North Central volleyball splits for the week, move atop MCCAA in aces
PETOSKEY — Volleyball can be a funny game sometimes.
Or, not so funny depending on which bench you're on.
Just when you’re feeling at your best and thinking it could be an early night, plans change in an instant.
Two sets into Thursday’s conference match against Muskegon Community College, the North Central Michigan College volleyball team was feeling great.
They had just pulled in a pair of tough wins over the Jayhawks and had the opportunity to make it an early night and a long bus ride home for Muskegon.
That chance was then squandered in the third set, then the fourth and then again in the fifth, as the Jayhawks pulled off a reverse sweep with a five-set victory that left the Timberwolves stunned.
North Central pulled in a 25-23 victory in the opener, getting there on an ace by Ila Bisson (Rogers City), then a kill by Camille Wardin (Saginaw).
In the second, a 25-22 win came North Central’s way, with Brooklynn Besteman (Rudyard) delivering the honors on a hard shot through a pair of blockers.
As good as NCMC felt after those two, Muskegon came out firing in the third, building a 10-4 advantage. The Timberwolves climbed back and took an 11-10 lead, but then found themselves down again, 23-16. In the end, Muskegon had enough to close it out with a 25-22 win.
That momentum from the Jayhawks then followed into the fourth, a 25-19 win for Muskegon, then a 15-9 fifth set ended the night.
Grace Baragrey (Johannesburg) finished the night with 12 kills for the Timberwolves, Ava Wendel (Traverse City) had nine kills, 12 digs and two assists, Analiese Fredin (McBain) had 25 assists, 13 digs and four aces, Makenzie Castle (Grayling) had 18 digs, Besteman had seven kills and six digs and Wardin had three kills and a solo block.
Win vs. Alpena
Earlier in the week, North Central was on the right side of a five-set conference match, defeating Alpena 3-2 (25-21, 19-25, 25-22, 21-25, 15-12).
Wendel led with 13 kills and nine digs, along with two aces, Wardin had nine kills and seven block assists, Baragrey had nine kills, Besteman had six kills and four block assists and Castle had 18 digs.
Fredin also recorded 39 assists – one off of a five-set NCMC record – eight digs and four kills.
Ace on the line
A bright spot in both matches during the week came with the Timberwolves at the service line, as Fredin also put six aces on the stat sheet Tuesday, a new program record for five sets.
She already owns the overall record with nine in a match, which came in four sets.
The five-set record was then matched by McKenna Hall (Riley Township) on Thursday, who also notched six aces against Muskegon, including a trio in a run to help the Timberwolves climb back in during the third set.
The Timberwolves entered Thursday second in the Michigan Community College Athletic Association (MCCAA) in aces for the season and moved into first place with 70 through six matches after Thursday, seven better than Grand Rapids Community College and 16 better than third place Bay College.
North Central is also fourth among all 21 teams with 144 in all matches this season. Fredin currently leads the team with 31 on the year, followed by Brinkman with 22.
Up next
A busy stretch awaits North Central ahead, as they travel to Grand Rapids for the Raider Challenge, where they’ll get in four matches across Saturday and Sunday.
They’ll start with Oakland Community College and Southwestern Michigan on Saturday, before meeting McHenry County College and Lansing Community College on Sunday.
The next home match for North Central will come against Montcalm Community College on Monday, Oct. 9.
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: North Central splits for the week, but moves atop serving list in league
