Third Time's A Charm
Newark Avenges Two Losses to HBR For Two-Game Sectional Championship Win
| Northern Illinois Sports Beat http://www.northernillinoissportsbeat.com |
By Cody Cutter
Northern Illinois Sports Beat Publisher
SERENA (Nov. 5) – After losing to tonight's opponent twice already this season, the
Newark Lady Norsemen had every right to be hitting hard against Hinckley-Big Rock.
Newark's serving baffled the Lady Royals all throughout tonight's Class 1A Serena
Sectional final. That, and a stellar front-row performance by Newark's Mariah
Michaelson and Katie Larson, propelled their team to a two-game win by scores of 26-
24 and 25-17.
It's on to the Super-Sectional for Newark (25-12), the first time in the program's history
a team has gone this far. They will play defending Class 1A champion Eastland, a two-
game winner over Orion at the Eastland Sectional.
“Coming into tonight, I knew we could beat them, but once we got on the court, I wasn't
sure how we'd handle the pressure, being as young as we are,” said Newark coach
Tonya Nagel. “For them to be playing in a huge game, a pressure atmosphere, and
maintain composure and go after it point, after point, after point, after point, that's so
impressive. They were unaffected by all of it. They were almost business-like.”
Michaelson had six kills in the first game and eight overall, while Larson had eight kills
in the first game and nine in all.
“They served well enough to the point where we couldn't get a pass to run an offense,”
said HBR coach Don Watson. “We couldn't serve receive and that was pretty much our
problem the whole night.”
Practice throughout the season made perfect when it comes to serving. The Lady
Norsemen served up seven aces to the Lady Royals' three.
“Our serving has been the heart for us this year,” said Larson. “When we started this
year, our serving was down and no one was really a good server. We just spent a lot of
time serving this year in practice, and we really stepped that up.”
The Lady Royals started out strong, and had the first two aces of the first game. Both
of them came off of the service of Jessica Leifheit, right at Newark libero Sammi Eddy,
and coach Nagel called in her team for a break after trailing 9-3.
They eventually got up to a 16-14 lead before HBR clawed back to a 23-17 advantage.
That's where Michaelson came into play, spiking four kills toward tying the game at 23.
“We lost to them twice, and we needed this game,” said Michaelson. “We had to be
together and stay strong together. I knew if I didn't play well, then I don't think I would
have been a good asset to the team.”
A close ace serve by Larson gave their team a one-point lead. After a Katie Hollis kill
tied the game at 24, an Abby Akre kill and Sammi Eddi ace serve brought game one to
a close.
The upswing continued into game two. After game two was tied at two points each,
Larson spiked three kills in the next four Newark points.
“That carried us to the second game,” said Michaelson. “That game gave us the
strength to fight hard and fight strong, and to keep our heads up and to push the way
we needed to push.”
Down 9-2, HBR's front-row threat Jenna Thorp was sidelined with an injury, and the
Lady Royals stepped it up in her absence in closing the Newark lead to three points,
with three kills and a block by Katie Hollis leading the way.
But when Thorp got back, so did the Lady Norsemen. Larson kills gave her team six-
point leads of 16-10 and 20-14.
“We just kept the mentality on our side, and kept our energy up,” said Larson.
Frustration began to show late in the game for HBR, as a misplay of a certain long
serve gave Newark a 23-16 advantage. A close ace serve gave Newark its 24th point,
but was followed by a long serve to give HBR the ball back. The last of Michaelson's
kills gave Newark the historic win.
Miranda Schmidt chipped in three kills for Newark. Despite her injury, Thorp led HBR
with 11 kills, with Hollis having six kills and Kaitlyn Phillips having four.
“We had a good year,” said Watson. “It just didn't work for us tonight.”
The Super-Sectional is on Saturday, so there's just one whole off day before the match
with Eastland that night.
“This is real exciting,” said Larson. “We had never won a sectional championship, so
this is really awesome.”
