THE HASTINGS
Thursday, November 18, 2021Lakewood sweeps through regional tourney
Brett Bremer
Sports Editor
Paige Wolverton and Ellie Possehn, a pair of
Lakewood juniors, leapt up out of their seats
and were nearly out onto the playing surface
hollering and clapping as soon as the ball
smacked the floor.
Their classmate, first-year varsity player Liv
Woodman, had just hit her first kill of the night
to put the Vikings ahead 24-2 over Marshall in
the second set of the MHSAA Division 2
Regional Final at Ionia High School Thursday.
Everybody has to be ready in November.
“I was nervous. When I get in, I want to do
well,” Woodman said. “I was like shoot, I hope it
goes over because I didn’t want to get blocked.”
She had a miscue on an attack when she got
a turn on the court in the regional semifinal last
Tuesday, a three-set Lakewood win over
Williamston, and was happy to get the chance
to make up for it. It wasn’t just one better
swing though. It was a number of them between
her miss in the regional semifinal and the suc-
cessful kill Thursday.
“I worked with Cameron [Rowland] and I
tried to fix my footing. He said I was taking too
big of a first step. I worked on that – smaller
steps and go faster at it.,” Woodman said of
Wednesday’s mid-regional round practice.
Senior outside hitter Kenzie Wells got a little
more time on the court Thursday too, as the
Vikings won their way to an eighth consecutive
regional championship, filling in for senior
teammate Zayda Kruger who was unable to
play in the regional final.
“Kenzie came in and played very well
tonight,” Rowland, the Viking head coach, said.
“Her presence was really good the whole time.
She played hard and did everything she needed
to do, and we were really successful tonight
because of that.”
Marshall wasn’t ready for what the Lakewood
varsity volleyball team, ranked third in the state
in Division 2, had to throw at it. The Vikings
earned a spot against Onsted in the Division 2
State Quarterfinal that were set to be played at
Williamston High School Tuesday, Nov. 16, by
scoring a 25-14, 25-3, 25-18 win over the Red
Hawks Thursday.
“I think tonight is the best we have played [in
the state tournament this season], and we knew
that it was going to have to be,” Rowland said.
Lakewood was certainly ready for that second
set. Junior Alli Pickard served the first 13 points
of the set for the Vikings. Pickard served well,
the defense was outstanding, and senior outside
hitter Maradith O’Gorman, senior middle Tori
Wickerink and junior outside hitter Skylar Bump
were a formidable front line during the run.
“We just defended really well and made things
really difficult for them to score. We just built off
that energy and went after it,” Rowland said.
“We were all fired up,” Lakewood sopho-
more libero Carley Piercefield said.
Both the Vikings on the floor and the bench
were fired up.
“We just want to stay hyped so they can keep
the energy up and they can keep going. It is justfun when it gets loud and then the student-sec-
tion brings it up even louder,” Woodman said of
cheering on the run from the sideline.
Piercefield took over at the service line for
the Vikings ahead 14-1 and served a string of six
straight points to put her team in front 21-
Marshall stole a set off the Vikings a year ago
in the regional semifinals, the only set the
Vikings would drop until their state finals match-
up with Grand Rapids Christian. Piercefield
remembered that at the service line Thursday.
“Last year, at the final set I missed my serve
and they won the set. This year, I was like that’s
not happening. That is not happening,”
Piercefield said. “That was weighting on my
mind, and I was just like I was going at them.”
Eventually it was Skylar Bump’s turn with her
team up 22-2, and she served up points 23 and 24
before Marshall managed a third side-out of the
set. A big kill by O’Gorman finally finished off
the dominant second-set performance by the
Vikings.
“I knew that they were going to come back
and play better in the third set, and they did that.
They did things to put some pressure on us to do
that,” Rowland said.
“They started to get a lot more aggressive
attacking, took some chances, and they changed
up their serve receive a little bit so that they
started passing better and their setter’s job
became a lot easier.”
A pair of aces by Marshall’s Ashlynn
Giannunzio helped push her team in front mid-
way through that third set at 16-15. That’s when
the Michigan State University bound senior all-
stater O’Gorman slammed what seemed to be her
most powerful kill of the evening to the floor
right in the center of the Marshall defense to even
the set at 16-16.
Lakewood took the next two points too and
slowly finished off the third set from there, with
another strong performance from O’Gorman and
Wickerink at the net.
It was a clean bump, set spike from the all-
state trio of Piercefield, Bump and O’Gorman to
clinch the final point in the end.
O’Gorman had a match-high 22 kills to lead
the Viking attack and added nine digs and four
blocks too. Wickerink matched her four blocks
and had three kills.
Piercefield had a team-high 26 digs, with
Abby Pickard adding 11, Alli Pickard 11 and
Bump 11 too. Bump also had six kills, nine
assists and four aces. Piercefield, Abby Pickard
and Paige Wolverton had one ace each. Piercefield
also chipped in five assists.
Abby Pickard, the Vikings’ freshman setter,
had a team-high 20 assists.
The other Division 2 Quarterfinal matches
Tuesday, Nov. 16, pitted No. 8 Cadillac against
No. 5 North Branch, No. 2 Grand Rapids Christian
against Niles, and No. 4 Detroit Country Day
against No. 1 Pontiac Notre Dame Prep.
Lakewood, North Branch, Grand Rapids
Christian and Notre Dame Prep all took victories
Tuesday to earn spots in the MHSAA Division 2
State Semifinals Friday at Kellogg Arena in
Battle Creek.Youngs set to hoop it up for
Glen Oaks Community College
Brett Bremer
Sports Editor
Hastings senior Brooklynn Youngs
signed her National Letter of Intent to
join the Glen Oaks Community College
Women’s Basketball team next season
last week.
Youngs will get one year at Hastings
High School playing for her father, ChaseYoungs, who is taking over as the varsity
girls’ basketball coach for the Saxons this
winter.
Brooklynn was joined by Chase, her
mother Stacey Youngs, Hastings High
School athletic director Mike Goggins and
Glen Oaks Women’s Basketball coach
Robbie Hattan during her signing day event
at Hastings High School.Hattan is the first-year head coach at
Glen Oaks, which is located in Centreville.
“We are so excited to add Brooklyn to our
program,” Hattan said. “She is an elite
defender and has a high motor. One of here
strongest attributes is her desire to compete.”
Youngs was also an all-conference tennis
player for the Hastings varsity girls’ tennis
team as a junior last spring.Hastings senior Brooklynn Youngs signs her National Letter of Intent to join the Glen Oaks Community College Women's
Basketball team next season, in front of the trophy case near the Hastings High School gymnasium. She is joined by her
mother Stacey Youngs (clockwise from front left), Glen Oaks head coach Robbie Hattan, Hastings High School athletic direc-
tor Mike Goggins and her father, new Hastings varsity girls' basketball coach, Chase Youngs.Lakewood senior middle Tori Wickerink swings for an attack in front of the block of
Marshall's Kairah Gore (10) while teammates Abby Pickard (left) and Maradith
O'Gorman (right) look on during their MHSAA Division 2 Regional Final in Ionia
Thursday. (Photo by Brett Bremer)The Lakewood varsity volleyball team celebrates with its regional championship trophy after knocking off Marshall in the
MHSAA Division 2 Regional Final at Ionia High School Thursday. The Vikings have since won a state quarterfinal match as well
(see story page 14) and will face North Branch in the Division 2 State Semifinal at Kellogg Arena in Battle Creek Friday evening.
(Photo by Brett Bremer)