Trojans take district title with win over Speedgirls

BESSEMER - The Crystal Falls Forest Park volleyball team captured the MHSAA Class D District 127 title, downing Bessemer 25-9, 25-11 and 25-11 at the House of Noise on Thursday night.

The Lady Trojans have won the district championship every year since 2001.

"We feel good and the girls played well in all three games," coach Kim Bjork said. "I liked our attitude and we played hard and aggressively. We're getting better. We started the season playing on all cylinders and went into a little slump. We're getting back closer to where we were.

"I feel we have a good chance to go far in the tournament if we play to our potential. We have to play better every match and not let our guard down, because there's some very good teams out there."

Speedgirl coach Shelly Mettler was also impressed by Forest Park and its volleyball program.

"Their fundamentals are so solid, just solid," Mettler said. "They're such a strong program and they really push it. They're a different team without (Lexi) Gussert, but they are still very competitive and athletic."

The scores were misleading as the Speedgirls were not intimidated even though Mettler said many told them they had no chance to win. They were aggressive and fought the Trojans on every point. Bjork sounded sincere when she praised Bessemer.

"They have a lot of potential and a good crop of young girls," Bjork said. "The pace of the game was too fast for some of them but not for others. They got after it."

Mettler said the Bessemer players refused to be intimidated by the powerful Lady Trojans and should have played like this all season.

"We played pretty good and really tried hard," Mettler said. "A lot of the girls are not used to this type of environment, but they weren't nervous. I think we learned something from a very good team. To finish on this note and see the young players blocking and fighting back gives us something to look forward to next year. They're really starting to believe in themselves."

Forest Park's Libby Shamion started the game with a kill and an ace and took a quick 4-0 start. Before the Speedgirls knew it, it was 7-1 but Bessemer refused to panic.

When Jazzmyn McGeschick and Nicki Lekies blocked a kill attempt at the net, the lead shrunk to 7-3.

But it was boom time for the Lady Trojans when Maria Stankewicz doubled up on aces and kills and Forest Park built a 12-3 advantage.

Forest Park outscored Bessemer 13-6 the rest of the way, but their spirited play was enjoyable for the fans to watch.

Bessemer started quickly in game two and took a 2-0 lead after a block by sophomore Rachel Emery and McGeschick against a powerful Forest Park hit.

But CFFP went up 12-4 after a booming kill from Kayla Steiro and Stankewicz smashed three aces in a row and got a final kill from Amber Lovato.

But Lekies made a tremendous play as she dived and returned a ball inches from the ground and somehow hit it for a winner in the play of the night. The Speedgirls were within 14-11 and the crowd was into it.

But Forest Park stepped up and calmly started hitting service aces until they won 25-11.

In game three, Valerie Rowe, playing in her last volleyball game, was all over the court and made a great shot to tie CFFP at 3-3.

But Annie Taylor served seven consecutive points at Bessemer to increase the Lady Trojan lead to 15-3.

McGeshick hit one more excellent shot that nicked the right sideline but the Speedgirls could not hold off the latest Forest Park tsunami and CFFP won set and match at 25-11.

Bessemer packs up their uniforms and equipment for the year, but Mettler made it clear she's planning a lot of off-season work in Bessemer.

Forest Park takes on the winner of today's Ontonagon-Lake Linden District 128 final in the regional semifinal in Negaunee Tuesday.