Cody Cutter is the Publisher of Northern Illinois Sports Beat. He can be reached at
Northernillinoissportsbeat@yahoo.com.
Northern Illinois Sports Beat Publisher
SERENA (Nov. 5) – After losing to tonight's opponent twice already this season, the
Newark Lady Norsemen had every right to be hitting hard against Hinckley-Big Rock.
Newark's serving baffled the Lady Royals all throughout tonight's Class 1A Serena
Sectional final. That, and a stellar front-row performance by Newark's Mariah
Michaelson and Katie Larson, propelled their team to a two-game win by scores of 26-
24 and 25-17.
It's on to the Super-Sectional for Newark (25-12), the first time in the program's history
a team has gone this far. They will play defending Class 1A champion Eastland, a two-
game winner over Orion at the Eastland Sectional.
“Coming into tonight, I knew we could beat them, but once we got on the court, I wasn't
sure how we'd handle the pressure, being as young as we are,” said Newark coach
Tonya Nagel. “For them to be playing in a huge game, a pressure atmosphere, and
maintain composure and go after it point, after point, after point, after point, that's so
impressive. They were unaffected by all of it. They were almost business-like.”
Michaelson had six kills in the first game and eight overall, while Larson had eight kills
in the first game and nine in all.
“They served well enough to the point where we couldn't get a pass to run an offense,”
said HBR coach Don Watson. “We couldn't serve receive and that was pretty much our
problem the whole night.”
Practice throughout the season made perfect when it comes to serving. The Lady
Norsemen served up seven aces to the Lady Royals' three.
“Our serving has been the heart for us this year,” said Larson. “When we started this
year, our serving was down and no one was really a good server. We just spent a lot of
time serving this year in practice, and we really stepped that up.”
The Lady Royals started out strong, and had the first two aces of the first game. Both
of them came off of the service of Jessica Leifheit, right at Newark libero Sammi Eddy,
and coach Nagel called in her team for a break after trailing 9-3.
They eventually got up to a 16-14 lead before HBR clawed back to a 23-17 advantage.
That's where Michaelson came into play, spiking four kills toward tying the game at 23.
“We lost to them twice, and we needed this game,” said Michaelson. “We had to be
together and stay strong together. I knew if I didn't play well, then I don't think I would
have been a good asset to the team.”
A close ace serve by Larson gave their team a one-point lead. After a Katie Hollis kill
tied the game at 24, an Abby Akre kill and Sammi Eddi ace serve brought game one to
a close.
The upswing continued into game two. After game two was tied at two points each,
Larson spiked three kills in the next four Newark points.
“That carried us to the second game,” said Michaelson. “That game gave us the
strength to fight hard and fight strong, and to keep our heads up and to push the way
we needed to push.”
Down 9-2, HBR's front-row threat Jenna Thorp was sidelined with an injury, and the
Lady Royals stepped it up in her absence in closing the Newark lead to three points,
with three kills and a block by Katie Hollis leading the way.
But when Thorp got back, so did the Lady Norsemen. Larson kills gave her team six-
point leads of 16-10 and 20-14.
“We just kept the mentality on our side, and kept our energy up,” said Larson.
Frustration began to show late in the game for HBR, as a misplay of a certain long
serve gave Newark a 23-16 advantage. A close ace serve gave Newark its 24th point,
but was followed by a long serve to give HBR the ball back. The last of Michaelson's
kills gave Newark the historic win.
Miranda Schmidt chipped in three kills for Newark. Despite her injury, Thorp led HBR
with 11 kills, with Hollis having six kills and Kaitlyn Phillips having four.
“We had a good year,” said Watson. “It just didn't work for us tonight.”
The Super-Sectional is on Saturday, so there's just one whole off day before the match
with Eastland that night.
“This is real exciting,” said Larson. “We had never won a sectional championship, so
this is really awesome.”
Cody Cutter is the Publisher of Northern Illinois Sports Beat. He can be reached at
Northernillinoissportsbeat@yahoo.com.
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