Valley Lutheran volleyball builds on trip to Final Four - mlive.com

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FRANKENMUTH, MI – After a 40-win season and the first Final Four appearance in program history, Saginaw Valley Lutheran’s volleyball players decided they could do better.

“That’s the plan,” Valley Lutheran Jon Frank said. "A lot of great players graduated from that team, but we have a lot who not just came back from that team but came back with a much higher skill level. We are doing so many more things this year … playing faster.

“We can do that because they were great players last year and they became better since then. It’s not the coach. It’s what these girls have done.”

Valley Lutheran, ranked in the Top 10 in the Michigan High School Volleyball Coaches Association Division 3 poll, improved to 17-2 with three wins in Monday’s Frankenmuth Quadrangular.

The Chargers beat Corunna (25-19, 25-18), Durand (25-9, 25-17) and Frankenmuth (25-17, 25-22). The three wins come after an emotional win Saturday over Beaverton, which was ranked third in the state in Division 3. The Chargers earned a 25-23, 20-25, 21-25, 25-13 victory over the Beavers.

Valley Lutheran’s reasons for success are reflected in the players' stats from Monday’s quad. In six games, Sydney Krauss had 74 assists, with Kya Belill adding 25 digs. Four different players had at least 17 kills – Peyton Bartnikowski (26), Ashlyn Martin (22), Olivia Grimpo (19) and Lexie Peplinski (17).

“We have a setter in Sydney who is so precise and so smart, I never get to question her,” Frank said. "I can only think of one time this year when I asked her why she did something ... because it looked too difficult. She said not to worry because she wanted to try it and thought she could do it.

“Then you add four outstanding hitters, and you can do a lot of things on offense. If you only have two hitters, then you are somewhat limited because you’ll only have one in the front row at a time, and it’s easy for a team to set up their blocking. Even with three hitters, it becomes a little predictable. With four, you’re always running at least two hitters in the front the whole night.”

The Chargers were 40-9-5 in 2019, reaching the Division 3 semifinals before falling to Schoolcraft. Libero Kelsey Vittitow led the team, earning second team all-state honors before moving on to Saginaw Valley State University.

“She was an incredible player and put up numbers that will probably never be broken here at Valley Lutheran,” Frank said. “But Kya Belill came in and has done an incredible job, which we expected. If it weren’t for Kelsey, Kya would have probably been starting for us at libero the past couple of years. She probably could have started for most of the teams in the area.”

The Chargers' lone two losses have come to a pair of Division 2 powers, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep and Birch Run. Notre Dame Prep was ranked in the Top 5, while Birch Run earned honorable mention honors in the state rankings.

“Everything has really fallen into place for us this season,” Frank said. "The girls came back this season, and their skill levels had improved so much. We have the pieces in place this season.

“But that doesn’t mean we’re going to the Final Four again. A lot of things can happen, but right now we’re very happy with where we are.”

The district tournaments begin Nov. 2, with Valley Lutheran playing in the Millington district.

Frankenmuth fell to 6-6 in the quad, beating Durand but falling to Corunna and Valley Lutheran.

Volleyball

• Bullock Creek (7-2) won one of its most memorable matches Monday, finishing off Farwell with a 37-35 win in the third game after 25-21, 25-17 scores in the first two. Vivian Freeland’s ace finally ended the third game. “The third set was one of the most epic battles you will ever see on a volleyball court,” Bullock Creek coach Justin Freeland said. “So proud of our entire team the way we stuck together and battled every time momentum threatened to swing the other way.”

Soccer

• Midland High and Saginaw Heritage tied 1-1 in a Saginaw Valley League game Monday. Andon Sodini gave Midland a lead in the first half, but Heritage tied the game at 1-1 in the fifth minute of the second half.
• Valley Lutheran shut out Ithaca, 6-0, in a Tri-Valley Conference West game.

MORE

Saginaw-area football highlights, Player of the Week poll

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