STANDISH-STERLING - Feb. 18 2005 - Pinconning entered Saturday's North East Michigan Conference round-robin with a two-game lead in the league standings, and held onto that lead by sweeping all five contests to wrap up the Spartans' 23rd consecutive league title.

Ogemaw Heights went 4-1 on the day to take sole possession of second place.

Though the league title had already been decided the Falcons provided as stiff a challenge as anyone to the Spartans, who finished 10-0 in NEMC matches. Pinny won the final match of the day 25-18, 28-30, 25-21 to wrap up its unbeaten league slate.

"Ogemaw really came out smoking," Pinny coach Marion LaFave said. "They played great, but we stuck it out and kept prevailing when we needed to. We served tough, we didn't miss at the end and kept our composure even though they had some tough hitters. It really went back and forth."

The Spartans haven't lost a match in the league tournament since 1996. Pinny also topped Standish-Sterling 25-16, 25-12, beat Oscoda 25-19, 25-18, topped Tawas Area 25-15, 8-25, 25-12 and John Glenn 25-15, 18-25, 25-18.

"We've come a long way from where we started, that's for sure," LaFave said. "We're focused on districts now, so we'll do our work this week and be ready for Saturday (Feb. 26).

"For the most part I'm happy with how we played. At times we played just well enough to win, and at other times we played very well. It's a long day, but I thought we played with determination and heart the whole day.

"We don't have a lot of size or experience, but I'm proud of the kids for being able to continue the tradition."

The Spartans were led by Ashley Sanak with 109 assists and 5 aces; Kayla Fowler with 36 kills and 19 aces; Ashley Schwerin with 39 kills, 10 aces and 50 digs; Alyssa Gruszynski with 45 kills; Jackie Genow with 31 digs and Lori LaFave with 10 aces. The Spartans totaled 53 aces for the day.

The Falcons (7-3) defeated Standish-Sterling 25-23, 13-25, 25-20, John Glenn 25-20, 25-19, Oscoda 25-21, 25-17 and Tawas Area 25-14, 25-16.

Leaders for Ogemaw included Mallory Collins with 18 aces; Lauren Rowe with 37-of-37 serving and 2 aces; Sarah Killackey with 38 kills and 32 digs; Lauren Shepardson with 7 aces, 30 kills and 49 digs; and Kelly Wangler with 25 kills and 7 blocks.

Standish-Sterling (3-7), which was just 1-4 in the regular season, won twice on Saturday with a 25-16, 21-25, 25-15 victory over John Glenn and a 25-18, 11-25, 26-24 victory over Tawas. In addition to falling to Pinny and Ogemaw, the Panthers fell to Oscoda 24-26, 18-25. Leading the Panthers were Candace Campau with 16 aces; Caitlin Luberda with 23 kills and 13 blocks; Brittany Riopelle with 25 assists and Rebecca Beckers with 10 digs.

Tawas Area (4-6) went just 1-4 on the day. In addition to losses to Pinny, Ogemaw and SSC, the Braves fell to John Glenn but defeated Oscoda 25-18, 25-21.

Oscoda (2-8) defeated SSC and had a close call in falling to John Glenn 25-20, 26-28, 21-25.

"We started out the day playing fairly well against PInconning," Oscoda coach Linda Hennigar said. "... After the Pinconning match our play began to self-destruct. We were our own worst enemy ... when we needed something good to happen the opposite occurred."

Leading the Owls were Georgia Welch with 29 total kills, 4 aces and 8 blocks; Deanna Boughner with 7 aces and 46 service points; Jill Sanderson with 32 assists and 5 aces; Michelle Morse with 30 assists and 19 digs; and Melissa McCausey with 19 digs.

John Glenn (4-6) defeated Oscoda and Tawas Area.

Ogemaw Heights travels to the Houghton Lake district on Saturday as the state tournament begins; SSC, Tawas, Pinny and Oscoda participate in the Essexville Garber district.