MCC volleyball loses first home game in nearly 40 years to North Central Michigan

SIDNEY TOWNSHIP — One last lunge for the ball from Lily Bohen, it just wasn’t quite enough.

A near-capacity crowd went silent for a second then cheered to celebrate a small piece of history.

Montcalm Community College’s volleyball team dropped its home opener Monday, 3-1, to North Central Michigan College in the MCC Activities Building in a Michigan Community College Athletic Association – North matchup.

Monday’s game marked the first home contest in over 40 years — a hiatus dating back to the 1980s.

The Centurions (2-5, 0-1 MCCAA – North) started out strong on Monday by scoring the first point. After the Timberwolves (5-5, 1-0 MCCAA – North) stormed out to a quick 3-1 lead, which was quickly erased by a three-point run from the Centurions.

Head coach Kara Youngs was impressed with how her team was able to get the match started in a battle against the Timberwolves, who are in their second season of competition. Monday’s first set was back-and-forth, with neither team gaining an advantage of more than three points in the beginning stages. Eventually, MCC went on a 10-5 run to take a 21-16 lead and force a timeout from NCMC.

Out of that timeout, the Timberwolves went on a scoring bonanza as they scored the next three points, forcing a timeout from Youngs. After the timeout, the Timberwolves continued their dominant scoring and closed out the set with a five-point run to win Monday’s opening set, 25-23.

“We came out strong,” Young said. “We just didn’t close out some of the (sets) that we should have. They kept the energy tonight. … Sometimes, we can learn more by losing than winning. So, we’ve just got to capitalize on the things that we didn’t do well to bring it in because we now have to focus on the next two games.”

The second set started out like the first, back-and-forth with neither team gaining the edge but not giving the opponent an opportunity to pull away. Bohen, a Central Montcalm graduate, was stellar on the service line as she helped serve several key points in the first two sets on Monday. Full statistics were not available by press time on Monday.

Trailing 13-7 in the second set, MCC called a timeout as the Timberwolves were building momentum having scored seven of the previous nine points. After the timeout, the Centurions slowly crawled their way back on the scoreboard. Cedar Springs’ Josie Kenyon helped guide the Centurions with five-straight points on the service line to bring the deficit down to two.

As MCC tried to go on a run, NCMC shut it down and gained back serve in an attempt to curve the momentum. However, the Centurions were having none of it as they went on to score seven of 10 points to tie the score at 20, capped by an emphatic kill by Portland’s Lauren Rowe.

MCC scored the next three points, stymied by points from NCMC — but the Centurions battled their way back to a 25-23 win to tie the match at a set apiece.

“I feel like we did well tonight,” Rowe said. “We didn’t give up at all, we just kept pushing through. (All of the sets) were close.”

MCC scored the first point in the third set as the teams battled once again in the early going of the set. The Centurions took their biggest lead of the set at 19-16 and aimed to close out the third set and take a command in the match. However, the Timberwolves went on a hot streak and scored seven-straight points — while forcing Centurion errors along the way. While MCC tried to battle back, NCMC secured the third set, 25-21.

The fourth set saw MCC again scoring the first point, but NCMC jumped out to a 5-3 lead thanks to a four-point run. The Centurions crept ahead on the scoreboard slowly but surely — sparked by a loud kill from Central Montcalm graduate Maia Sexton. The momentum appeared to be on the Centurions’ side in the early portion of the set to force a fifth set. However, the Timberwolves went on a five-point run to take a 14-11 lead, which forced a Centurion timeout. NCMC scored two more points following the timeout to take a commanding, 16-11, lead. MCC called one more timeout trailing 22-15, but NCMC scored six of the final nine points to take the set, 25-18, and win the match in four sets.

“A lot of it was just our team making dumb errors,” Rowe said. “The setter (Analiese Fredin) liked to tip a lot. I feel like that got us a bit. I feel like they were a team we could beat, but we didn’t.”

MCC struggled when the Timberwolves went on big runs, the Centurions dropped each set when the Timberwolves went on a five-point run or greater on Monday. Youngs chalked that up to momentum — one of the key aspects of the sport.

“You just have to find a way to take the momentum back,” Youngs said. “If they have the momentum, the really big thing is you have to have a really good play to try and take back that energy — whether it’s a great block or great kill.”

Monday’s home match was also the first time since Aug. 25 that the Centurions played a match. Youngs tried to keep the competitive juices flowing with scrimmages in practice over the last two weeks. With conference play already underway, the Centurions are facing a tough test of three league matches in a single week.

Young added the challenge will be nice for the players as they try to learn the college game as a team full of freshmen.

“Each time we get on that court, we look stronger every single time,” Young said. “We just keep building from that and we have to keep growing and we keep playing these tough teams to make us stronger as a program to and hopefully help us grow as a program.

“It’s all different, they’re learning the (college) game,” Youngs continued. “They’re learning the speed. It’s a different speed and a different game altogether. So they’re learning that, they get better every single time they get on that court. It’s not how we start, it’s how we end and we’re just looking forward to just keep growing and building from it.”

The Centurions have their next chance to learn on Wednesday as they take on Kuyper College at 7 p.m. in Grand Rapids.