To view the photos, click on “Photo slideshow” in the top right corner of this article. The photos are also available for purchase by clicking the “Buy photo reprints” link.

Photos by Brent Riley

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The humanitarian campaign was a great success, as was the Chargers match against visiting Saginaw Heritage as Dow came away with a 25-12, 25-22, 17-25, 25-23 win over the visiting Hawks, while the junior varsity and freshman teams experienced success, as well.

To view the photos, click on “Photo slideshow” in the top right corner of this article. The photos are also available for purchase by clicking the “Buy photo reprints” link.

Photos by Cory Butzin

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The Girls Fall Championship Series Basketball Tournament #5 will take place on October 19th at Hangtime Sports. This event is open to U12 thru U18 girl’s teams and is a great way to prepare for the upcoming school season. Cost to enter is $200 per team.

Youth Enhanced Sports is offering volleyball instruction for 4th, 5th & 6th graders. This clinic will take place on Thursdays from 6:00-7:30. Instruction dates are October 30th, November 6th, 13th & 20th. The cost is $60 per player.

The Hangtime Volleyball Club will be hosting an informational meeting for girls and boys ages eight to 18 interested in playing on HTVBC teams. The meeting will take place on November 14th at 6:00pm at Hangtime Sports. Whether you have played with us before or not, this is a great way to get your questions about the season and teams answered. The Hangtime Volleyball Club will be offering two travel team options this year. The Hangtime Volleyball Club Regional teams will compete at Hangtime, additional events in Michigan and surrounding states. The Hangtime Volleyball Club State teams will compete mostly at Hangtime Events and will also travel to additional events in Michigan.

If you don’t have school on October 17 and you are in 2nd to 5th grade, you will want to be at No School Today Camp at Hangtime Sports! Youth Enhanced Sports will be offering a full day camp from 8:00am to 4:30pm (includes lunch). Come spend the day playing basketball, volleyball, soccer, paddleton and much more. The cost is $50 for the first camper and $36 for each additional camper in your group.

You can register for any of the above events at www.YouthEnhancedSports.org. If you have any questions, you can contact Steve, Bob, or Kelly at 989-633-4667.

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Beginning Thursday, MidlandSports customers can get 30 percent off their photo orders by using coupon code 617300. The sale expires Christmas day.

To use the code, select all the photos and enhancements you wish to purchase. When you are ready to check out, you should see a Shopping Cart page that displays the thumbnails of the photos and their cost. On this page, below the subtotal, you should see a field that says, “If you have a coupon or gift certificate code, enter it here.” Type the code 617300 into that field and click “Redeem.” (Note: It is important that you select all your photos first and that you click “Redeem.”) When the code activates, you should see a field that pops up above the subtotal field that says “Coupon: ‘617300’” and shows how much was saved. From there, you can continue with your order.

To begin shopping, visit our Photo Reprint Galleries page.

At this time, MidlandSports would also like to thank all those who have visited and supported us as we continue to grow and provide coverage. We could not do it without you.

If you have any questions regarding the photo sale or anything else related to MidlandSports, contact Editor Jason Wolverton at jason@midlandsports.com.

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The Chemics are now 8-0 in league play after outplaying and overpowering the Trojans. And while head coach Tim Zerull says he is always pleased to pick up a win, he showed some concern that a lack of competition from an opponent might mean a drop off in play from his team.

“It’s hard to play a team that doesn’t provide you with a normal volleyball process,” Zerull said. “We’re just used to certain things happening and when those things don’t happen the way they’re anticipated, there’s sort of a drop off on our side of the net.”

Junior Lindsey Dulude led the way for the Chemics with 18 kills and three aces on the night. Amy Langhorst chipped in with eight kills and an ace of her own.

Dulude also contributed on the defensive side with two blocks, while Liana Chew added two digs.

Tuesday’s win sets up a huge league matchup Thursday as Midland faces off against undefeated Bay City Central in a match Zerull says will require his team to play at a high level.

