PORTAGE – The Spartans are heading back to the regional finals for the second year in a row.

Lakeview defeated Caledonia 3-0 in this Division 1 regional semifinal at Portage Northern High School on Tuesday, Nov. 11.

The win allows Lakeview to advance after the Spartans won a regional title last season for the first time in 23 years.

“Some of our seniors, that were on the team last year, they talk about how exciting that ride was and they want that again. And, we talk about, we can’t get there if we don’t play as a team. And they did that tonight,” Lakeview coach Renee Buchholz said.

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Lakeview defeated Caledonia, 25-9, 25-20, 28-26, to advance to the Division 1 regional final at Portage Northern at 6 p.m. Friday. Caledonia ends the season at 24-19-0. Lakeview (39-8-7) will face Byron Center (35-5-2), which swept Mattawan 3-0 in the other half of the regional semifinals on Tuesday.

Last year’s run to the state quarterfinals, which involved success in the regionals, was done by a Lakeview team that was dominated by seniors. Many of those players are gone, so there questions marks surrounding the Spartans this year.

“This is so exciting to be here, to win this,” Buchholz said. “When we started this season, we didn’t know what to expect with this team. So to get here, this is amazing. These girls have fought every step of the way this season. And, I love seeing their hard work pay off.”

Lakeview started fast and jumped on Caledonia 17-6 in the first set, on its way to a dominating 25-9 win. However, the Fighting Scots weren’t going down without a fight. Caledonia scored the first six points of the second set.

“After winning the first set, to go down 6-0 in the second set was a little heartbreaking. But we came back and we fought and we played our game,” Buchholz said.

Lakeview rallied to eventually tie the second set at 14-14. Overall, the Spartans went on a 9-1 run in the middle of the set to lead 17-15 on their way to the 25-20 win.

The final set was close all the way with nine ties, including being knotted up at 26-26. Lakeview came away with the final two points to put the Spartans in the regional finals once again.

Lanie Overbeek led Lakeview with 13 kills and nine digs with Sydney Manning coming up with nine kills and 12 digs. Madeleine Thawnghmung had 32 assists and nine digs with Emerson Manning getting 15 digs.

“This is so exciting,” Lakeview senior Abbigail Taft said. “Doing it last year, I think that has built a lot of confidence in us and given us a lot more energy. We know what a run in the postseason looks like and we want to recreate that.”

Division 2 at Charlotte

Harper Creek saw its season come to an end after falling to Tecumseh 3-0 in a Division 2 regional semifinal at Charlotte on Tuesday. Tecumseh came away with a 25-13, 25-18, 25-15 win to advance to the regional final. No. 6-ranked Tecumseh improves to 54-2 and will play Parma Western in the regional final on Thursday. Harper Creek, which advanced to the state semifinals last year, ends the season at 30-22-1.

Division 3 at Centreville

Bronson defeated Constantine 3-1 in this Division 3 regional semifinal at Centreville. Bronson came away with a 16-25, 25-18, 25-17, 25-15 win over Constantine (27-11-3) as the Vikings improve to 29-17-6 on the season. Bronson will face No. 6-ranked Kalamazoo Christian (27-12-3) in the regional final at 6 p.m. Thursday.

Division 4 at Mendon

St. Philip rolled to a 3-1 win over St. Joseph Michigan Lutheran in a Division 4 regional semifinal at Mendon. The Tigers won 25-20, 25-18, 22-25, 25-23 to improve to 25-14-5 on the season.

St. Philip advances to face host Mendon in the regional finals at 7 p.m. Thursday. Mendon is 35-6-1 and beat St. Philip 3-1 in the only meeting this season.

“It was a hard fought win. We didn’t play our best. Michigan Lutheran really played great. They brought a lot of energy,” St. Philip coach Vicky Groat said. “But, we fought through it and defensively, we stepped up when we need to.

“It was a slugfest and we survived and we move on.”

Bill Broderick can be reached at bbroderi@battlecreekenquirer.com. Follow him on X/Twitter: @billbroderick

This article originally appeared on Battle Creek Enquirer: Battle Creek-area results for high school volleyball in regionals