Central splits pair of games against Mott, Kettering

Walled Lake Central split two Kensington Lakes Activities Association (KLAA) North Division matches last week and now trails Huron Valley Lakeland by two matches for first-place.

The Vikings began their week with a three-game victory over Waterford Mott at home, 26-24, 25-22, 25-19, on Monday, Sept. 24.

Brittany Guldan had 8 kills and 7 digs for Central (18-6-1, 5-2 in the KLAA North), while Catelyn Girard had 11 assists and 6 aces and Alex Picardal had 11 digs and an ace.

“We played a nice consistent match against Mott despite coming off a very busy schedule as we played four days out of six,” said Central Head Coach Cathy Johnson. “It was just good, solid volleyball with everyone on the team contributing to the win.”

Mott fell to 0-6 in the KLAA North.

However, it would be a different outcome for Central as it traveled to Waterford Kettering on Thursday, Sept. 27.

The Vikings lost the first two games against the Captains, 20-25 and 18-25, before coming back to win the third game, 25-15.

However, Kettering (2-4 in the KLAA North) would close out the match with a 25-20 victory in the fourth game.

Guldan had 10 assists and 12 kills for Central in the loss.

Sydney Dudley and Chesaney Wyse each had 10 kills for the Captains, while Gabrielle Hilliard had 33 assists.

“Our results were very frustrating — no excuses at all for our performance,” Johnson said. “Kettering played volleyball, and we did not. Kettering deserved the win, we did not. Now we have to regroup after a poor performance and get ready for a tough upcoming week.”

Central hosted Walled Lake Northern yesterday, Tuesday, Oct. 2 after press time and will travel to face rival Walled Lake Western tomorrow, Thursday, Oct. 4 before playing in the Northville Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 6.

“We have been working on various lineups trying to work on getting stronger rotations in all six rotations,” Johnson said. “I hope that we will be ready to play high-level volleyball because we will be playing some very tough schools for the rest of our season.”