LAUNCH PARTY: Surging Salem rallies to upend Canton
Nya Kuhn unleashes a serve Tuesday night during Salem’s four-set win over Canton.
In terms of bounce-back-ability, Salem’s volleyball team registered a perfect 10 over the past week or so.
The resilient Rocks rallied from an opening-set loss to Canton Tuesday night to earn a four-set victory.
The triumph came one week after a heart-breaking five-set loss to perennial power Northville.
“Canton played great defense the first set; we just had to focus on correcting our unforced errors,” said Salem Head Coach Nancy Blaylock, whose team improved to 16-6-1 overall and 3-1 in the highly competitive KLAA West Division.
‘Believing in themselves …’
“The girls started believing in themselves and they did a great job of reducing unforced errors as the match went on.”
Northville currently leads the red-hot KLAA West Division with a 4-0 record. Salem, Novi, Hartland and Brighton are all 3-1.
“We’ve been using that loss against Northville as motivation,” said Blaylock. “Even though we lost in five, I think we showed we’re really good and more competitive this season.
“The girls are all playing for each other as opposed to worrying about what they could do better. They’ve been bringing high energy to every point.”
All-around strength
Along with working on their technical skills, the Rocks have been sharpening their mental approach by doing more mental conditioning and participating in activities like yoga to build their all-around fitness.
Playing on Teacher Appreciation Night, the Cobras looked phenomenal in their 25-17 opening-set win over Salem. Among Canton’s early standouts were seniors Taylor Besco and Lily Swan; and juniors Alexis Steward, Kendall Amick and Alyssa Lardin.
In set two, Salem held a precarious 22-20 lead before pulling away to win, 25-21 thanks to the strong blocking skills of Sasha Nischik and Stella Whirley, and the missile-launching swings of seniors Elizabeth Nordstrom and Tamari Wheatley, and junior Nya Kuhn.
CJ Kiffner and Presley Gardner both displayed their all-around skills set throughout the match.
Rocks don’t lose grip on momentum
The Rocks won the third set, 25-13, with an exclamation point kill by Nordstrom serving as the game-winner.
Salem exploded to a 6-0 lead in set four — a deficit the Cobras wasn’t able to overcome.
Ed Wright can be reached at 734-664-4657 or edwright@socialhousenews.com.
