From staff reports

Edwardsburg and St. Joseph will square off  tonight for the Class B District volleyball championship at Dowagiac Union High School.

The Eddies (23-18-8) advanced to the finals by defeating Buchanan 3-1 on Monday night and Lakeshore 3-1 on Tuesday night.

The Bears (38-12-2) reached the title match with a 3-0 win over Berrien Springs (26-21-4) on Tuesday night. St. Joseph received a first round bye.

Lakeshore…1

Edwardsburg…3

A pair of Emilys helped Edwardsburg eliminate Lakeshore from the Class B Volleyball District Tuesday night at Dowagiac High School.

Senior Emily Kozinski k’oed 15 kills and Emily Getz accumulated 38 assists to lead their team to a 18-25, 25-20, 25-21 and 25-17 victory.

Lakeshore looked like the team to beat in the beginning as Edwardsburg coach Sarah Benjamin needed to call timeouts with an 11-8 deficit in the first two games.

Junior Makenzi Harrison and senior Jillian Buckleitner each had a nice string of serves for the Lady Lancers late in the first set triumph.

Changing the momentum and a 17-14 deficit in the second game for Edwardsburg were the serves of sophomore Andrea LaPlace with seven straight points with help from classmate Nikki Brady (also with 15 kills) and Kozinski.

Getz started the third game with three serving points and Kozinski followed with a trifecta to make the score 10-5 and the valiant Lancer girls could not come back from behind. Getz finished the 23-21 score with a pair of nice serves for the victors.

Lakeshore jumped out to an early 5-1 advantage in the final game, but Edwardsburg freshman Madison Hatkevich quickly erased the lead with four serving points and 8-6 would be the closest the contest would be to the end.

Finishing her campaign with a stellar effort for Lakeshore was Christina Welch with 12 kills, 15 assists, two blocks and 14 digs with classmates Lauren Chorny (10 kills, 3 blocks, 4 digs) and Sam Coskie (18 digs) also lancering positive results.

“St. Joe is a good competitive team that we lost to earlier this year, but if we stick together more than we did earlier against them we could win,” explained Kozinski, who at the moment is planning on playing collegiate basketball at nearby Holy Cross. “I would like to continue with volleyball in college if the opportunity presents itself.”

Edwardsburg statistics

Emily Kozinski 15 kills, 18 digs, 1 ace

Ally McIntee 24 digs, 4 aces

Andrea LaPlace 5 kills, 2 blocks 3 aces

Paige Mueller 26 digs, 1 ace

Emily Getz 4 kills, 16 digs, 38 assists

Nikki Brady 17 kills

Berrien Springs…0

St. Joseph…3

The Bears are the defending district champion and if Tuesday night’s 25-13, 25-17 and 25-15 victory over the Shamrocks is any indication, they are not ready to give up the crown just yet.

St. Joseph statistics

Tyler Bookout 12 kills, 1 ace, 5 digs

Kathryn Snyder 7 kills, 1 assist, 4 aces, 6 digs

Katie Mavis 30 assists, 2 aces, 7 digs

Sam Helsley 6 kills, 3 aces, 9 digs, 2 blocks

Ellen Oppenheim 7 kills, 3 aces, 1 block

Paige Colvin 1 kill, 2 digs