Volleyball: Skyline advances to District final (See WLAA photo gallery)
One South Lyon team down, one to go.
The Skyline volleyball team opened District play with the goal of getting back to the Final Four in Battle Creek. But first things first. And first up was South Lyon in a District opener for both schools on Wednesday night, and the match went about as expected.
The Eagles, state-ranked all season in Division 1, won all three games in convincing fashion to advance to the finals. Skyline will face South Lyon East at 7 p.m. in Friday’s District final at Skyline. South Lyon East swept Dexter 3-0 in the second semifinal game on Wednesday.
The winner of the Skyline District will move onto the Woodhaven Regional and face the winner of the Brighton District at 5 p.m. on Nov. 8.
In the opener, Skyline’s front line was just too tall and too powerful for the gritty Lions, who battled all night long but couldn’t keep up with one of the best teams – and programs – in the state.
“We want to get to Battle Creek,” said junior Kate Maley. “That’s been the goal all season and it hasn’t changed. Tonight was the first step.”
Maley delivered a kill in the opening game to give the home team a 10-8 after South Lyon came out playing hard and playing well. A kill by Amelia Bertrand pushed Skyline’s lead to 13-10.
Senior Harper Murray started a big Skyline run with a block and then an ace to make it 18-13. Maley’s spike and then an ace by Bertrand made it 21-14. A block by Autumn Gorman and a kill by Maley gave Skyline a 25-17 win in the opener.
Game two was more of the same.
Jessica Lee’s ace gave the Eagles an early 3-1 lead. Back-to-back kills by Murray gave the Eagles a 12-6 advantage. An ace from Maley made it 14-6 and Skyline was off and running again.
South Lyon’s Sienna Dailey served up three aces in a row to bring the Lions to within 14-6. But a kill by Bertrand made it 18-11, a kill by Murray made it 22-12 and a kill by Maley finished off the second game at 25-15.
Maley’s spike in game three gave Skyline an 8-3 lead. An ace by Murray made it 9-3, a spike by Gorman made it 13-5 and a block by Maley made it 15-7.
One of the highlight moments in the evening came midway through game three. After South Lyon somehow, someway returned two monster spikes off the powerful right hand of Murray, the senior finally got the point with a perfectly placed tip. An excellent play and tip by Caitlin O’Neill gave Skyline a 22-12 lead.
Murray’s kill made it 25-17 and finished off the night for the Eagles and the season for the Lions.
