Okemos gets by St. Johns
Lansing State Journal
November 05, 2009 06:03 AM

ST. JOHNS - Kristen Hull had 11 kills and 25 digs as Okemos beat St. Johns in the first round of districts, defeating the Redwings in four games Monday.

"The first match, regardless who you are playing, is really, really difficult. If you lose your finished," Okemos coach Jamie Ianni said. "The pressure's on, particularly for the seniors, they don't want their season to end...If you loose your finished and St. Johns has always been a really tough opponent. They play really well."

St. Johns won the first game 25-12. Okemos came back to win the next three 25-12, 25-16 and 25-19.

As was the case for much of the season, the Chieftains were playing without their star player senior Carly Edwards. Edwards was on the sideline cheering her team, pulling out her crutches to walk to the other end of the court. Edwards, who has a full-ride scholarship to Villanova, is recovering from knee surgery.

"Obviously we missed her a lot... She was our leading blocker and attacker," Ianni said. "To pull a kid like that off the team and still continue to win says a lot about the kids and the program."

Mackenzie Lawler added three aces for the Chieftains (28-12-2), who advance to play Everett on Wednesday at 5 p.m. in a district semifinal at St. Johns. Lindsay Stockwell recorded four blocks and Kelly Maxwell added 38 assists in the win.

Nicole Motz finished with 27 assists and an ace for the Redwings (16-28-3). Nicol Parker added nine kills, while Alyssa Guarnaccia contributed 20 digs and Mary Lewis added an ace.

- Bill McLeod

Class C at Albion

Autumn Barratt had 12 kills and five blocks for Leslie in the four game loss to Homer (25-15, 25-21, 21-25, 25-20).