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The Montcalm Community College Centurions made quick work of the Great Lakes Christian College Crusaders, sweeping them 3-0 in a best-of-five series Friday evening, Oct. 18, which was Alumni Day and Family Night, sponsored by the MCC Foundation.

MCC (3-7 MCCAA, 8-16 overall) won three consecutive sets, 25-16, 25-18 and 25-10 over Great Lakes Christian (7-15 overall) during the non-conference game, a stark improvement from the Centurions’ first match-up with the Crusaders in Lansing on Sept. 25, when MCC lost 3-1.

“I think we played really well tonight,” said freshman libero Jaden Gomez, who finished the game with nine digs and three service aces. “We made sure to talk a lot out there and we just supported each other the whole time and we got it done when it mattered.”

Perhaps motivated by a close 3-1 loss to Muskegon Community College the previous night, where MCC failed to secure a win despite leading late in the multiple sets, the Centurions didn’t allow the Crusaders to even sniff a possible set win Friday evening.

In the first set, GLC managed to hold a lead at first, as Crusaders senior Cheyenne Lytle nailed a kill right in the middle of MCC’s defense to put them up 7-5. But the Centurions quickly came back as freshman middle blocker Katelyn Bignall (Belding), who had a big night – leading MCC with 11 kills on the night – hit a shot along the sideline to score the next point, and sophomore outside hitter Piper Groesser (Portland) earned a kill off an assist from sophomore setter Tiana Whitacre (Sheridan) to tie the game.

The teams went back and forth the next few points, tying at 13-13, when MCC finally began taking over the set. After a GLC serve in net gave the Centurions the lead, MCC’s offense began to cook, getting great set-ups for kills and not giving up on challenging volleys. Bignall gave MCC its biggest lead of the set – 18-14 – with another kill, which was set up by a diving save from freshman libero Jaden Gomez.

MCC finished off GLC from there, outscoring them 6-2 to win the first set, 25-16.

In the second set, MCC held the lead all but twice, with the Crusaders taking their first lead at 12-11 and again at 16-15, both on self-inflicted mistakes by MCC, however, the Centurions took the lead for good when Great Lakes hit the ball into the ceiling twice, with the second one being unretrievable.

That seemingly gave the Centurions the necessary momentum, which they established a three-point lead when Bignall made back-to-back tips over the net, the second one finding open floor in the middle of the Crusaders’ defense, giving MCC a 19-16 lead.

Great Lakes suffered self-inflicted wounds the rest of the way, each one resulting in a point for MCC, which won the set, 25-18, on an out-of-bounds hit by Great Lakes.

Set three saw the Centurions’ most dominant play on the night.

After GLC managed to open a 5-1 lead, the Centurions got back on track with the help of back-to-back service aces by Gomez, a powerful kill by sophomore middle blocker Maia Sexton (Sidney) and a block by sophomore middle blocker Kelsey Antcliff (Greenville) that deflected off a Crusaders defender and went out of bounds, which tied the game at 6-6.

MCC went on to outscore GLC 19-4 to finish out the series, making impressive extended plays along the way, including two kills and two service aces by Groesser.

Centurions Head Coach Kara Youngs seeing her second-year program start to make the next step in progress, to which now they have a chance to qualify for postseason play in the NJCAA DII Region XII District A Tournament. Teams who finish first through third automatically secure a spot in the tournament. Grand Rapids Community College, North Central Michigan College, and Muskegon Community College have secured their spots. If MCC can finish fourth, they can qualify for a play in game where they would play the 4th place seed from the MCCAA Western Conference, on Wednesday, November 6, for the opportunity to play in the NJCAA DII Region XII District A Tournament that takes place November 7-9. Delta College is DIII and is removed from the standings when looking at qualifications for the NJCAA DII Region XII District A Tournament.*

“I think there’s a lot more trust out there and a lot more confidence in ourselves,” Youngs said. “Confidence is the big thing. They’ve been playing so well together that it’s just working for us. They’re doing well working off of each other.”

MCC is one game ahead of Bay College in the Northern Division standings and two games behind fourth-place Delta Community College.

The Centurions will travel to Reeths-Puffer High School to compete in Jayhawk Invitational Sunday, Oct. 20, playing two games, vs. Southwest Michigan and Kalamazoo Valley Community College.

From there, MCC has two regular season games, on the road at North Central Michigan Friday, Oct. 25, and at home vs. Delta at 1 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 26.

Youngs said the Centurions team she saw in September, when it lost to Great Lakes Christian, is a completely different team now.

“I tell them we keep rising. We’re a different team than we were in September when we were still trying to figure things out and now, I think they’re a whole different team, as far as energy, motivation, they’re just figuring it out as a team,” Youngs said. “For us to keep going, I’m telling them they are competing and competing with the better teams around. I think their confidence has grown to where they’re saying, ‘OK, we can win,’ and I think that’s the big thing, them knowing what they’re capable of doing.”

Along with her team-leading 11 kills, Bignall recorded only one hitting error and finished with an impressive 0.556% successful hitting percentage.

Whitacre finished with 25 assists and Groesser had four service aces and nine kills.

* Editor’s note: Because MCC is in the second of a two-year probationary period through the MCCAA, Montcalm Community College cannot qualify for the MCCAA State Championship. However, they are eligible to participate in the NJCAA DII Region XII District A Tournament, as the NJCAA requires only a one-year probationary period.