Three Rivers beats Sturgis to win county volleyball crown
CENTREVILLE — After three consecutive years of making the finals, the Three Rivers volleyball team finally broke through.
It came at the St. Joseph County volleyball tournament, this time held in a steamy gymnasium at Centreville High School.
The Wildcats defeated Sturgis in three sets during the finals. The Trojans looked impressive during the opening set and beat Three Rivers, 25-18. Three Rivers was probably even more impressive during the second set, coming away with a 25-9 victory. In the third and final stanza, the Lady Cats picked up a convincing 15-6 win.
“I could not be more proud of this team, we really played well today,” Three Rivers coach Megan Jergens said following the team’s victory. “I was a little scared after the first set with Sturgis, but we re-grouped and got to see ourselves playing well.”
Three Rivers just opened its season this past weekend at the Gull Lake Invitational, there they finished second overall to Hamilton. Jergens said her team played well there, but coming up short happens sometimes. That is what helped make Monday’s victory at the county tournament even better.
“Sometimes our girls forget how good they actually are,” she said. “When other teams are getting cohesive and playing well against us, sometimes we forget what’s actually going on and we have to do something good to remember we are a good team, we’ve got this and we can recover.”
In the semifinals, Three Rivers knocked off Colon in a couple of sets at 25-16, 25-17. Pool play saw the Lady Wildcats finish with a 3-0 mark, beating Mendon 25-17, 25-23; White Pigeon 25-13, 25-15 and Colon 25-13, 25-17.
Jenna Southland led the Lady Cats on the day. She pounded home 49 kills with nine digs, five aces and seven blocks.
“I think she played really well; she plays all the way around for us,” Jergens said. “Serving, defensively, attacking — she was a really good presence on the court for us today.”
Allie McGlothlen finished with 17 kills, 13 digs and seven aces while Bella Mangold scored 21 kills with 12 digs and four aces. Miley Southland handed out 119 assists for the Lady Cats, adding six kills with four aces. Aliza Munro led with 34 dig, Lanie Glass added 11 kills and seven aces while Maddie O’Hara finished with 11 kills as well.
“These girls deserve this,” Jergens said. “They put in a lot of work during the summer to continue to get better.”
Sturgis split its pool play match with Centreville and then beat Constantine to earn the top seed in bracket play. There, the Trojans beat Constantine.
Adison Nettleman totaled 43 kills on the day, Vivienne Merchant scored 35 kills for Sturgis. Rylee Carver led the defense with 24 digs.
Constantine ended its tournament in the semifinals, falling to Sturgis 25-9, 25-12. The Lady Falcons finished with a 1-2 mark in pool play, getting a victory over Mendon at 24-26, 25-22 and 15-13. Constantine fell in matches to Centreville 25-21, 25-23 and to Sturgis at 25-12, 25-16.
Meah Evans led the Falcons with 17 kills, Bella Cullifer added 13. Jozee Buglione finished with 14 digs and seven blocks while Sienna Salisbury totaled 10 digs and five blocks. Alyssa Anthony handed out 59 assists on the day.
Colon beat White Pigeon in pool play 25-10, 25-13 but fell to Mendon 25-21, 25-13 and Three Rivers 25-13, 25-17. The Lady Magi knocked off Centreville in bracket play, beating the Bulldogs 25-15, 25-21 before falling to Three Rivers.
Megann Mullins totaled 17 kills while Reese Williams added nine. Williams and Kelsey Burgess both finished with seven aces on the day. Burgess led with eight blocks as well.
“Overall we are super happy with our girls,” Colon co-coach Brianna Vinson said. “They're working hard and we're seeing a lot of improvement in our hustle from last year. We still have a lot of work to do but we're looking forward to a great season.”
White Pigeon dropped three matches during pool play. The Lady Chiefs fell to Colon 25-10, 25-13; Three Rivers 25-13, 25-15 and Mendon 25-12, 25-18.
Sadie McDaniel led with nine kills, Ellie McBride finished with eight kills, 14 digs and two assists. Kenlee Schrader totaled seven kills with 16 assists. Maddi Smallwood added 19 digs and five assists with two kills. Sydney McClure, Shelby McDaniel and Cali Raley each totaled two kills.
Centreville beat Constantine 25-21, 25-23 for its only win of the day. The Bulldogs split with Sturgis 25-18, 17-25 and dropped a match to Colon at 25-16, 25-21.
Kali Evans recorded her 1,000th career assist on the day.
“She has worked her butt off to accomplish this goal and we as a team know we are lucky to have such a talented setter,” Centreville coach Deric Mostrom said. “Making this during the first couple week of her junior season is a great accomplishment and we look forard to even more success this season.”
Evans handed out 25 assists on the day with 17 digs and nine kills. August Blair totaled 12 kills with two blocks and Mary Stears added five kills. Riley Buchner led with 36 digs, Abbe Wherrett added 19 digs. Rilyn Younts totaled four kills with 18 digs, Mia Yoder scored four kills and Drew Alexander added 22 digs.
This article originally appeared on Sturgis Journal: Three Rivers beats Sturgis to win county volleyball crown
