Bulldogs volleyball sinks Vikings for district title
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BARAGA -- On paper, one could not have asked for a better high school volleyball district final on Thursday. The Division 4 District 98 championship game pitted the 26-1 Baraga Vikings against the 27-2 Hancock Bulldogs.
However, in reality, the Vikings did not prove to be not much competition for the Bulldogs as they went down in three straight sets, 25-11, 25-16 and 25-20.
In short, the Bulldogs came with all their bark and their bite.
"I liked how we came to play from the first serve and earned points with our serves and swings," said Bulldogs coach Brian Lamppa. "We wanted to come out attacking the net, serving the ball well, and get an early lead."
He added that the first set was their best as it set the tone for the rest of the match. A kill by Azura Aho in the opening points of the first put the Bulldogs up 6-3. That morphed into a 10-point lead thanks to an impressive service run by the Bulldogs Briell L’Esperance. Teammate Tatum Sporalski served up an 18-9 advantage, and fellow Bulldog Romey Koskela was on the line for the first-set win.
"Tatum gets the game ball," Lamppa said. "She was hard to beat at the service line tonight."
The second set was much the same. A strong service to open the set by Koskela put the Hancock girls up, 5-0. An ace by Lucy Biekkola advanced the score to 11-3.
The Vikings rallied back with five points with Annika Rinkinen on the line and eventually came within three of their opponent at 16-3, but that is as close as they got.
The Bulldogs kept the Vikings on their toes and hammered down some unbeatable kills for the second-set win.
Set three was the Vikings' best as they stuck with the Bulldogs throughout trailing by no more than three or four points throughout. The girls in purple and gold even tied it at 18 and took a lead at 19-18 and 20-18.
The Bulldogs stayed calm and evened the score at 20 and Sporalski stepped up to the service and put this one away, sealing the set, the match, and the title.
While Baraga’s coach Corey Pietila wasn’t pleased with the outcome of Thursday’s game, she was quite happy with a near-perfect season.
"I couldn’t be prouder of these girls," she said. "They worked hard all year, and they were a great group to coach."
Up next
With the win the Bulldogs head to Ishpeming Tuesday to face the winner between Ishpeming and Munising, who battled Friday evening, in the Region 25 semifinal. First serve is set for 6 p.m.