The Oxford Wildcat Volleyball team is now tied at second place with Lapeer East in the Flint Metro League after placing second in this past weekend’s first-ever Flint Metro League volleyball tournament.
The event was held Oct. 25 at Fenton High School.
The Wildcats finished at third place overall in the duals portion of the season and was seeded in the tournament against sixth-place Lapeer West at the tournament.
Oxford was out for revenge that day, looking to avenge two of their losses this season to Lapeer East and Fenton. To get that chance, the Wildcats couldn’t look past Lapeer West.
In their first match of the day, Oxford came out throwing punches. Behind junior Danielle Bauman’s four straight aces, Oxford jumped out to a 7-0 lead and never looked back in defeating West in two games 25-20 and 25-22. Senior captain Brittany Moncrieff had 10 kills and nine digs and junior Marissa Manzella had seven kills to help put away the Panthers.
The win secured the Wildcats semifinal appearance and they were then seeded against Lapeer East. Oxford had lost a very close match to East earlier in the season, and the Wildcats wanted nothing more than for a re-match against the Eagles. Both teams fought tooth and nail for each and every point in what would be a victory for Oxford. Behind spot-on passing from Victoria LaFramboise, great defensive plays from Chelsea Kessler and Emily Brooks, and smart hitting decisions and blocking from the front line, Oxford gave the fans quite a show in the back and forth match. Oxford defeated the Eagles 25-22 and 25-23. Moncrieff finished with nine kills, three assists, two aces, and nine digs along with sophomore Casey Novak’s nine digs.
‘We worked on defense the whole week before the tournament, and these girls really showed improvement with their play over the weekend,? said Volleyball Head Coach Kristi McDevitt. ‘As a coach, it is a really great feeling to drill your players in practice the correct way of doing something and then have them carry it over to a match and do well. This group of players had been really struggling with our defensive routes, but they took what we practiced and applied it to this weekend and were victorious.?
The win against East would give Oxford their dream match-up against the undefeated Fenton Tigers. Although the Tigers already had the championship wrapped up due to the point system the league uses, Oxford wanted nothing more than to put a lose on Fenton’s league record. Oxford jumped out early and the Wildcats forced Fenton back on their heels to take the first game 25-19. Oxford continued with the same ferocity in the second game and had a 20-16 lead before two bad passes and a few hitting errors gave Fenton a 22-20 lead. Unable to right the sudden collapse in momentum, Oxford was defeated 21-25 and the Tigers forced a third match to 15 points.
Another loss loomed on the horizon as Oxford started the third match slow and struggled to put points on the board and fell to a 7-0 deficit. A quick timeout was all the Wildcats needed to get back into the game and to close the scoring gap and tie the game 12-12. Fenton won the game 15-13.
‘I was really proud of the girls,? McDevitt said. ‘They knew that even if they beat the Tigers, Fenton would still be league champs, but the girls were driven to make sure they did everything in their power to give them a loss on their perfect league record. I know we are a competitive team, but we hadn’t displayed much of it during the season. We would defeat teams, but there was a sort of lackluster effort put forth in each match. These girls showed me a whole new side of what they are truly capable of and it couldn’t have come at a better time for this varsity squad going into districts next week.?
Novak had a team-high nine digs, Chelsea Kessler had six, and Brittany Moncrieff had eight digs–all stats to reflect Oxford’s tough defense against the Tigers. Moncrieff finished with eight kills and five blocks, Manzella had seven kills and a block, and junior Valerie Anderson had five kills in the match.
The squad now prepares for their District tournament next week. Oxford will play at Waterford Kettering against Waterford Mott in the first round Nov. 3 at 5:30 p.m.