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STUNNER: Gremlin Miracle Rally Ousts Eskymos
 Click the thumbnails to see photos and videos, and hear post-game comments from both head coaches. ESCANABA---The Houghton High School volleyball team fought off four match points when they were about to be swept in their MHSAA Division Two district semifinal game by the Escanaba Eskymos, and then pulled off an improbable comeback to beat the Eskymos, 3-2, Wednesday night. The scores were 21-25, 18-25, 26-24, 25-16, and 15-10.  But the Gremlins dug deep, scoring six straight points (two of them on lifts called against the Eskymo setter, Carney Salo) and won that set, 26-24. Houghton went on to take the fourth set, 25-16, and after trailing 6-3 in the fifth set, rallied again to win the final set, 15-10. Escanaba Coach Adam Lambert was in disbelief after the match. "We're up, and need one point to win, and of course, as a coach, I'm over there grinning, thinking it's in the bag," Lambert said. "There's no way they're going to catch up, without any mistakes or anything else. And I think the girls thought the same thing, to be honest. And then all of sudden when we lost that set, I mean, dropping the third set has kind of been our thing this year, and I thought, we'll take the fourth set and we'll be OK. But, then, you know, Houghton just fought and fought and fought. Houghton's a great team." The Eskymos had defeated the Gremlins in four of the five regular season sets they played earlier this fall, and the two set wins Wednesday night made it six out of sevem. But somehow, the Gremlins managed to rally from the brink of elimination to get the stunning victory.  So, what did Zenner tell her team during that momenth when the girls were down, 24-20, one point away from their season coming to an end? "I told them that 'this is it," she said. "If tou want to keep playing, we have to go all out unttil that final ball hits the floor and we hear a whistle. And they delivered." Lambert called multiple time outs to try to stop the tide, but it didn't work. "There were the normal emotions that come in post-season," Lambert said. "They know that this could be it. And when that starts sticking into their brains, you know, it's hard to get past that. We try and rally, we try and rally. But give it to the seniors, they did well." The Gremlins had a balanced attack that saw three girls (Brynn Arko, Meghan Trewhella, and Danica Ryyanen) all reach double figures in kills, and another, Stella Wickstrom, ended up with nine kills. Defensively, Arko led the way with 21 digs. Laney Johnseon added 19 digs and she had the service ace that ended the match. Clea Ollanketo had 15 digs.  "Just finding those holes," she said. "We have some really strong attackers, but every now and then, to catch the defense off-guard, you throw in those tips into those holes and make it work." For Escanaba, it was a bitter pill to swallow. "It really comes as a surpise," Lambert said. "It was the best season we ever had in my seven years coaching. I really thought we were going to go all the way to regionals this year. I'm proud of these girls, though. We'll learn. And next year, we have a great team coming up." Katelyn Stalboerger led the Eskymos with 19 kills. She ended up short of her goal, though, of being the single season all-time kill leader in Eskymo history, which is 475 kills. "We needed a couple more matches to get her to that goal," Lambert said, "Her career came to an end here at Escanaba, but she's been brilliant since her freshman year. She'll keep playing. She'll play somehwere next year after high school for some college." Houghton, which had a three-hour busride to Escanaba on Wednesday, got home late at night but will be back on the road again Thursday, with a two-hour-plus ride to Kingsford for the district championship match. The Flivvers beat Negaunee, 3-1, in the other semifinal.  |
