community College and Alpena Community College, bringing NCMC to a 4-3 start to the season.
It comes after just a 1-16 record in 2022, the very first year of the program.
Against Macomb, the Timberwolves dropped a 25-12 opener, responded with a 25-14 win, then fell behind 2-1 with a 25-18 loss. They then pushed a fifth set with a 25-21 victory in the fourth. That fifth set then came as a 15-13 win for NCMC.
Ava Wendel (Traverse City) finished with a team-high 15 kills, 14 digs and three aces, while Camille Wardin (Saginaw) had 10 kills and four blocks.
Grace Baragrey (Johannesburg) also had eight kills, Analiese Fredin (McBain) had 37 assists, seven kills, nine digs and two blocks, Eve Cheney (Rudyard) had five kills and Makenzie Castle (Grayling) had 14 digs and two aces.
Petoskey native Olivia DeGroot also added two aces and five digs.
Against Alpena, the Timberwolves got back to sweeping and earned set wins of 25-18, 25-18 and 25-22.
MORE: North Central's DeGroot happy to be back on court with teammates
Wendel carried over her strong morning with eight more kills, three aces and five digs, Fredin had 21 assists and four digs, Jackie Brinkman (Bay City) had eight digs and five aces and Brooklynn Besteman (Rudyard) had eight kills. Castle also added 10 digs and two aces.
Between the two Friday matches, Wendel was responsible for just over 30 points for the Timberwolves.
North Central will get a bit of a break from competition over the next week, before returning to action at Kalamazoo Valley on Friday, Sept. 8. They’ll also meet Macomb once again on Saturday, Sept. 9.
The next home match for the Timberwolves will take place at 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 13 against Grand Rapids Community College.
HIGH SCHOOL SOCCER
Harbor Springs 3, Clare 1
HARBOR SPRINGS — The Harbor Springs boys’ soccer team kept a solid start to the season going when Clare visited, bringing in a 3-1 victory.
Freshman Henry Juneau came through with two more goals on the season, while Everett Shepherd added the other.
Niko Reskevics and Owen Croton also each had an assist in the win.
The Rams also took on a pair of challenges Saturday, taking their first losses of the season.
Harbor fell to Pontiac Notre Dame Prep (7-0) and Warren De La Salle (5-1), both large and private downstate programs.
Charlie Baker scored the only goal against De La Salle.
The Rams (4-2-0) will next meet Cadillac at home on Tuesday, Aug. 29 and bring in Elk Rapids to open Lake Michigan play on Thursday, Aug. 31.
Charlevoix 5, Sault Ste. Marie 0
SAULT STE. MARIE — Josh Montalvo scored a trio of goals for the Charlevoix boys’ soccer team as they topped Sault Ste. Marie in a non-conference meeting, 5-0.
The Rayders led 4-0 at the half, thanks to Montalvo, while Peyton Scott and Jamie Parrish also each added a goal in the game.
Braylen Phillips then made a pair of saves in net and earned the shutout victory.
It came as the first varsity win with Charlevoix for first-year head coach Sean Simney.
Charlevoix (1-1-1) will next travel to Glen Lake Monday, then bring in Grayling on Wednesday, Aug. 30.
MORE: Tarsi leading Rambler volleyball early, Harbor freshman Juneau off to huge start
VOLLEYBALL
Boyne City Quad
BOYNE CITY — Late last week, the Boyne City volleyball team hosted Lake City, Mancelona and Pine River in a quad match.
The Ramblers took their first defeat of the year against Lake City (17-25, 26-28) then topped both Mancelona (25-21, 25-15) and Pine River (25-12, 26-28, 15-13).
“I think the team really did well with our first set against Lake City,” Boyne coach Tyla Coates said. “Taking that first lost of the season was hard but we played as hard as we could and it didn't disappoint.”
Ava Tarsi led on the day with 54 assists, 10 aces, 11 kills and 14 digs, Aubrey Burns had 52 digs, Elly Wilcox had 25 kills and 20 digs, Ava Snyder had 15 kills and seven aces and Ameilia Dunstan had 15 kills. Brianna Ager also added 14 digs.
Boyne City will next host another quad on Thursday, Aug. 31.
GIRLS GOLF
Petoskey at Lady Titan Invite
INTERLOCHEN — The Petoskey girls’ golf team took on a host of area teams in Saturday’s Lady Titan Invite at Interlochen Golf Course.
Petoskey placed seventh among the 10 varsity teams in attendance with a round of 399.
Traverse City Central earned the win with a 368, followed by West with a 386. Cheboygan was also fourth with a 388.
For the Northmen, Marley Spence led with a 96, Sara Hasse shot 99, as did Riley Barr, while Emma Berg shot 105; Anna Hasse, 110; and Sophia Gardner, 115.
Petoskey will host its annual invite on Thursday, Aug. 31 at the Petoskey-Bay View Country Club.
Contact Sports Editor Drew Kochanny at dkochanny@petoskeynews.com. Follow him on Twitter, @DrewKochanny, and Instagram, @drewkochanny
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: NCMC volleyball builds win streak, Simney earns first win leading Rayder soccer
