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Box Score 2 Flint, Mich. – Saturday afternoon the 12th ranked Raiders earned their sixth MCCAA Championship in the past nine years after defeating Oakland CC and then Muskegon CC. It also marked their third in a row and not-so surprisingly enough, all against MCC in the finals. Final scores: Oakland; 25-15, 25-15, 25-14… Muskegon; 25-11, 25-22, 23-25, 25-19.
The Conference Champion Raiders had to play Oakland Community College in the first Semi-Final of the day. OCC finished 2nd in the Eastern Conference and had already been swept by the Raiders earlier in the season at the Raider Challenge. Just as in their previous meeting, Oakland proved to be no match for GRCC. The Raiders hit over .320 in each set, totaling 41 kills with just 10 hitting errors, sweeping the East Side Raiders once again.
Outsides Kendra DeJonge and Danielle Johnston combined for more than half of the offense themselves. Johnston led the Raiders with 13 kills (she had 14 in their last meeting to lead the team) and hit a solid .417. DeJonge, who had just three hitting errors the entire day, had nine kills and two aces. Ally German and Breanna Wickerink each had four kills while combining for four blocks. Emma Pachulski came off the bench to connect on four of six attempts, including the set winners in the first two sets!
The Western Conference showed once again they had the top two teams in the state, as Muskegon CC upended the Eastern Conference champs, Mott CC Bears in the second Semi-Final in four sets. That win set up the third straight MCCAA Championship between the two teams (12th overall meeting in the past three years) and for the 9th straight time, the Raiders would send the Jayhawks back to Muskegon with a loss.
GRCC came out in dominating fashion to open the match, cruising to a 25-11 first set win. The offense picked up where it left off in the last match, as they hit .375 with 15 kills and just three errors, and even had three aces. Johnston, who totaled 27 kills for the day, had five alone in the set while DeJonge added three with two aces and a solo block.
The Jayhawks seemed to have control of the second set, leading by as much as six (15-9), but the Raiders clawed back, mostly impart by the serving of Freshman Jasmine Wellet. With the score 19-15 in the favor of the 13th ranked Jayhawks, Wellet got the call to serve, and six points later (including two aces), the Raiders found themselves with a 21-19 lead! Both teams traded points the next six serves, but after a Wickerink kill to make it 24-22, the Jayhawks hit it into the net and the Raiders completed the comeback. DeJonge totaled half of the Raiders 16 kills in the set.
After numerous lead changes in the third set, the Jayhawks took the lead for good after a 5-1 run that made it 22-18. A DeJonge kill got the Raiders to within one point at 23-24, but the Jayhawks would avoid the sweep with a kill of their own to take it 25-23. Nine Raider errors proved to be the biggest factor. They only hit .140 a team and had six hitting errors, two reception errors, and one service error.
Both teams exchanged many leads in the fourth set as well, but this time it was the Raiders who rallied late, going on a 5-0 run to lead for good 20-16. The Jayhawks (who snapped a nine match win streak) make you work for every single point and that's exactly what the Raiders had to do, earning the final four points, a Johnston kill, back to back Wickerink kills and a Jamie Wellet ace to win it all!
Wickerink saved her best for last with five of her 11 total kills in the decisive set. DeJonge, the 2017 All-American, put up one of her best performances of the season, hitting .375 with 20 kills and just two errors, to go with 19 digs, three blocks and two aces. Johnston contributed with 14 kills, 12 digs, three blocks and two aces. German hit .500 with four kills and a team high four blocks, while her high school teammate, Kelsie Schultz added a team best 21 digs.
The Raiders will have a few day before Regionals that begin Thursday, November 1st in Port Huron at the St. Clair County CC Fieldhouse. GRCC will be the #1 seed, earning a first round bye, and will play the winner of Lansing/Glen Oaks at 8 PM Thursday night. For complete brackets of the tournament go here: Regional Tournament
Game Notes:
-The Raiders in the "Chip Will" era (12 seasons) are now 11-5 against Oakland (including five straight) and 33-6 against Muskegon, including nine in a row!
-The Raiders won their 6th (and 3rd straight) MCCAA championship. The previous three were from 2010 to 2012 where they ended up winning Regionals in those years, finishing 9th, 7th, and then 1st in Nationals!
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