PAW PAW, MI (WTVB) – The MHSAA volleyball state tournament tipped off last night and included Coldwater and Quincy winning their first round matches. Coldwater rallied for a 3-2 victory over Edwardsburg at the Paw Paw Class B District. The Lady Cardinals trailed 2-0 after Edwardsburg took the first two games, winning both sets 25-22. Coldwater then bounced back to beat the Eddies, 25-20, in both the third and fourth games and kept rolling with a 15-6 victory in the decisive fifth game.
The win advances Coldwater to Wednesday’s semifinals at Paw Paw and a 5 p.m. match tomorrow against Vicksburg. In the other bracket, it’s Paw Paw against Three Rivers. The district final is Thursday night at 6 p.m.
Jasmine Wellet had a team-high 17 kills last night for Coldwater and also led the way in blocks with 6. Drue Mullin had a team-high 34 digs. Jamie Wellet led in assists with 29 and Tyler Scheid led the way in aces with 4. The Lady Cardinals improved their season record to 18-18-5.
At the Homer Class C district, Quincy defeated the host Trojans 3-1, gaining a measure of revenge after Homer last weekend eliminated the Orioles in the semifinals of the Big 8 Conference tournament. Quincy last night won the first two games 25-19, 25-21, before Homer took game 3, 25-21, and then the Orioles closed out the match with a 25-21 victory in the fourth game.
Quincy’s opponent in tomorrow night’s semifinals is Class C top-ranked Bronson, which finished the regular season at number-one in the final poll which was released yesterday. In the first semifinal match tomorrow night at 6 p.m., it’s Union City vs. Reading. The District final is Thursday night at 6 p.m. Leading Quincy last night with 21 kills, 15 digs and 4-and-a-half blocks was Mackenzie Moore while Ali Silva had 24 assists. The Orioles overall record is 24-13-1.
In middle school sports, Coldwater last night opened their boys basketball season against Harper Creek with a win on the road for the 8th grade B team while in the 7th grade games at home, it was a split with a win for the A team and a one point loss to the visiting Beavers in the B game. The Cardinals took the 8th grade contest at Harper Creek 40-31 with ten points apiece for Jacob Carr and Grey Skudlarick, who also had 8 rebounds.
Coldwater won the 7th grade A game 60-36 with 26 points and 9 rebounds for Brady Moore. The Cardinals dropped the B game 25-24 with 10 points and 6 rebounds for Ryan Omo followed by Rylan Brockway with 9 points and 5 steals.
