Leland volleyball coach Laurie Glass sees parallels between the 2007 Comets and her 2003 squad.

Both teams competed after the previous year’s team won a state championship. Both teams also had to deal with the loss of key players.

Unfortunately for this year’s Comets, they mirrored the 2003 squad’s result as well: a loss in the Class D Regional final. After beating Central Lake, 25-11, 26-24, 25-13, in the semifinal, Leland played a 5-game match against Marion but was eliminated, 20-25, 25-14, 18-25, 25-23, 6-15.

“Marion attacked the ball aggressively in the fifth game and we didn’t answer,” Glass said.

The Comets also ran into a problem during the match with Central Lake. Glass said she reversed two player numbers on the lineup sheet turned into officials for the second game. The officials did not notice the mistake until after the game started.

“It was my mistake, but the official should have caught it when he was confirming the team lineup prior to the start of the game,” she said. It forced Leland to play two middle hitters and two outside hitters out of position in two of three rotations during the game.

During the championship match, it looked like Marion would end Leland’s run during the fourth game when it took a 23-18 lead. “We were two points from being eliminated in that fourth game. We rallied back and forced the fifth game,” Glass said.

For the day senior Whitney Grant had one of her best performances of the season with 5 blocks, 6 aces, and 77 assists. “Whitney had two solo blocks against their top hitter, she just played so well all day,” Glass said. Junior Erica Breen had 36 kills, 17 digs, 3 blocks; Anna Lau had 26 kills, 10 digs, 3 blocks; Julianna Lisuk had 18 kills, 4 digs, 4 blocks; Ashley Erhardt had 36 digs, 1 ace, 1 assist; McKenna Haverberg had 16 digs, 3 aces; Roberta DeLuca had 7 kills, 5 digs; and Elaine Wilson had 3 kills, 9 assists, 10 digs, 1 ace.

Leland ended the season with a 49-16-1 record. The team’s six seniors – Lau, Grant, Erhardt, Wilson, Haverberg and Colleen Varley – have been part of some very successful teams, including the 2006 Class D state championship squad. They were joined by fellow senior DeLuca, an Italian foreign exchange student attending St. Mary. Glass said she also loses managers Lauren Toro and Mattison Shutt.

“This has been a fun group to have around. They’re full of characters. They left their mark on Leland volleyball and Leland volleyball left a mark on them,” Glass said.

As for herself, Glass plans to be back for her 14th consecutive season at Leland since returning in 1994. During that time she has guided her team to state championships in 2002 and 2006, six state finals and eight semifinals.

The Comets should field another strong team next season with juniors Erica Breen, Julianna Lisuk and St. Mary student Anne Kuznicki returning as well as sophomores Haley Versnyder, Rhiannon Hildenbrandt from the junior varsity Molly Harrison.

“I have some experienced hitters returning next season with Erica and Julianna, as well as the sophomores. I will also be looking at the freshman who saw some good playing time on the JV this year,” Glass said.