Suttons Bay volleyball setter Anna Pryor knew the Class C district final Saturday would most likely pit the Norsemen against the Red Rayders of Charlevoix.

PLAYERS CELEBRATE Suttons Bay’s District championship at Glen Lake Saturday.
(Photo courtesy of Kevin Pryor)

She was right. It was the ninth time the two teams played each other this season, with Suttons Bay winning seven of the previous eight matches. In the match that counted the most, the Norse came through and claimed their fourth consecutive Class C District title. Suttons Bay’s 25-20, 25-23, 16-25, 25-22 win over the Rayders left the team with a 50-8-4 overall record, and a date against McBain in the opening round of Regional play at Kingsley on Saturday morning.

“I pretty much knew that we would end up playing Charlevoix if we got to the finals,” Pryor said. After taking the first two games, Charlevoix came back to win the third game. Pryor said the match was so close – with both of the first two games decided by five points or less – that Charlevoix had gained some momentum in the third game.

“I don’t think we played our best in game three. They were getting some of their confidence back and I did not want to play a five-game match,” she said. Pryor and the other seniors, Charlotte Stowe, Fran Belanger and Arianna Guillen, gave the team a pep talk.

SUTTONS BAY'S Lena Knoll (15) and Maggie
Walters go high to block a shot at the net in
a District semifinal game against Mancelona.
(Photo courtesy of Kevin Pryor)

“We basically told everyone to step it up. When you go to five games in a match, that final game is to 15 points and things can swing too quick in those final games. I just wanted to get it done,” she said.

Coach Mike Kelly said Charlevoix played its best match of the season against the Bay. “They had a five- to eight-point lead in each of those games. I was very impressed with how the coach (Liz Grunch) prepared for us. She had the players watch our match against St. Francis on Tuesday and those girls were ready to play on Saturday,” he said.

When the Norse lost the third game, Kelly said he watched as his four seniors and middle hitter Maggie Walters took over in the fourth game. “They just took it to Charlevoix and it was amazing watching the entire team just respond. Even with that, it still took quite an effort to beat Charlevoix,” he said. Charlevoix beat East Jordan 25-14, 25-14, 25-20 to get to the finals.

Suttons Bay advanced to the championship match by beating Mancelona, 25-9, 25-20, 25-13. “I think we were looking past Mancelona a little bit and they were playing their last match and really battled,” he said.

For the day Pryor had 78 assists, served 14-all with 2 aces, had 5 kills, 8 blocks. Walters had 48 kills, 17 digs, 6 aces, 7 blocks; Crystal Dittrich served 19-all with 19 digs; Charlotte Stowe served 35-all with 6 aces, 19 kills, 24 digs; Belanger served 31-for-32 and had 5 kills, 24 digs; Guillen served 28-for-29 with 4 aces, 22 digs; Kelly Kerr had 11 kills, 9 digs; and Lena Knoll had 6 blocks, 6 kills, 6 digs.

Suttons Bay will play McBain at 10 a.m. Saturday at Kingsley. The two teams played a match at a downstate tournament, with the Ramblers coming out on top.

“We did not play very well against McBain and that is a team you cannot blink against. They have two 6-foot-1 girls who play opposite side hitter at the net and are very hard to stop. But, we play much better defense and we can cover the floor really well,” Kelly said.

As to who the Norse would face in the Regional final if it comes to that, Pryor said both Kingsley and Boyne City are very tough, but she has a preference to the Stags. “We have such a good rivalry with them. If we get to the final, I really hope we get to meet up with Kingsley because I know it will be a great match,” she said.