Photos by Scott DeCamp | CatchMark
STANTON — Prior to Thursday night, Fremont’s run through the Division 2 state volleyball tournament featured nothing but down-to-the-wire, five-set thrillers.
The Packers ran into an entirely different challenge against a talented and tough Grand Rapids West Catholic squad in the regional finals.
West Catholic swept Fremont, 25-16, 25-12, 25-10, at Central Montcalm High School en route to the Falcons’ second straight regional championship.
Fremont wraps up a very strong season with a 39-14-1 record and second consecutive district title after the program had not won one in a dozen years.
West Catholic (34-9-6) advances to Tuesday’s 7 p.m. state quarterfinal at Fremont, where the Falcons will face Ludington (42-10-2), a four-set regional final winner over a feisty Kingsford team.
Here are more details and notables from the Fremont-West Catholic match:
- Fremont junior Mia Clemence finished with six kills.
- Fremont sophomore Brynna Barnhart had three kills and six assists.
- Fremont senior Lily VandenBerg notched five assists.
- Fremont senior Baylah Parker had 12 digs and one ace.
- Fremont senior Kendall Barnhart totaled 11 digs and one ace.
- Fremont freshman Taylor DeKuiper had three kills and one block.
- Fremont senior Taylor Waite added a block.
- West Catholic senior Emma Tuttle finished with nine kills and seven digs.
- West Catholic senior Brooke Tietz had eight kills.
- West Catholic junior Lana Cowen totaled seven kills and two blocks.
- West Catholic junior Amelia Gagnon notched 20 digs and five aces.
- West Catholic junior Alivia Mott had 10 assists, eight digs, and five aces.
- West Catholic junior Emma Arsulowicz recorded 16 assists and two aces.
- West Catholic senior Grace Steiner had three aces.
- Fremont had won three straight five-set thrillers over Whitehall, Oakridge, and Spring Lake, respectively, prior to Thursday’s match vs. West Catholic.
- West Catholic heads back to the state quarterfinals for a second straight year. Last season, the Falcons fell to eventual state runner-up Cadillac in four sets. That same Cadillac squad beat Ludington in a five-set thriller in district play.