“We’re going to have to keep the errors to a minimum and force Bay City to make some of their own,” he said. “We have to keep our fundamentals in check because that’s what is going to carry us.”

Thursday’s game begins at 6 p.m.

Junior Chemics roll

The Midland High junior varsity volleyball team made quick work of Saginaw High Tuesday night, defeating the visiting Trojans in two games, 25-3 and 25-4.

The Chemics got out to huge leads in both games as the Trojans were overmatched most of the evening.

Randi Cain led the offense with 12 aces and one block, while Emily Jerome added three kills. Emma Zainea and Kathryn Wieber had three aces apiece.

The Chemics will be in action again Thursday when they host Bay City Central at 6 p.m. The junior varsity Chemics will wrap up their season a week later when they travel to Saginaw to take on Heritage Oct. 25.

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Just three days after Midland defeated Dow in the championship game of the Dow Invitational, the Chemics came out firing on all cylinders. Coming into the match with a 14-1 record, Midland easily dispatched the Chargers 25-12 in the first game.

But Dow fought right back in the second game, keeping the score close and eventually winning the set 25-23.

“I think we had to refocus on our serve and put the serve in play,” said Chemics’ coach Tim Zerull. “We just needed to settle down and make consistent things happen on our side. I thought we were in a hurry to do things. We rushed our attack. You make those mistakes and all of a sudden Dow is in the match.”

Dow stayed in the match for the rest of the evening, racking up points and maintaining a close score. In the end, though, the Chemics’ offense overpowered the Chargers and Midland High walked away with a hard-fought victory.

“I think we were trying too hard in a way,” Zerull said. “I give Dow credit. They were digging everything we hit at them and keeping balls alive. Give them credit for coming back after the first game.”

Lindsey Dulude had 26 kills, six service aces, three block kills, and three digs for the Chemics, while Amy Langhorst had six kills, seven service aces, and three digs.

For the Chargers, Shannon Hellebuyck had six kills, four blocks, and 18 digs. Taryn McGrew had six kills and six blocks, while Ericka Bobalek added five kills and 12 blocks. Kaity McGrew had 19 assists and seven digs in the match.

The Chargers drop to 10-6 but hope to turn things around Saturday at the Williamston Invitational. Meanwhile, the Chemics will head to Arthur Hill Thursday for a league match against the Lumberjacks.

JV Chargers roll

The Midland Dow junior varsity volleyball team defeated the Midland High Chemics Tuesday, winning 25-9 and 25-11.

The Chargers dominated play from the onset, allowing only 20 points in the match. Things looked rough right away for the Chemics, and only got worse as the night progressed.

The Chargers took the first set easily, and used that momentum to put away Midland High with a second straight set victory.

“You never know what to expect when it’s Midland High and Dow,” said Dow co-head coach Jim Parker. “Tonight we received their serve and their attack real well, and we passed the ball extremely well.”

Erika Lee had five kills and 11 service points for Dow. Jaclyn Thornton had six kills, and Kristin Mills added another six kills. Alyssa Rodammer had 17 service points and Jamie Sanderson had 18 assists in the match.

Parker also credits Kayla Striker for helping push the team past the Chemics.

“There’s not a lot of stats to show for it, but every loose ball she managed to get to,” he said.

Up next, the Chargers will participate in the Fenton JV invitational at 9 a.m. on Saturday, while the Chemics head to Arthur Hill Thursday. Game time is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.

For more photos from Tuesday’s game, click on “Photo Slideshow” in the top right corner of this article.

Photos by Adam Baudoux

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“I’m glad to get the first Valley win out of the way,” said coach Kristin Eddy after the match. “We started a little rocky against Bay City Central (last week), but we bounced back and came hard against Saginaw High.”

The outcome of the match was in doubt for only a brief time to begin the evening as the Chargers and Trojans traded points to begin play. But Dow turned it on down the stretch in the first set to win 25-9, and the overmatched Trojans never really threatened again.

“Our coverage was excellent tonight,” Eddy said. “We didn’t let a lot of balls drop. We went after the big hit every single time, and we played very smart.”

