A little payback: Cadillac flips result in Traverse City West sweep

Andrew Rosenthal, The Record-Eagle, Traverse City, Mich.
·3 min read

Oct. 21—CADILLAC — Before Wednesday's match, Cadillac coach Michelle Brines looked up at the gymnasium banner to count the number of years the storied volleyball program has won the Big North Championship.

The Vikings have claimed at least a share for six years straight and 14 out of the last 15. Numbers like that back up a sentiment Brines shared with her team in practice this week.

"I know Traverse City West beat us the first time ...but we're Cadillac," Brines said.

Cadillac avenged a three-set loss at TC West with a three-set win on its home court 25-23, 25-22, 25-18 to put itself in a position to make it seven straight conference crowns. Both teams are 8-1 in league play with one match to play. On Wednesday, Cadillac (31-9) hosts Gaylord. West (16-2) hosts Petoskey that same night.

Titans' coach Emily Baumann called Wednesday's match the best she's seen the Vikings play both on film and in person. After all, tradition takes priority when the Vikings had injuries sideline both their starting and backup right-side hitters.

Cadillac's Macey McKeever, who typically plays out of the back row, played at the right-side position. Brines said the Vikings improved particularly on their blocking, which she felt was a difference-maker Wednesday.

"Their middles did a great job blocking and attacking the ball," Baumann said. "Our offense just couldn't get anything going. We played scrappy on defense, but other than that we just made a million errors."

The two teams were neck and neck for most of the first two sets, but a 12-4 Cadillac rally in set two flipped what was a West 18-13 lead to take a two-set advantage. Cadillac opened set three on a 7-1 run and didn't give up the lead the rest of the match.

The Titans finished with an attacking percentage of .126 as a team (between .200 and .300 is considered average) with 23 attack errors and six service errors. Makenna Ebling and Becky Lane led the Titans in kills with 10 apiece.

"We came out of this game timid. We should have been more aggressive and more confident with ourselves," Lane said.

Baumann sees the sweep as a good learning experience ahead of districts next week and proved that not coming into a match prepared could result in a season-ending loss. West takes a Nov. 1 road trip to the Upper Peninsula to open districts with Marquette. The rest of the bracket includes four BNC schools the Titans have already beat this season — Alpena, Gaylord, Petoskey and TC Central.

"We can't come in like deer in headlights, walk in and expect that we're going to win," Baumann said. "We've got to be ready, we've got to be prepared, and we can't have one person fall apart while the rest tumble with them."

Renee Brines, days after being named a finalist for the Michigan's prestigious Miss Volleyball award, filled up the stat line with 23 assists, 11 digs, seven kills and an ace. Mady Smith led in digs with 12. Carissa Musta led in kills with nine and blocked six shots.

Renee said she felt like everyone was in Wednesday's game.

"I got to spread the ball around, and a lot of players had kills," the senior setter said. "It was hard for them to block because I was spreading the ball around so much because everyone was doing their part."

Cadillac plays Boyne City in the first round of the Manistee district a week from Monday. The other four teams it draws are Kingsley, Manistee, Ludington and Kalkaska.

The Vikings look to make their return to Battle Creek in Division 2 after a semifinal loss to Grand Rapids Christian in January. The 2020 finals were delayed two months because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I like where we're going," Renee said. "We've been playing pretty good recently, and we've been playing with a lot of heart. I think we're ready."

Follow Andrew Rosenthal on Twitter @ByAndrewR