EAST JORDAN ― During the final month of the regular season, the Johannesburg-Lewiston volleyball team had to get used to playing (and winning) matches into the final set. They used a five-set victory over East Jordan on October 14 as well as a victory in extra points to defeat Inland Lakes on October 28 to finish tied for second in the final Ski Valley Conference standings and head into the postseason with plenty of experience in close matches.
That experience sure came in handy once the Cardinals saw their route to a district title.
It took two more five-set matches with East Jordan and Inland Lakes in the district semifinals and finals, respectively, but JL eventually pulled off the 3-2 win over the Bulldogs on Thursday, Nov. 6 (25-21, 25-18, 18-25, 23-25, 15-7) en route to the program’s first district title since 2020.
“It hit game five and we were like, ‘Okay, it’s go time. It’s now or never,'” said coach Kristine Peppin. “Fortunately, they were able to do that successfully.”
JoBurg took control early, but had to fight through some tough calls going against them and a nosebleed that sidelined their star junior Mady Peppin while Inland Lakes took the lead. Still, JL was able to regain control, finishing the set with a four-point victory. They rode that momentum to a dominant set two victory, at one poinjt leading by 10 points before putting away the 25-18 victory and putting themselves on a win away from the first sweep of the district.
Then, Inland Lakes found some life.
The Bulldogs took control of the next two sets, using a clutch effort from Chloe Robinson to rattle off back-to-back set wins and force a decisive final set, the fourth of five games in the district to use the max amount of sets.
“The sets we lost, it was the hesitation, the scared play. Even though we were in control, they were still playing nervous,” said coach Peppin.
Those nerves carried over into the fifth set as IL jumped out to a 5-0 lead, putting the Bulldogs just 10 points from completing a three-set comeback victory. However, it was JoBurg senior Jaeden Briley who finally put a stop to things; she took over serving and helped JL bounce back from a five-point deficit all the way to a five-point lead by the time her serves were up.
“Jaeden’s been clutch serving multiple times this season,” said coach Peppin. “She’s given us big runs, so her stepping back on that line, I knew she could do it.”
It concludes a five-year district-less streak for the Cards, their last title coming in 2020. While conituously fielding teams among the best of the best in the Ski Valley, this Division 3 district had been especially tough on the Cardinals over the past few seasons, making the finals four of the past five seasons. This year, coach Peppin knew she had a team that could potentially get over that hump.
The whole team, super proud of everything they’ve done, and it’s been a real pleasure to coach this group. I’m so happy it’s culminating in a district for them,” said Peppin. “We were finalists for four years after 2020, and it’s just been slipping through our fingers. It’s really nice to turn that on its head and bring that trophy back to JL.”
Of course, the road doesn’t get any easier from here as they advance to the D3 regional semifinals in Charlevoix. They’ll take on No. 8 Traverse City St. Francis in the semifinals, hoping to pull an upset of one of the best teams in D3.
“That is a serious, serious level of play that is going to require going to a whole other level,” sadi Peppin. “you never know, though. Crazy things happen.”
Contact GHT Sports Editor Dylan Jespersen at Djespersen@gaylordheraldtimes.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @dylanjespersen, and Instagram, @dylanjespersen
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Johannesburg-Lewiston volleyball wins first district title since 2020
