Click the thumbnails to see photos, videos from the championship match. Click the AUDIO buttons to hear post-match comments from sophomore Hope Varoni and from Head Coach Dan Porath. (NOTE videos are still processing and will be added Monday night so check back!)
ESCANABA---The Bay College Norse women's volleyball team went into uncharted territory Sunday afternoon as Bay played in the Michigan Community College Athletic Association championship match for the first time in program history.
But despite a loud crowd fueled by the local volleyball community and the Norse student section, Bay lost to the 13th-ranked team in the country, the Grand Rapids Community College Raiders, 3-0. The scores were 25-9, 25-15, and 25-15.
The Norse players, though, were happy to be able to play on this big stage.
“It was awesome,” Bay sophomore Hope Varoni said. “I'm so part of my team and how far we've come. It's been a great year, and Grand Rapids is obviously a really talented team. But it was really fun to be able to play today, especially at home.”
Bay College Coach Dan Porath knew that his team was the underdog against a GRCC team with so many players who hit the ball hard. But he says GRCC played well on both sides of the ball in this championship match.
“Surprising to me was their defense,” Porath said. “They really came with it with their defense today. We had a game plan. We executed the game plan. And they stopped it. Credit to them. They played really well. Their block was really tough for us today. That was expected. But it was a little bit bigger than we expected.”
GRCC ran the table in the MCCAA West Conference with a perfect 13-0 record, and the Raiders improved to 21-5 overall after also beating the East Conference champions from St. Clair County Community College in the state semifinals Sunday morning in Escanaba. The Raiders are ranked 13th in the NJCAA-II national poll, and they will host the Region 12 tournament next weekend.
Bay (17-9 overall) will be there as the second seed, and will open NJCAA District-B regional play against seventh-seeded Marian-Plymouth (Ind.) Thursday afternoon.
“We've already kind of started preparing,” Porath said. “We've looked at some video of the team that we will play. We'll be ready. We're going to have to be on-point to be able to get through that tournament. But we're excited for it.”
“I think that even though we lost this game, it's a great way to bring us into the regional tournament,” Varoni said. “I think we'll do great.”
