Click the AUDIO button to hear post-game comments from Coach Dan Porath
SIDNEY, Mich.---Another win for the Bay College Norse women's volleyball team, this time, downstate against the Montcalm Community College Centurions.
The Norse won Monday night, 3-0, by scores of 25-22, 25-21, and 26-24. The Norse got revenge for a five-set loss to Montcalm earlier this month in Escanaba. These are by far the best records in school history.
The win improved Bay's record to 8-2 in conference play (15-6 overall) with two matches remaining. The Norse need one more win or one more Delta College loss to clinch the MCCAA North Conference championship for the first time in school history.
Delta College (8-3 MCCAA, 13-12 overall) beat Kirtland Community College, 3-0, Monday night. The Pioneers play Muskegon Community College this Wednesday.
Bay College Coach Dan Porath says the win made the long two-day, six-hour trip downstate was worth it.
“It was a big win for us,” Porath said. “It gets us one step closer to the north conference title, and that's in our sights for the first time ever. It's exciting. When they played us at our place, they won in five. The message to the girls was: don't give them anything. Don't give them a chance to get back into this. They have every chance to beat us. We knew every set was going to be tight.”
All three sets were tight, and unlike several recent matches before this winning streak, Bay put it away in the third set rather than have to play on late into the night.
“In that third set, when it got to be 24-24, really tight, the girls didn't back down,” Porath said.
A conference championship would see the Norse host the MCAA State Championship with the East and West champions on Sunday, November 1, in Escanaba. Before that, Delta plays Kirtland Community College and Muskegon Community College. If the Pioneers lose either one of those matches, Bay would clinch the title.
Bay won't play another conference match until next week.
The Norse (15-6) will head to Milwaukee on Saturday for non-conference matches against Milwaukee Tech (17-11) and Harper College (19-10).
“One, we want to win,” Porath said. “But two, it's a lot less pressure. We've been in a little bit of a pressure cooker lately, making sure that we've staying on top of our conference. Milwaukee always gives us trouble. First time we played them ever, we beat them. But we haven't beat them since. We know that they're a very strong program, so we're looking forward to the challenge.”
The Bay-Milwaukee matchup is set for Saturday at the “Dog Pink Invitational” is set for 3:00 ET/2:00 CT at Milwaukee's Alverno College. Before that, the Norse will play Harper College at Noon CT.
