NMCA defeats Harbor Light for first-ever district volleyball title
· Yahoo Sports
HARBOR SPRINGS — During four intense and entertaining sets, Burt Lake Northern Michigan Christian Academy and Harbor Light put on a show in their MHSAA Division 4 district volleyball final on Thursday, Nov. 5.
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In the final set, a remarkable comeback was made by one team.
And it resulted in history being made.
That rally was made by the Eagles, who overcame a 9-0 deficit and polished off a first-ever district title with a 3-1 victory (23-25, 25-13, 25-23, 25-23) in a battle of Northern Lakes Conference rivals.
Here's some takeaways from Thursday's thriller.
The epic rally
Despite falling in the opening set, the Eagles (24-6-2) responded with an emphatic victory in the second. In a nip-and-tuck third, NMCA found a way to take control and took a 2-1 lead in the match when freshman Lauren Ferraiuolo hammered home a kill that put the Eagles one set away from a championship.
But as everyone knows in volleyball, momentum can flip quickly.
Behind powerful senior hitter Cara Paulus, who delivered several kills, Harbor Light (16-17-6) built a 9-0 lead and the match looked destined to force for a winner-take-all fifth.
Incredibly, NMCA showed great resiliency by chipping away and wiping out their deficit after junior Shanna Ferraiuolo's back-to-back kills tied the match at 17. While Paulus gave Harbor Light the lead back with a kill on the next point, the Eagles forced Harbor Light attacking errors and found themselves at match point.
Following a Harbor Light attack that was long and out of bounds, NMCA players, coaches and supporters erupted with joy as a first-ever district crown was earned in rivalry territory.
"It's amazing," Shanna Ferraiuolo said. "I loved every second of it. Sometimes we get down, and we come back. We're all really good friends and we just love every second of this. It just means so much to be able to do this."
Prior to NMCA's epic fourth-set surge, coach Josh Ferraiuolo said his team was in similar situations before, including an 11-2 deficit to Harbor Light in a recent Northern Lakes Conference tournament match. On Thursday, Ferraiuolo's team's mental toughness was rewarded with something no other NMCA volleyball squad before it had won.
"We ended up losing that set, but it just showed that we could (come back)," Ferraiuolo said. "I had to remind them that it's happened. Harbor Light, give them credit. Cara (Paulus) is unbelievable. The pressure was on."
Heartbreak for Harbor Light
Behind the superb attacking of Paulus, who was unstoppable at times, Harbor Light made a statement by taking a one-set advantage. However, Harbor Light struggled to contain NMCA's top two attackers, Shanna and Lauren Ferraiuolo.
In the end, a bid for a second district crown in three years fell short.
"We knew coming into tonight that was it going to be a battle," Harbor Light coach Hannah Urman said. "This was our fourth time playing them, so we knew it was going to be a tough game, and we came out strong in the fourth set. I knew that they (NMCA) were going to come back at some point, but we just couldn't keep it together to stop the momentum from them coming back."
Urman delivered major praise to Paulus, who finished the final game of her career with 27 kills and four-block kills.
"That was one of her best games," Urman said of Paulus. "I'm going to miss her. I started to coach her when she was a sophomore on varsity, and this is the third year, and I'm glad she ended on a good note, and she had some great kills that brought our team back up."
Maryah Burns and Emily Good had eight and seven kills respectively for Harbor Light, which received 32 digs and three aces from Kaylee DeGood, 24 digs from Lilly Cope, and 17 digs from Audrey Manthei.
Celebrating for a long time
With its district breakthrough, NMCA will face Atlanta (35-1-1) — which cruised to a 3-0 victory at Hillman in a final on Thursday — in a 6 p.m. regional semifinal at Rogers City on Tuesday, Nov. 10.
No matter what might happen, the Eagles will be celebrating their special district night for a long time.
"When we won our first district in basketball, ever, this is right there with it," coach Ferraiuolo said.
NMCA stats will be provided as soon as they become available.
Contact sports editor Jared Greenleaf at [email protected]. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @sportsCDT
This article originally appeared on Cheboygan Daily Tribune: NMCA defeats Harbor Light for first-ever district volleyball title