Standish-Sterling celebrates the first district volleyball title in school history after topping Gladwin in a five-game thriller in the district title game.
Lauren Perrin played a big part in the Panthers run through Saturday's district tournament.
Lauren Gillette sets up a teammate as Jacie Lucas looks on during Saturday's district tournament.
Linda Eyer
SSC enjoys its first district title trophy.

STANDISH-STERLING - Nov. 3, 2007 - Standish-Sterling's volleyball team served notice at last week's North East Michigan Conference volleyball tournament that it had joined the ranks of the league's top teams.

The Panthers did better than that Saturday, winning their first-ever district championship with a three-match run that included a victory over league champion Ogemaw Heights to start the day.

The Panthers, who suffered their only loss in the NEMC tourney to Ogemaw, bounced back to beat the Falcons 17-25, 25-15, 25-21, 25-20 and went on to sweep Houghton Lake 25-11, 25-12, 25-6, then came from behind to top Gladwin 25-15, 23-25, 16-25, 25-18, 15-12 in the title contest.

"I'm just so proud of my girls, it's hard to even express all the excitement we're feeling," said SSC coach Kristi Yenna. "I was a little worried after we beat Ogemaw the girls would be satisfied, like last year. I just kept telling them that we hadn't reached our goal of being district champs."

Yenna credited defensive specialist Lauren Perrin for defending against the Falcons' attempts to hit the back corners.

"They kept shooting it to the corners and she hustled to get almost every one of them," Yenna said. "Once the rest of the team saw her stepping it up I think they were able to put all the pieces together.

"(The coaches) kept telling them to stay on offense and make Ogemaw work for their points. We had a habit of playing back on defense and finally they realized it's easier to play offense."

For Ogemaw (35-16-8), it was a sudden end to a landmark season highlighted by the Falcons winning their first NEMC title in 25 years.

"We had way too many unforced errors on serve receive and passing," said Ogemaw coach Diane Gillette. "Standish did a wonderful job filling the holes and we just could not get any streak going.

"Although the season ended I believe the girls had a great year and I am proud of what they accomplished."

After topping Ogemaw the Panthers still had a lot of work to do. In last season's district tourney, SSC had been a long shot to upset the Falcons, and after doing so didn't have quite the same energy in a semifinal loss to Pinconning.

This time around, the Panthers swept a struggling Houghton Lake squad, then took on a well-coached Gladwin team that annually contends for the district title. The Flying G's reached the final by defeating Tawas Area and Oscoda in their first-round and semifinal matches.

After taking it to the Flying G's in the first game, the Panthers dropped Games 2 and 3.

"I really liked the the way we came out against Gladwin," Yenna said. "But about halfway through the second game the girls started looking tired. It seemed as though no matter what I said we couldn't get them going again."

With the season on the verge of ending, Yenna called a time out and reminded the Panthers of everything they had put into making the season successful.

"I didn't want them to end the season playing poorly," she said. "They came back out and turned things around."

SSC won the fourth game 25-18, then came back from a 9-4 deficit to win the fifth and deciding game 15-12.

"Even in the fifth game when they were down," Yenna said, ''they never gave up."

The Panthers (27-5) travel to Benzonia Benzie Central for regional tournament action, where they face Kingsford (23-9) in a 5 p.m. semifinal. The winner faces either Cadillac or Petoskey in the final later in the evening.

 

SSC Stats: Ellen Walderzak 39 digs, 37 kills, 8 blocks, 98% serving; Terra Hartley 30 digs, 63 assists, 92% serving; Lauren Perrin 64 digs, 100% serving; Barbara Filipeck 26 aces, 51 digs, 37 kills; Cassie Roehm 8 kills, 5 blocks.

Ogemaw Stats: Meaghan Tackebury 9 kills, 2 aces, 14 digs; Selina Tabayoyong 4 aces, 22 digs; Lauren Gillette 3 aces, 22 assists, 8 kills, 19 digs; Jordan Foster 5 aces, 5 kills, 24 digs; Jacie Lucas 4 kills; Emily Sheltrown 7 kills; Tiffani Rouse 23 digs.