Shannon Hellebuyck had seven kills, two blocks, and two digs on the evening, while Ericka Bobalek had five blocks and seven kills. Taryn McGrew had six kills, Ashley Yuill had five service points and four digs, and Amanda Sheskey had 11 service points and four digs. Kaity McGrew had 21 assists.

“It was a total team effort,” Eddy said. “I’m pleased to see everyone come together and work for the same goal.”

The win moves the Chargers’ record to 6-4 overall and 1-1 in the Saginaw Valley League. The team will return to action Saturday when they host the Dow Invitational, set to begin at 9 a.m.

JV Chargers dominate

The Midland Dow junior varsity volleyball team took care of business Thursday, winning big in straight sets against visiting Saginaw High, 25-2 and 25-2.

Five days after taking the 20-team Mitten Bay Classic at Bay City Central, the Chargers remained sharp. Dow dominated play early and often, allowing coaches Jim and Michele Parker to get some big play from some of their players off the bench.

“The first thing is that we got a chance to play all of our players, which is very important to keep the moral up,” Jim Parker said. “The second thing is we got a chance to practice our serving to spots and the girls did a nice job of that.”

One of the players who got a chance to work on her serving was Kayla Striker, who recorded 19 service points on the evening. Sam Lanvit added 12 service points of her own, while Shelby Thompson had seven and Jamie Sanderson had six. Kristin Mills had two kills.

“They came ready to play,” Michele Parker said. “They were prepared enough from practice that it didn’t matter who we played today. They were ready to play.”

The Chargers are now 11-2-1 on the season, with their only losses coming to North Branch and Bay City Central. They will play again this weekend when they will see action in Saturday’s Dow Invitational.

“They are a great group of girls to work with,” Michele Parker said. “They’re fun to coach and they’re having a really good season so far.”

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The Chemics opened the night against Hemlock, dropping the first set to the Huskies 15-25 before taking the second set 25-20. Hemlock would then take the final set 13-15 to close out the match.

Midland bounced right back, though, defeating host Heritage 25-14 in the opening set of the next match before losing a pair of close sets, 23-25 and 14-16 to fall to 0-2.

But Midland would come back strong in their final match, blowing out Alma 25-9 and 25-13 for their first win of the season.

Leading the Chemics were Robin Wontorcik with 13 aces, Kaylee LeVasseur with 3 digs, and Katie Hahn with 8 kills and 2 blocks.

The freshman Chemics will be in action again Sept. 18 when they host rival Midland Dow. The match is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.

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MidlandSports.com has big plans for this season including coverage of more games, plus video, audio, and tons of photos. As a quick reminder, the photos seen on MidlandSports.com can be purchased by clicking on the “Photos” link on the navigation bar or by clicking the “Buy this photo” button on the photos inside each story. You may also click on the “Buy photo reprints” link at the top right corner of our articles to access all the photos for sale from that game.

I also wanted to take a moment to thank the many who have supported us and to encourage you all to keep passing the word about our site. We aim to grow MidlandSports with each passing day and that job is made much easier with the help of local residents, parents, players, and coaches like you.

In other news, we’ve formed an exciting partnership with the booster clubs at both Midland and Dow High Schools. You may access information about each club using the “Boosters” link on the navigation bar. We believe these organizations do a great service to this community, and thus we will donate 30 percent of the advertising revenue MidlandSports generates back to the clubs. We hope this provides us with an opportunity to give back to the community that has given so much to us and that it will also encourage more residents and businesses to get involved with our site.

Finally, I beg your patience as MidlandSports grows into the site we want it to be. We wish we could cover every game for every sport at every school but that is understandably not feasible. Instead, we will do the best we can to provide a balance of games and sports at every level so that every team gets some presence on our site throughout the year. And as always, we welcome your assistance, feedback, and suggestions. We want MidlandSports to be a site the entire community embraces and would love to hear from you.

As always, take care.

Jason Wolverton
Editor
MidlandSports.com & MidlandOnline.com

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