COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – In Branch County high school sports from over the weekend, it was a busy schedule on Saturday.
In volleyball, Coldwater and Union City played in Battle Creek at the Cereal City Invitational. Coldwater finished with a 2-3 record on the day with the Lady Cardinals being eliminated in the Silver Division Semi-Finals. In pool play, Coldwater beat Waterford with losses to Hopkins and Battle Creek Lakeview while in the Silver Division, they beat East Lansing before falling to St. John’s. Jasmine Wellet led the team in digs with 33 and in kills with 17. Freshman Tyler Scheid tied for the lead in blocks with Senior Breanna Eddy with 8 blocks each. Jamie Wellet had a team-high 46 assists and 8 aces on the day. Coldwater’s record on the season is now 4-5-4.
Union City had a 2-3 record at the tournament while winning the Bronze Division. In pool play, they lost to East Lansing, Pennfield and Temperance Bedford and then in bracket play, won the Bronze title by defeating Carmen Ainsworth and Waterford. Haley McIntosh had 25 kills while Rachel Wing, Haley Hart and Emma Hoppe had 15 digs apiece. Wing had a team high 6 blocks and Cassie Thorpe led the way in assists with 36.
Also in volleyball, Bronson won their own Viking Invitational going 5-0 on the day while beating Blissfield in 3 sets in the finals after defeating Concord in the semifinals. Jill Pyles had 34 kills and 6 blocks. Payton Robinson had 39 digs. Alexa Ratkowski had 98 assists and Kiera Lasky had 11 aces. Bronson’s overall record is now 9-1.
In freshman volleyball, Coldwater won its third straight tournament to start the season, finishing first in the Interstate Eight Conference tournament hosted by Harper Creek with a 6-0 record and a victory over Pennfield in the finals. Jordan Clemens had 22 kills, Mya Tom had 18 digs and 5 blocks, Morgan Beckhusen had 15 assists, and Anna Tappenden had 29 aces.
In boys soccer Saturday, Coldwater finished with a 2-1 record, losing in the championship game of the Eaton Rapids Division 2 Invitational to Mattawan 3-0. Earlier in the day in the action at the East Lansing Soccer Complex, the Cardinals beat both Dewitt and Linden in shootouts, after each game ended in regulation tied 1-1. Azam Ahmed scored the Coldwater goal in the first game against Dewitt, assisted by Sean Delaney. Waheeb Ahmed had 2 saves in goal and Balal Nasser had 2 in regulation and another one in the shootout. Mana Ahmed scored in the game against Linden, assisted by Wageeh Saeed. Waheeb Ahmed made 2 saves in regulation and another in the shootout. In the championship game loss to Mattawan, Ahmed made 4 saves in goal while Nasser made 3. Coldwater’s record is now 4-3, with 2 of the losses against Mattawan, which finished last season ranked second in the state in Division 2. Their next action is September 8, hosting Quincy.
The Coldwater JV team won the Kalamazoo Loy Norrix Invitational Saturday, beating Kalamazoo Home School Association 10-0 in the semi-finals and Three Rivers 6-0 in the finals. They travel to Chelsea today for a 5 p.m. JV only match.
In boys tennis, Coldwater finished first at the Sturgis Quad. Winning their flights at first, second and third singles were Javier Perez-Marsa, Nathan Waterbury, and Kumaran Arivoli and at first doubles, Nolan Duda and Austin Butler, second doubles, Kameron Miller and Shane O’Grady, third doubles, Nick Galliers and Christian Pine, and fourth doubles Mitchell Duda and Porter Skidmore.
In girls swimming and Diving, Coldwater placed fourth at the Kalamazoo Loy Norrix Invitational in the competition with Marshall, Traverse City and Loy Norrix. Leading Coldwater were Jayda Kelly placing first in the 50 yard freestyle and second in the 100 yard backstroke. Also winning medals were Kory Ulrich, fourth in the 500 yard freestyle and sixth in the 200 yard individual medley while taking sixth place in the 200 yard medley relay was the team of Kelly and Ulrich along with Heather Neitzka and Meredith Grife.
Finally, in Junior Varsity girls golf, Coldwater took third place out of 7 teams Friday in a jamboree hosted by Jackson Northwest. Coldwater had a team score of 245 with Northwest’s Varsity squad winning the event with a score of 195. Leading the way for Coldwater was Molly Smith with a 57.
On today’s high school sports schedule, in Volleyball, Coldwater has its home opener against Holt while in boys soccer, Quincy has a 6:30 p.m. match tonight at Jackson Northwest.
Today on the Coaches Corner, it’s Coldwater swimming coach Jaci Hoorman.
