Knights grab city title, tie for first in North Division

Walled Lake Northern moved into a tie for first place in the Kensington Lakes Activities Association (KLAA) North Division and claimed the Walled Lake City Championship with a four-set win over Walled Lake Central at home on Wednesday, Oct. 5.

The Knights won the first two sets; 25-13 and 25-14 before the Vikings rebounded to take the third set, 22-25. Northern then finished off Central in the fourth set, 25-15.

“As has been our habit lately — we play tough the first two games then let up and fall behind in the third game of the match,” said Northern Head Coach Renee Miller. “Central played very well, serving extremely tough and playing excellent defense and we just could not catch up after falling behind early. In the fourth game we refocused and executed our game plan to finish the match.”

Brooke Mayrand had 39 assists and was 20-of-21 serving with 4 aces for the Knights (18-8-3, 7-1 KLAA North) while Meghan Conrad had 11 kills and was 17-of-20 serving with 2 aces.

Jessica Mutrynowski also had 10 kills and 3 blocks for Northern while Courtney Scott had 10 kills and 24 digs, Courtney Sullivan had 4 kills, and Melissa Griffiths added 15 digs.

Having defeated both Central and Walled Lake Western in all four matches this season, the Knights have clinched the Walled Lake City Championship.

Colleen Starrs had 22 digs in the loss for Central (20-9, 5-3)while Gia Morianti had 9 kills and Katie Lusk had 8 kills.

Central Head Coach Cathy Johnson said her team was fighting bad colds and on Oct. 4, the Vikings found out that Brittany Guldan has mono and would be out for the rest of the month.

“So, this week we ran a 5-1 offense with Catelyn Girard, our 10th-grade setter,” she said. “It was a tough week since we had to adjust to not having Brittany setting for us because she has been our starting Varsity setter for three years now.

“We will be pulling up our JV setter, Madeline Master, to the varsity squad for the rest of the season. Madeline is a ninth-grader who has been running a 5-1 offense for our JV, which has had a very successful season so far this year including winning two tournaments.”

Northern started its week on Tuesday, Oct. 4 with a straight-set victory over Walled Lake Western, 25-14, 25-8, 25-23, on the road.

“We played consistently the first two games and the players let up just a bit in the third game, but enough for Western to really step up their game against us. We were behind much of the game before fighting back to finish the match in three games,” Miller said.

Mayrand led with 30 assists, 8 kills and was 9-for-9 serving with 2 aces, while Griffiths was 15-of-16 serving with 5 aces and 18 digs.

Mutrynowski had 8 kills and 3 blocks for Northern while Scott had 7 kills and 3 blocks, Conrad had 5 kills and 2 blocks and Gabrielle Bauer contributed 17 digs and was 9-for-9 serving.

Meanwhile, Central defeated Waterford Kettering at home on Tuesday, Oct. 4 in five games; 21-25, 25-16, 25-20, 17-25, 15-12.

Starrs had 22 digs for Central while Girard had 5 aces and 41 assists and Lusk had 14 kills.

Mikaela Beck and Gia Morianti also each had 11 kills.

Central hosted Walled Lake Western yesterday, Tuesday, Oct. 11 after press time, while Northern traveled to Waterford Mott.

The Vikings will play at Huron Valley Lakeland tomorrow, Thursday, Oct. 13, while Northern will host Waterford Kettering that same night.