Eddies rally to claim district crown

Published 9:01 am Friday, November 3, 2023

By Scott Hassinger

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PAW PAW — Edwardsburg seniors Lexi Schimpa and Drew Glaser weren’t about to let their final chance at a district volleyball title pass by.

Schimpa and Glaser both played critical roles for Edwardsburg in Thursday’s Division 2 District championship win over Three Rivers 21-25, 25-19, 25-21, 27-25 at Paw Paw High School.

No. 8-ranked Three Rivers ends its season with a record of 41-10-2.

Edwardsburg (22-10-4) advances to face Lakeshore in Tuesday’s second semifinal match at 7 p.m. in the Parchment Regional. Otsego and Jackson County Parma Western square off in the opener at 5:30 p.m. The winners meet in Thursday’s 6 p.m. finals.

“Energy has never been our friend. Three Rivers was on fire in that first set. I made some adjustments before the next couple games so to win the match in four games was really meaningful because we haven’t been real strong in a fifth set this season,” said Edwardsburg Coach Sarah Strefling. “Our ability to get on their left outside hitter with a better block was a big key in the last three games. We are blessed with a tall team and that is helpful. It’s not a secret that Drew and Sarah [Pippin] are two of our biggest hitters. It was nice to finally have them both be on at the same time. Our junior and sophomore blockers stepped up when it mattered and that was huge too. They are smart players and very athletic. I’m proud of everyone stepping up when it mattered. We just all meshed well together tonight.”

Schimpa and Glaser both played on Edwardsburg’s last district title team three years ago as freshmen.

Glaser, a University of Valparaiso commit, played a huge role at the net with 27 kills to go with five digs and two blocks for Edwardsburg.

“We had more energy tonight as a team than the last time we played Three Rivers and we lost in five sets. Our whole speech before the match was we had to win this in four games. We were able to carry the momentum we built after the second set the rest of the match,” Glaser said. “Sarah and I have been working on our connections with our setter a lot. Being able to snap high on that and with each one of our vertical jumps being over 10 feet is huge against that block. You have to find a way around the block and I think We did that pretty well tonight.”

Pippin contributed 17 kills, 11 digs, four aces and one block.

Schimpa had 49 assists to go with one ace, 11 digs and five kills.

“Winning districts means everything. We hadn’t done this since our freshman year and to be able to do it again with Drew and our other seniors was great to see,” Schimpa said. “Three Rivers has always been great competition and we finally beat them when it really meant something. I couldn’t be any more proud of my team.”

Danni Purlee chipped in 14 digs for Edwardsburg. Ella Laskowski had three kills and two blocks. Ella Armock had two kills and one block. Mya Eberlein added three kills and three blocks.

Game one was tied early on 3-3 before Three Rivers took the lead on the next point on a kill by Arabella Mangold. The Lady Cats wouldn’t relinquish its lead for the remainder of the game.

A key block at the net by Allie McGlothlen gave Three Rivers a 22-12 advantage. Edwardsburg would get as close as three points, 21-24, on an ace serve by Sarah Pippin. McGlothlen came up with a kill to end the game and put her team up 1-0 in the match.

Edwardsburg took its first lead in game two after facing a pair of early deficits. Pippin’s block on a kill attempt by the Lady Cats’ Jenna Southland gave the Eddies a 6-5 lead, one it would hold the remainder of the game.

Behind the strong play at the net from Glaser and Pippin, Edwardsburg was able to close out game two and even the match at 1-1.

The two teams battled back and forth in game three and were tied on 12 different occasions. But three consecutive kills from Pippin and an unforced error by Three Rivers helped Edwardsburg win the game and build a 2-1 match lead.

Edwardsburg grabbed a quick 5-1 advantage in the fourth game. The game remained close before the Lady Eddies seized their biggest lead, 20-14, following two consecutive kills from Glaser.

Schimpa’s dump pass into the open court gave Edwardsburg game and match point at 24-19. But Three Rivers fought back to even the game up at 24-24 with two consecutive kills by Jenna Southland. The two teams traded points for a 25-25 deadlock. Edwardsburg then got a key block from Mya Eberlein and a Glaser kill to end the game and match.

“This title is huge. Our group of five seniors are athletic, competitive and all-around great kids so to win for them is big. They are gritty players who have really put in a lot of work to be successful,” Strefling said.

Although disappointed with the loss, Three Rivers first-year coach Megan Jergens couldn’t have been any prouder of her team.

“Our girls played really hard on both sides of the net. I couldn’t be any more proud of them. I think we spent alot of energy in winning that first set and Edwardsburg made some key lineup changes in the second and third games. Their players came out with a lot of fire those last three games. It’s never fun to go out, but its better when you play good volleyball and we did that tonight,” Jergens said.

Jenna Southland finished with 20 kills, 14 digs and four blocks for Three Rivers. Mangold added 14 kills, 15 digs and six blocks. Allie McGlothlen posted eight kills, 11 digs and four blocks. Miley Southland totaled 43 assists from the setter’s spot to go along with four blocks and three kills. Aliza Munro chipped in 21 digs. Maddie O’Hara had four kills and three blocks and Lanie Glass added three kills and three digs.

Miley Southland, who is just a sophomore, recorded her 2,000th career assist for Three Rivers.

 

 

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