ALLEGAN — Two schools separated by eight miles will travel to Allegan to compete for the Class B regional championship Thursday night.

The No. 4-ranked Niles Vikings will face Edwardsburg for a spot in Tuesday’s state quarterfinals in East Lansing Tuesday.

The Vikings (40-8-4) advanced to the regional championship match for the first time in school history with a 25-13, 25-22 and 25-21 victory over Hamilton at Allegan High School Tuesday night.

The Eddies (38-7) reached the title match with a 25-12, 25-22 and 25-13 victory over Wayland Union.

The finals are scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday.

Edwardsburg is playing in its first regional championship match since 1992, last reached the regionals in 2007 under the direction of Sarah Strefling, who returned to the Eddies’ bench this season.

Edwardsburg was eliminated by Hamilton in the regional semifinals 3-0.

Niles vs. Hamilton

Niles senior Bella Rasler was not about to let her team get off to a slow start in their first regional appearance.

Rasler pounded the Hawkeyes for 14 kills in the opening set to deliver a message to both her teammates and their opponent.

After winning the first set rather easily 25-13, Niles led 19-9 before Hamilton finally seemed to settle down and tried to put the pressure on the Vikings.

Despite a Hawkeyes’ rally that cut the Niles lead to 23-21, Hamilton was unable to pull even with Vikings and dropped the second seat 25-23.

The final set was close throughout, but there was a sense of calm on the Niles side of the net that kept the Vikings from getting rattled in completing the sweep.

“We knew this would be a new challenge and a new environment,” Niles coach Jenny Nate said. “This team was really an unknown for us. On the little bit of film that we saw we knew they were big at the net and they had a decent block.

“We came out on fire. Bella came out and had 14 kills in that first set and really set the tone and that always gives our team confidence. I think both teams had the jitters and they missed some serves that helped widen the gap and give us some momentum.”

Rasler would finish the night with 34 kills, 17 digs and three blocks, while Taylor Bailey had three blocks and Abbie Harpenau two. Harpaneau also had a team-high six blocks.

Carly Barton had 31 assists and added three blocks, a kill, six points and a pair of aces.

Trystin Schlutt led the Vikings with 10 points and three aces.

Nate said with Hamilton just down the road from Allegan, she knew her team would face a challenge with the crowd favoring the Hawkeyes.

“Their entire student section filled an entire section of the bleachers,” she said. “It was the same at South Haven where we had to make sure we controlled the runs so that the crowd did not take over because the energy does have something to do with it.

“We needed stay in control so that we could keep that energy and maintain it. They are pretty confident in each other. They pick each other up. They stay composed. That has been our biggest thing in the postseason. Our composure and our energy and that we trust each other.”

Edwardsburg vs. Wayland Union

The Eddies were led by their powerful front line once again as Audrey Bellina and Skye Leach both finished with 11 kills and a combined three blocks.

Hailee Hebard and Jocelyn Hack finished with five and four kills respectively.

Defensively, Edwardsburg was led by Bellina’s 11 digs, while Kylee Mee had 10 digs and Leach eight.

Setter Claire Alby finished with 27 assists and seven digs.

“I would have liked to see a little bit more intensity,” Edwardsburg coach Sarah Strefling said. “I think it is hard when you see a new team because you do not know what to expect. I would have liked to have seen a little bit more energy on our side. Hopefully that will come on Thursday because we are going to need it.”

Strefling, who returned to coaching the Eddies this season, added that sometimes when a team does not have a lot of power hitters it throws the timing off.

“We saw film on them and sometimes it is difficult to tell how good a team is because you may not trust it,” she said. “They did not seem super strong offensively, but sometimes that works against you because you see more deep balls when you are expecting more straight down balls that your defense is expecting. 

“You get tooled a lot more because your block is a little bit early. I saw a little bit of that tonight. Our block was a little weak because we were early.”