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BATTLE CREEK — Gritty Niles came into Tuesday’s Division 2 regional volleyball semi-finals hoping to derail top-ranked Battle Creek Harper Creek.

For one game it appeared that Vince Strefling’s Vikings might be up to the task.

Niles won the opening set before dropping the last three and saw its season end with a 25-21, 19-25, 13-25, 17-25 loss to the Beavers. 

Harper Creek (50-4) will meet Three Rivers (28-11-8), a four-set winner over Lansing Catholic Central, in Thursday’s regional championship match at 6 p.m. 

“In my opinion we dominated that first game with our passing and our defense was incredible. This is a young team though and we just need more time to develop more consistency. We have potential and it will turn around,” said Strefling, Niles’ first-year head coach.

Niles trailed Harper Creek by as many as six points, (18-12) after the Beavers got a tip from Western Michigan University signee and star senior middle blocker Cassidy Prately.

Niles rallied late behind the serving of senior hitter Bree Lake and knotted the score up at 19-19. The Vikings grabbed the lead (22-19) on its next service rotation after three consecutive service points from Ellie Bradley. 

Harper Creek got consecutive kills from Krista Brannen and Prately to inch within a point (22-21) of Niles. But a tip by Kaydence Jacobs, an unforced error and an ace by Maddie Zache helped the Vikings win the first set. 

Niles battled Harper Creek early in game two before falling behind by nine points (21-12) following an ace by the Beavers’ senior outside hitter Ella Chantrenne. 

The Vikings staged a late rally and pulled within (22-18) before the Beavers eventually evened the match at 1-1 following two Brannen kills and a unforced error.

Another Prately kill gave Harper Creek a 10-point cushion (18-8) in the third game. A Brannen kill extended the Beavers’ lead to 21-11. Harper Creek got kills on the final two points of the game from Chantrenne and Avery Clark to go up 2-1. 

Niles held an early 2-1 lead in the fourth game following Lake’s kill. The Vikings, however, couldn’t sustain that momentum and eventually trailed the Beavers 18-13 after a kill by sophomore Camille Robinson. 

Niles wouldn’t get any closer than seven points the remainder of the game as Harper Creek closed out the set and match on a thunderous kill from Chantrenne.

“We gave everything we had, but we are still learning how to attack a ball when its not a good pass. We are stil in that stage where everything has to be perfect to beat a team like Harper Creek,” Strefling said.

The match was the final one in the careers of Niles seniors Lake, Jacobs and Kendall Gerdes.

“Kaydence ran a good show for us at setter and she’ll be missed. Bree was All-Conference and All-Region for us and Kendall will be someone we have to replace in the middle next year,” Strefling said.

Lake finished with 11 kills, 12 digs, two blocks and a pair of assists for Niles. Gerdes posted seven kills, a .538 hitting percentage and four blocks. Tanaya Brown finished with six kills. Jacobs posted 22 assists from her setter’s position. Nyla Hover added 13 digs and Maddie Zache had 11 digs. 

After a middle-of-the-pack finish in the Wolverine Conference, Strefling identified the district championship as one of the high points in a season of adjustment for his team.

“We had a first-year coaching staff, but these kids really developed into a competitive group as the season progressed and won 24 matches. At the regional meeting we learned that we had the fifth toughest schedule in our region. We play a difficult schedule and our libero and a couple outside hitters are all returning next year. All the girls coming back have committed to playing Club in the offseason. We have a nice feeder program to help build things,” Strefling said.