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March 15, 2006Comets move on to semisLeland back in semifinals for third straight yearBEAL CITY - Even though Beal City wasn't playing with a full deck, Leland was holding all the aces.The Comets served up 21 aces on Tuesday to roll over Beal City in the Class D volleyball quarterfinals, 25-12, 25-7, 25-15. "We wanted to serve well and we wanted to pass well," Leland senior Jennifer Hecht said. "Our passing wasn't up to par, but our serving saved us. We served to the corners and aggressively like (coach) Laurie (Glass) told us to. That's what we wanted to do, serve aggressively and get them in." "We served real well to the people we wanted to serve to," said Leland coach Laurie Glass, who will lead the Comets (65-4) to the state semifinals for the third straight season. "We wanted to serve aggressively to get them out of the offense." Beal City was already out of sorts, having lost five players to suspension - including two starters - to suspension and three more for the first of the three games on Tuesday. But it might not have mattered. These Comets had their sights squarely set on going back to Western Michigan University to the Final Four. Leland will play Adrian Lenawee Christian (40-13-2) at 3:45 p.m. on Thursday. "I'm happy to be going back to Kalamazoo … again," Glass said. "It's been going in order. We lost in the semifinals three years ago and last year we got to the finals and lost. So it just figures this may be our year, or we hope anyway." "It's amazing," said junior Anna Lau. "It feels like last year, only better. Everyone is clicking and working together as a team. Everybody is energetic on the court." "I'm so excited," Hecht said. "I can't stop smiling." Leland had a lot of reasons to smile in a match that lasted only 48 minutes. The Comets didn't trail in any of the three games. Game one was tied 8-8 at one point before Leland scored 13 straight points to take charge. The final 12 points of that run came off the serve of junior McKenna Haverberg and forced Beal City to take both its timeouts. "McKenna Haverberg had I don't know how many in a row," Lau said. "They were consistent and they were to the corners." When Leland wasn't serving the Aggies (41-15-2) off the court, the Comets were using the hitting of Alisha Glass and Hecht and a strong blocking attack to control the net. Alisha Glass, who was named the state's Miss Volleyball on Monday, banged out 15 kills and had 2 blocks while Hecht added 8 kills and 4 blocks. Alisha Glass also had 7 aces and Hecht 6. "Our blocking tonight was awesome," said Lau, who had 4 of her own. "We were everywhere it seemed." Leland took charge of the second game with a string of seven straight points to lead 14-2. The Comets gradually pulled away in the third game as the Aggies gamely stayed in the match for a while. "We lost to a great team," said Beal City coach Kelly Knuth, who refused to make excuses about the suspensions. "Their Miss Volleyball, Alisha Glass, is pretty unstoppable. "I had a lot of hard work and a lot of heart out there. We had a great run, a great season and I couldn't be more proud of them." Laurie Glass praised Beal City for having the courage to sit that many players in such a big match. "You have to admire the administration," she said. "That's a tough call to make in a tough situation in a community that really supports its volleyball. Kids are going to make mistakes. It's a real tough lesson to learn at this level." In addition to its big two at the net, Leland got contributions from a lot of different players. Daina Parent finished with 3 aces, 5 assists and 1 kill while Whitney Grant finished with 18 assists, 2 aces and 1 kill. Erica Breen added 3 kills and 3 blocks, Ashley Erhardt 4 digs, Erin Sneed 1 ace and 2 digs and Haverberg 2 aces and 1 dig.
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