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March 7, 2005Norse win regional, on to CharlevoixBY MARK URBAN      Record-Eagle staff writer MANTON - At 2 a.m., Suttons Bay senior Tiffany Dittrich was in the emergency room, looking more like a boxer than a volleyball player. About 13 hours later, Dittrich looked like the hitter she is and the Norse had a Class C regional volleyball title. "I just wanted to win," said Dittrich, who had an eye infection that caused her right eye to nearly swell shut. "I was in the E.R. and they told me I couldn't play volleyball. I just started bawling. "I woke up this morning just hoping I could see." Dittrich wound up seeing Suttons Bay (41-9-6) advance to Tuesday's quarterfinal at Charlevoix after the Norse swept Northwest Conference co-champion Kingsley, 25-11, 25-13, 25-23. "Everybody picked it up real well," Dittrich said. "One look at her and they knew they had to," first-year Suttons Bay coach Mike Kelly added. Doctors aren't sure what caused the eye infection or the swelling. Dittrich was told she couldn't play volleyball on Saturday and couldn't wear her contact lenses. To compound the problem, the painkiller Dittrich was given caused her to vomit when she arrived at Manton in the morning. "About a half an hour before the Pellston match, she put her contacts in and said, 'Let's play,' " Kelly said. "And she was phenomenal, which didn't really surprise me. She could have her arm falling off and still want to play. That girl has more heart than vertical jump." Suttons Bay jumped right out on its league rival in the regional final. The Norse never trailed in the first two games. The third game was the back-and-forth battle everyone expected, but Suttons Bay was able to break away. "We knew we had to come out and put the first game away and get on top of things right away," Suttons Bay senior Kate Kerr said. "Then we took it from there. "They wanted it as much as we did. This regional is so even that anyone could have come out. So we worked our hardest and played our best." Kelly said the best is exactly what he saw in the final. "That was pretty much a shocker to win in three like that," said Kelly, whose team improved to 2-2 against Kingsley this season. "I've never seen our team play that well. The first two games were just phenomenal. "All of them really stepped it up and played at a level they haven't played at all year at the most important time of the year. I'm proud of them for that. And I had it easy, all I had to do was sit there and watch." "We played the right way in the third game," said Kingsley coach Dave Hall, whose team finished with a 55-9-4 record. "I think the first two games we were nervous. I don't know .. . we were just tight. In the third game we had nothing to lose so we just relaxed and played." Holly Orban and Dittrich dominated the net against Kingsley. Orban finished the two matches with 45 kills while Dittrich added 34. Each finished with five blocks. "She was awesome," Hall said of Dittrich. "You can't stop her, at least we've never stopped her. Orban and Dittrich, every time they hit it was a kill. At least it seemed like it." Dittrich also added 27 digs, two assists and was 29 for 31 serving with one ace. Orban was 33 for 35 serving with one ace and 11 digs. Kerr was 35 for 37 serving with three aces, 32 assists, 11 kills and three digs. Suttons Bay also got big contributions from Heather Padella (28 for 29 serving, one ace, 50 assists, five kills, 11 digs and one block), Elizabeth Wodek (28 for 29 serving, 14 digs), Kelsey Wick (three assists, four kills, three digs) and Emily Klintworth (25 for 26, one ace, eight assists, 13 digs, two blocks). "They're more athletic than we are," Hall said. "I don't know how we beat them the first two times, to be honest." Orban was the offensive key for Suttons Bay in the opening match of the regional against Pellston. She had 30 of her 45 kills in that match. "She hit as well as anybody on the floor," Kelly said. "Weak-side, strong-side or middle - it didn't matter where she was - she put it down." Suttons Bay needed a strong performance from Orban because Pellston won the first game 25-21 and was leading 12-4 in the second. The Norse came back to win the game (25-21) before losing the third (25-23). The Norse then won the final two, 25-18 and 15-6 to advance. "It was a great match," Pellston coach Tim McNitt said. "Every point was a battle and both teams played very well. Suttons Bay's desire to finish was stronger than ours in game 5. "We had a great season though, I couldn't be more proud of our girls." Holly Burkhart led Pellston (51-11-4) with 20 kills and 24 digs. Liz Dankert added 18 kills, two block kills, 29 digs and was 33 for 36 on serve receive. Also contributing for the Hornets were Amy Bachleda (six kills, five blocks, 20 digs, 28 for 31 serve receive), Gabby Bachleda (three blocks, 22 digs, 26 for 28 serve receive, two aces), Ashlee Lechowicz (12 assists, 10 digs) and Jill McNitt (36 assists, three aces, six kills, three blocks, 32 digs). While Suttons Bay struggled in its first match, Kingsley made quick work of Pellston. The Lady Stags scored the first seven points of the match and cruised to a 25-14, 25-19, 25-20 triumph. Jill Walton led Kingsley with 28 kills, three blocks, 26 digs and was 17 for 18 serving with four aces. The Lady Stags also got strong performances from Tia Mannor (eight kills, two blocks), Meghan Rioux (34 assists, 10 for 12 serving, 16 digs), Lauren Summerfield (seven kills, 11 for 13 serving, 12 digs), Katie Stevens (16 for 16, seven assists) and Sara Cnossen (29 for 29 serving).
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