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Country Day finally beats Notre Dame Prep to win district title – The Oakland Press

Sakege November 9, 2024

PONTIAC – Three may be a magic number, but five is one Detroit Country Day wanted nothing to do with Friday night.

For starters, that’s how many years in a row Pontiac Notre Dame Prep has ousted the Yellowjackets from the playoffs: four in districts, once in the quarterfinals in 2021.

That’s one more reason the Yellowjackets were hoping to avoid a fifth set with Notre Dame Prep in the final installment of their postseason showdown.

They did, and after losing 11 straight playoff sets to the Fighting Irish to start the night, the second-ranked Country Day finally conquered the Irish, 25-15, 18-25, 25-18, 25-22 for a Division 2 district championship.

“It’s been five years of history, so going into the season, going into this game, (we had to) put it in everyone’s heads, this year is the year, there’s no doubt about it.” Yellowjackets senior Olivia Grenadier said.

Last season’s meet was particularly difficult for Grenadier, a Colorado commit and one of the state’s top seniors. After a standout sophomore season, he missed most of 2023 before returning for the district opener that the Irish swept despite his 10 kills and dozens of kills.

“I came back for that game and I definitely wasn’t 100%, and it hurt a lot,” Grenadier said. “Honestly, that season was like a one-time thing for me, so we all really wanted it this year… It’s been (personally) the main goal, beating Notre Dame, winning districts, so it feels great.”

Pontiac Notre Dame Prep junior Ellie Whalen (4) tries to send a ball to Country Day’s Olivia Grenadier (10) in Friday night’s D2 district final in Pontiac, won by the Yellowjackets, 3- 1. (BRYAN EVERSON – MediaNews Group)

Although they decisively lost the first game, the Irish made it clear by going up by double digits and winning the second set that they had no plans to sit back. They also managed to reduce an eight-point Country Day lead to just three at 20-17 before the visitors took all but one of the final six points to go up two sets to one.

And the final set could have been even closer than the scoreboard indicated. The Yellowjackets took a 13-8 lead, but Notre Dame Prep fought back to within one, 15-14, and every point felt like a war from that point on. Several calls were sparse on the network and across the band. However, in the end, it was Grenadier and junior Elise Hiemstra’s height and power that proved to be too much for the Irish, and freshman Payton Woodruff set up Hiemstra for the game-winning kill to send the Yellowjackets to a jubilant celebration in the middle of the field. .

“Notre Dame Prep is an incredible team, they are well-coached and their defense will always be great, because that’s what (Irish coach Betty Wroubel) imprints on them,” Country Day head coach Kim Lockhart said. “We knew that eventually, we hoped that eventually we would defeat them with all our power, and as long as we could control the serve and the reception of the serve, we thought we had a fighting chance.

“I was proud of the girls. They kept their composure and bounced back after that second set loss. We did it, with all the nerves and everything.”

When asked about the importance of avoiding a fifth game, Lockhart said: “I was thinking about that the whole time. I say, ‘We can’t let this get to five.’ And we are young, right? We played three sophomores and two freshmen. But I thought Olivia, Elise and (senior Morgan Anderson) do a great job with our freshmen, keeping them under control, calm and focused, and they didn’t spiral.

In Lockhart’s mind, was finally beating the Irish like getting a monkey off your back? “Uh-huh, 100%,” she responded. “It’s like, let’s finally get through this and then move on, and we did it. “I am very happy and very happy for the girls.”

Freshman Vanessa Artinian led Notre Dame Prep with eight kills in the loss, followed by Tessas Bordogna and Mya Kattula with seven and six, respectively.

The Irish finish the season 37-12-5. Next year they will return all of their top five assassination leaders.

Detroit Country Day Vs. Photo Gallery Pontiac Notre Dame Prep in D2 Volleyball District Championship action

“We had two starters hurt (in the last week), so we had to change some people, make up for that and we were out of position a little bit,” Wroubel said. “But I’m really proud of the kids. We fought hard. Some things didn’t go our way, but that’s athletics. They’ve been on the other side. It seems like they’ve had someone injured every year (we’ve played before), so This year it’s kind of a role reversal.

“They did it. They finished it. I wish there had been five, but it wasn’t.”

With the Irish behind them, the Yellowjackets advance to a regional semifinal against Harper Woods Chandler Park on Tuesday in Marysville.

Originally Posted: November 9, 2024 at 12:53 am EST

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