COLOMA — There was no letdown for the No. 5-ranked Buchanan volleyball team as the Bucks defeated Vicksburg 3-0 to win their first regional championship in 25 years Thursday night.

The Bucks (48-6) were coming off an emotional 3-1 win over Battle Creek Harper Creek, the team that had eliminated Buchanan each of the previous three years.

“It’s been 25 years since Buchanan won a regional, so it feels pretty awesome,” said Buchanan coach Lisa Holok. “Everything has fallen into place the last couple of weeks. It feels like this is just the way it’s supposed to be. Winning a regional title was a huge goal for this particular group. Almost all of them put that down as one of their goals before the season.”

Buchanan will now take on No. 9-ranked Grant in the Class B state quarterfinals at Hudsonville Unity Christian at 7 p.m. Tuesday. The winner advances to the state semifinal in Battle Creek Thursday.

“We said from the beginning that this group can do anything as long as everybody does their job and plays together as a team,” Holok said. “I wasn’t concerned about a letdown tonight. Beating Harper Creek was a big goal, but that wasn’t the big picture. That was a piece along the way. The big picture is the state title at the end. That’s the elusive dream for everybody and it’s no different for this team.”

Vicksburg, which upset Wolverine Conference champion Plainwell in the regional semifinals, keep each set close early, but could not sustain the moment.

Buchanan would us long spans of consecutive points to turn the match in its favor each time.

In the first set it was runs of 8-1 and 9-2 that did in the Bulldogs. In the second set those runs were 6-1 and 7-, while in the final set they were 5-0 and 4-0.

“It was clear that we matched up strong against them tonight,” Holak said. “We knew coming in that they would try to pick us apart in different ways and try to catch us undisciplined in certain spots. But we were ready for that and just played our game.”

For seven Buchanan seniors, Thursday night’s championship was four years in the making.

“We wanted a huge in going into quarterfinals,” Buchanan’s Alex Tobler, who had 17 kills on the night, said. “This is the first time in 25 years, so we really wanted it.”

Tobler said that the team was excited to finally beat Harper Creek, but knew it could not let down against Vicksburg.

“Harper Creek to us was the biggest thing because they had been ending our season the last three years,” she said. “This time, we hit our peak and beat them, but we knew we could not fall down the hill. We had to keep going. This was not it. Harper Creek was not our championship match. We had to keep going. It has been four long years for our seven seniors.”

All-Stater Franki Strefling, who missed seven weeks with a high ankle sprain, was equally excited to finally win a regional championship.

“This year we had so much more control,” Strefling said. “We are a way more solid team mentally than we have been the past three years. This is the first time in 25 years we have won the regional title so this is huge for us.

“Tuesday we knew was going to be like a regional title game for us, but we knew what was at stake — going to the elite eight. We did not think we were just going to come in here and walk all over Vicksburg. They are a good defensive team. We had to stay strong mentally.”

Strefling finished with 18 kills and 24 digs. Tobler added 17 digs to her totals, while Liz Kuntz had six kills and two blocks, while Britta Mollberg finished with 41 assists and 10 digs.

 

BUCHANAN 3, VICKSBURG 0

At Coloma

Match results

Buchanan d. Vicksburg 25-14,25-15, 25-16.

 

Individual statistics

Franki Strefling 24 digs 18 kills 3 aces

Alex Tobler 17 kills 2 aces 17 digs

Liz Kuntz 1 dig 6 kills 2 blocks

Andrea Bair 3 kills

Megan Adkerson 5 kills 1 dig

Taylor Reed 7 digs

Taylor Strauss 8 digs 1 ace

Britta Mollberg 10 digs 41 assists

Varsity record: Buchanan 48-6.