Volleyball Opens Season by Winning Olivet Invite
Cover Photo from Stockbridge Volleyball
With seven returning players and a new coach, people didn’t know what to expect with the 2019 Stockbridge varsity volleyball team.
After one weekend, the Panthers have peoples heads turning as they won the Olivet Invitational to start off the season for new coach Amy Knepley.
Knepley may be new to the Panthers this season, but she is not new to the area as she coached for the Panthers volleyball from 2000-2011. She stepped down when her daughter Sami graduated after a strong volleyball career for the Panthers.
New volleyball coach Amy Knepley talks to the team during practice. She coached the Panthers from 2000-2011 and returns to the sideline in 2019.
“I know Lakewood is a state power and they are the one to shoot for in the GLAC. We have a talented and experienced team and I would like to think that we could shoot for them. Other than that I really don’t know much about the rest of the conference.”
You can bet the conference now has its eyes on the Panthers after bringing home the hardware from GLAC rival Olivet’s home tournament.
The Panthers didn’t start the strongest in pool play, splitting all three matches against Eaton Rapids, Springport, and Constantine. The three splits were good enough to move the Panthers on to bracket play with a second-place finish in the pool.
Stockbridge got stronger in bracket play as they defeated Owosso 25-19, 25-12 in the quarterfinals.
They would move on to face undefeated and top seed Decatur in the semifinals and took the first game 27-25 in exciting fashion. The momentum carried over to the second set as the dominated Decatur 25-14 to move on to the finals.
The championship game was a rematch with Springport. The teams had split their game in pool play and the finals were just as exciting.
Both sets were close and hard-fought by both teams, but the Panthers came out on top in both winning 25-23, 25-23 to win the title.
Junior Grace Hall was a force at the net leading the Panthers with 43 kills on the day. She was also strong on the defensive side with a team high 18 digs.
Senior Kaylie Sheperd led the team with 44 service points and added 20 kills, and 14 digs, while Breanna Salyer added 24 points. Maddy Mazuca led the team in assists with 66.
“With the talent we have, I think we can turn the program around and this was an exciting way to start the season,” Knepley said.
The Panthers have four returning seniors in Shepard, Salyer, Sylvia Whitt, and Tyler Showerman.
Hall, Mazuca, and Molly Nichols are retuning juniors, while Carissa Heinzman is a first-year junior and two sophomores moved up to varsity in Brooklyn Rochow and Gwen Rogozinski.
With this talented group and the fast start at Olivet, it looks like the 2019 season could be an exciting one for the team.
