Sports
Durand ousted; Chesaning moves on to district finals
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Friday, November 6, 2009 9:40 AM EST
OVID-ELSIE - Saginaw Swan Valley and Chesaning will collide for a Class B district volleyball championship tonight at 6 p.m.
Both captured district semifinal victories in four games at Ovid-Elsie High School.
Durand and Corunna were not as fortunate Wednesday night as both saw their seasons come to an end.
Swan Valley ousted Durand 25-23, 13-25, 25-15, 27-25 while Chesaning sidelined the Cavaliers 25-21, 25-17, 16-25, 25-21.
The Vikings improved to 33-15-4 .
Durand held a 22-17 lead in game one only to see Swan Valley rally for a 25-23 win. The Railroaders fought back to decisively win game two, 25-13 but Swan Valley won the next two games.
Durand, the Genesee Area Conference Red Division runner-up, was led by Meghan Drobish, with 48 digs. Brooke Hitchings had 15 kills and two blocks and Crystal Borrow had 14 kills. Rachael Karhoff served 22-for-22 with two aces. Kristen Long had 22 assists.
“It hurts right now,” said Durand coach Brent Maynor. “Swan Valley is a good team. We didn't do a good job on serve receive.”
Swan Valley featured Natalie Ziel's 15 kills and 31 digs and Paige Wegner's 11 kills.
“They were digging up everything we hit,” said Swan Valley coach Sarah Ball. “Balls that normally go down were not hitting the floor ... But we have seven seniors and we've had great leadership this year.”
In the nightcap, Chesaning sidelined Corunna as Sabrina Aguilar totaled 30 digs, six kills, four aces and six assists.
“We did a great job covering the floor,” said Chesaning coach Pam Wesley.
Chesaning was also supported by Natascha Pickering, with 32 digs and four assists, and Chazsi Beckman, with three kills. Kali Gross had 24 digs.
“If we play the way we did tonight, I think we'll be in good shape,” said Aguilar while looking ahead to tonight's district championship match.
Corunna's Caitlan Herron had 11 blocks while teammate Megan Birchmeier delivered 22 kills and 23 digs from her outside hitter position. Cheyenne Kersjes contributed 20 digs and Brittney Johnson had four aces for the Cavaliers. Allyson Smith had 22 assists.
Corunna fell to 11-25-6.
“Our seniors didn't want their season to end tonight, they sort of carried us,” said Corunna coach Nicole Norris.