Notre Dame Preparatory School's volleball team (14-1) won their second consecutive tournament Saturday as they successfully defended their title at the 20-team Croswell Lexington Invitational.
The Irish advanced out of pool play as the number-two seed (Divine Child was the number one seed) after defeating L’Anse Creuse North, 25-15, 25-10; Sandusky, 25-13, 25-9; and Ubly, 25-14, 25-10.
In the opening round of the playoffs Notre Dame took care of Bad Axe (honorable-mention Class B) 25-8 and 25-13. In the semifinal round, the Irish met up with host Croswell Lexington, another Class B honorable-mention team, and defeated the Pioneers, 25-19 and 25-19.
The win advanced the Irish to the championship match against yet another Class B honorable-mention team and league rival Divine Child. Divine Child had breezed through their own pool undefeated, earning the number-one seed. The Falcons defeated St Clair and state-ranked Frankenmuth in the quarter and semifinal rounds of the playoffs to earn their way to the title match.
The Irish sprinted out to an early 5-0 lead in the first set and went on to win 25-13. The second set saw the Falcons and the Irish battle back and forth in the early going until a kill by NDP's Katherine Carlson put the Irish ahead for good at 7-6. Notre Dame Prep played tenacious defense and setters Ashley Knutson and Hannah Antosz spread the Irish attack around as Notre Dame went on to a 25-18 win.
The Irish were led by junior All-American Carlson, who had 98 kills, 7 blocks, 8 aces and 42 serving points. Dani McCormick (senior) added 30 kills, 12 blocks and served up 35 points, and junior middle-blocker Jenna Sassack blocked 12 attacks. Libero Bella Bucchi dug up 56 of the opponents attacks.
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