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March 10, 2002Enough saidLeland rolls to regional volleyball titleBy MARK URBANRecord-Eagle staff writer LELAND - Two milestones, two victories. Enough said. Regional host Leland rolled into the Class D volleyball quarterfinals by downing Pellston and Wolverine Saturday. Neither of the foes the Comets faced scored in double digits against the No. 1 ranked team in Class D. Just like the buttons the Leland players held in their hands after taking the regional trophy: 'Enough said.' "At the beginning of the year, we said that we've got everything we need, we know how to do it all," Leland senior Ellen Price said. " 'Enough said,' let's go get it done. That's been our theme all year." Leland (55-10-1) will play Tuesday in the quarterfinal at Sault Ste. Marie. It's the third straight trip to the quarters and the fourth in the past five seasons. The Comets won the regional by knocking off No. 3-ranked Pellston (15-8, 15-4) before dispatching Wolverine (15-2, 15-3) in the championship. Price had 14 kills and Ashley Bouckaert 13 in the two victories. Bouckaert has a school-record 500 kills this season while Price broke the 400-kill barrier. "What makes Ashley an effective hitter that can accumulate 500 kills is that she is getting better at seeing the blocker and going around the blocker," Leland coach Laurie Glass said. "When you don't think of the fundamentals of hitting, then you can think about the higher levels of hitting: where and how hard. "With Ellen, not only is she getting 400 kills, but she's passing in five of the six rotations in the middle of the floor." Wolverine can attest to how hard Bouckaert can hit. In the second game of the championship, she blasted one down the line and the Wildcat defender ducked out of the way rather than getting hit in the head. But Leland's attack is so much more than the two senior middle hitters. Sarah Wright added eight kills for the Comets while Annie Sutter and Megan Grant each had seven. "That's the hard part," said Bouckaert, who added six blocks, four digs and five aces. "You can't just stop one person. You have four people to worry about and our setters are doing a great job getting the ball to everybody. "When the blocker is staying with one person, they set it to someone else. And everybody's getting it done." "That's why we've been so successful this year," said Price, who added four blocks, nine digs and two aces. "We have so many options on offense. The setters have been doing a good job moving the ball around and the blockers don't know where to go." "That's a tribute to Liza's ability to distribute the ball, which makes it very difficult for other teams to key on one particular person," Glass said. Starting setter Liza Davenport finished with 30 assists while Chantelle Korson, who is just returning from a knee injury, added eight. Davenport also had six digs and two aces and Korson one ace. Sutter contributed five aces and one block and Wright three aces. Pellston coach Tim McNitt can attest to the Leland's balance. The Hornets lost all five meetings with the Comets this season. "We couldn't have any flaws in our game to have a chance," McNitt said. "They are too solid. They are so good, they have no weaknesses. "We played them five games and I keep searching to find some way to dent their armor. The only way to beat them is to play a perfect game and for them to have some flaws." Pellston (48-8-3) made a dent against Leland early in the first game as the Comets had some trouble passing and serving. The Hornets scored the first four points and led 7-3 in the opening match of the regional, forcing Glass to call her first - and only - timeout of the day. "We've been in that position before and we've been in bigger holes before," said Glass, describing what she said during the timeout. "You draw on those experiences and you do what you know you have to do. "The thing we weren't doing was passing. Once we got our passing going in the right direction, then all of the weapons we have can be used." "We knew we could do it, but we didn't get in the flow right away like we should have," Bouckaert added. "Laurie said we've gotten out of bigger holes than this and then we came out of the timeout and turned it around." Leland turned it around so quickly that Pellston scored only five points the rest of the match. Erica VandeKopple led the Hornets with eight kills, two blocks, 12 digs and was 5-for-5 serving with one ace. Pellston, which has won five straight district titles, also got contributions from Jeni Adams (four kills, seven digs), Ashley Marsh (two kills), Amber Lechowicz (five digs) and Ashley Bonter (6-for-6 serving, three points). Setter Amanda Lechowicz finished with 12 assists and seven digs in addition to a perfect 6-for-6 serving. "I think we had fun out there," McNitt said. "It's hard for the seniors to lose their last game, but 128 teams ended their season last Saturday and we made it to this Saturday so I'm proud of that. "It was a good season and I have a lot coming back." Wolverine, which advanced to the regional final with a 15-7, 15-4 victory over Atlanta, was out-matched in the championship. After scoring the first point of game one in the final, the Wildcats (18-2) saw the Comets run off 12 answered points. In the second game of the final, Leland got all its points from three servers, seven from Sutter, six from Tracey Eggert and two from Annie McKay to close it out. "It's a pleasure to be on the floor with them," Wolverine coach Tammy VanAntwerp said. "When you get to bracket play like this, you hope you don't run into the first-place seed in the state. Unfortunately we ran into (No.) 1 and 3 today. "This is the third year we've been all together. It's kind of hard to defeat a ghost." |
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