COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – In Branch County high school sports, it was another busy weekend, especially in volleyball, including Coldwater with a 2-1-1 record at Saturday’s Harper Creek Invitational. In pool play, the Lady Cardinals beat Battle Creek Central and Climax-Scotts and split with Portage Northern. Then in bracket play, Coldwater was eliminated in two games by Marshall. On the day, Megan Gallup had 17 kills. Breanna Eddy and Jamie Wellet led in blocks with 5 each and Wellet had a team-high 51 assists. And Shelby Kahler had 30 digs. Coldwater’s record is now 10-14-5.
Class-C top-ranked Bronson went undefeated in winning its own Polish Classic, beating Onsted 2-0 in the finals. Kirin Cekander had team-highs in kills with 38 and in digs with 59. Jill Pyles had 14 aces and Alexa Ratkowski had 120 assists. Bronson improved its record to 35-6-2.
And Union City played at the Concord Invitational and finished with an 0-1-and-3 record. Rachel Wing and Haley McIntosh had 20 kills apiece. Cassie Thorpe had 44 assists and 8 aces. Emma Hoppe had 25 digs and Makena Bartlett had 6 blocks. Union City’s record is 12-12-5.
In junior varsity volleyball, Coldwater was undefeated while winning its own invitational tournament. Carlie Wilson had 23 digs, Avery Milnes had 26 assists and Malorie Rzepka had 28 kills. Union City had an 0-2-2 record in the tournament with 7 kills for Sydney Falkner and 6 aces for Allison Adams.
In Cross Country, the Coldwater Boys team finished second out of 18 teams in the Blue Division of the Otsego Invitational. The Cardinals’ 100 points were not far off the 85 scored by first place Grand Rapids Christian, the defending Division Two State Champions. Shuaib Aljabaly, Zach Murphy, and Ben Fagen were all medal winners in the varsity race. Ethan Aerts claimed a 7th place medal in the JV competition. In the Girls action, Coldwater didn’t field a team. Kathy Potter had a 77th place finish out of 126 runners. Bronson competed in the Gold Division with the boys taking 6th place out of 14 teams led by Colin Ransbottom in 14th place. The girls didn’t field a team with Megan Vaughn taking 63rd place.
On today’s high school schedule, in Boys tennis, Coldwater hosts Vicksburg and in Boys soccer tonight, Quincy hosts Hillsdale Academy.
Today on the Coaches Corner, it’s Coldwater volleyball coach Kelsey Closson.
In middle school sports, in volleyball, Coldwater played at the 8th grade Marshall Invitational with the both the A and B teams finishing in second place. Olivia Foley led the A team with 41 points including 20 assists and 7 digs. Carlee Crabtree was right behind with 40 points and 29 kills and they both had 19 aces. And Bailey Burkhardt had 30 kills. Pacing the B team with 40 serves and 16 digs was Melissa Vozar. Allie Caswell had 8 assists. And Madison Shiery had 13 kills.
