SOUTH LYON TAKEOVER: Cougars, Lions to meet for district title
South Lyon East’s Brooke Scheuher (15) combines with a teammate for a successful double block against Northville.
There’s a lot to dig about high school volleyball in South Lyon these days.
State-ranked South Lyon East (No. 5 in Division 1) and South Lyon High School (which earned D1 honorable mention status) will meet in Thursday’s 6 p.m. MHSAA District 23 championship match at Northville High School after both teams earned convincing semifinal victories Wednesday night.
The Cougars sidelined defending Division 1 state champion Northville, 3-1, while the Lions roared to a 3-0 sweep of Salem in the night’s first match.
Thursday’s battle will arguably be the biggest volleyball encounter between the two rivals since East opened in 2007.
(Watch video of East’s Avery Stepp slamming home a kill by clicking here.)
Intensity level will be high
“It’s going to be pretty intense (Thursday night),” said South Lyon libero Lauren Chanko. “Both schools get pretty competitive in all sports, so there will be a lot of spirit from both schools. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a sellout.”
Chanko’s assessment of Thursday night’s expected intensity level between the rivals was spot on, agreed East junior libero Addison Stepp, who has committed to playing collegiate volleyball for the University of Alabama.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun,” assured Chanko. “We’re missing Lexi (Coleman), but if we play like we did tonight, we’ll be right in it.”
Coleman is a sensational 6-foot freshman outside hitter who will be absent from the Cougars’ line-up while she competes for the United States’ U17 national team in Costa Rica.
Northville wasn’t about to see its state title defense end without putting up a valiant fight.
(Watch South Lyon’s Teagan Wesner launch a non-returnable kill by clicking here.)
Stepp’n up
The first set against East was deadlocked at 12-all before the Cougars pulled away late thanks to efficient offense, brilliant point-extending digs by Stepp, and a few uncharacteristic self-inflicted errors by the Mustangs, who misfired on three serves down the stretch.
The Mustangs built an 11-6 lead in set two before East stormed back to knot the game at 11-11 on a Brooke Scheuher block. With the scored even at 23-all, East capitalized on two consecutive Mustangs miscues — one hitting, one passing — to claim a 25-23 victory in set two.
Undaunted, Northville led throughout set three, ultimately earning a 25-18 victory.
(Watch East and Northville’s liberos extend a point with great digs by clicking here.)
East locked up the district title match berth by pulling away from a set three 13-13 deadlock to win, 25-20, on a Scheuher kill.
Depth was key
Ava Kiernan led the Cougars in kills, but she had plenty of help, emphasized East Head Coach Larry Wyatt.
“It was a really balanced attack tonight,” said Wyatt. “It was a total team effort. Addison had some huge digs.”
How does Stepp turn what look like sure-fire kills into jaw-dropping, point-extending digs.
“I make it a point to go after every ball, no matter what,” the future Crimson Tide player said. “I always play like every game is my last one ever.”
Rocks battled hard
Salem gave South Lyon everything it could handle early on Wednesday night, shrugging off a 1-0 deficit in set one with a 6-0 run.
The Lions regrouped and ran off 13 straight points on their way to winning set one, 25-16.
Fueled by emphatic kills from Teagan Wesner and Julia Kavaliauskas, the Lions led 16-11 mid-way through set two. The resilient Rocks never quit, however, rallying to within 19-18 on a Tamari Wheatley kill.
The Lions countered quickly with a kill from Kate Sulkowski, which helped South Lyon escape with a 25-22 triumph.
Salem led 4-1 in the third stanza, but the Lions came back to complete the sweep, 25-15.
A lot to like in Lions
Asked what she likes best about the 2025 Lions, South Lyon Head Coach Deena Maher mentioned multiple attributes.
“Everybody knows their roles and they show up to every practice ready to work hard,” Maher said. “They’re extremely open to learning. That, combined with their work ethic, makes it easy for me to coach them.
“Salem has a good team. They’d get a run going, but we’d put a ball down and get the momentum back. I thought we played well in unstable moments when we scrambled before getting a kill.”
It’s not surprising the two South Lyon teams are enjoying stellar seasons, Maher added.
“There’s a great volleyball culture in South Lyon, and there is a great club team within the city (Dynamite) which helps,” Maher said. “The girls fall in love with it at a young age and go from there.”
When asked if her team is good at playing in huge matches on back-to-back nights, Maher smiled.
“We’d better be,” she said.
Ed Wright can be reached at 734-664-4657 or edwright@socialhousenews.com.
