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Volleyball: Nordics sweep Forest Park

Trojans’ Simmons limited by injury during warmups

Forest Park’s Elle Soderberg, center, and Cassie Divine, right, attempt to block as North Dickinson’s Skye Ledzian hits the ball on Thursday, Oct. 18, 2018, in Felch, Mich. (Adam Niemi/Iron Mountain Daily News)

FELCH — Perhaps Thursday’s biggest moment came in pre-game warmups.

Forest Park’s Mercedes Simmons suffered an apparent knee injury at the net during warmup drills. A big presence for the Trojans at the net this season at 6-foot-1, Simmons found limited playing time in Forest Park’s 3-0 loss to North Dickinson.

The Nordics took advantage of Simmons’ absence, lofting tips over the net and into open space in the middle of the Forest Park floor.

North Dickinson swept the night by scores of 25-12, 25-15 and 25-19.

“It completely changes our whole defense because she has a big block,” Forest Park head coach Ana Cornelia said of Simmons. “Girls know if they’re cheating up on the block or pulling back. Same thing with her hitting. It changes our whole set.

“Normally we have that big block and she doesn’t allow those tips to go down in the middle. We were playing back on our heels but with the circumstances I thought we played fairly well.”

Simmons’ absence wasn’t the only reason North Dickinson rolled to the win.

The Nordics grabbed and held onto momentum through each set with 100 percent serving. Briana Smith served 25 of 25 for the Nordics. Samantha Borvan racked up 18 kills and Grace Mattson had 25 assists.

“If your serving isn’t good, you’re giving them points that they don’t even have to play the ball,” North Dickinson head coach Sandy Haustein said. “You get four girls serving a hundred percent, more than likely you’re going to win the match. When you’re not serving the ball over, those are points they’re not earning. You’re giving it to them. You want them to be able to bump, set and hit at us and earn points instead of giving them free points.”

Forest Park found more rhythm in the third set by getting off to a 4-1 lead. The Nordics came back around to tie at 14-all. The Trojans held within three points of the lead until North Dickinson pulled away late.

In the second set, North Dickinson was up 11-7 before the Trojans went on a run to make it 12-11. The Nordics called a timeout and then came out on a 10-2 run.

Haustein said the Nordics were strong with their serve receive throughout the night.

“Another thing tonight was our passing. I thought our serve-receive was really good,” Haustein said. “I don’t think we hardly shanked any serve-receives. We were able to get hits off our serve receive which is really good. A lot of times in a game, if you don’t get a good serve receive and you’re giving points, that’s what kills you.

“Unfortunately one of their better players went down at the beginning. She’s a really good player for them. You hate to see that, but I think she’ll be OK. I hope she’s OK anyway.”

Simmons tied for a team-high six blocks with Elle Soderberg. Caitlyn Bloomburg and Destiny Ferrara had two aces apiece. Elaina Perry and Simmons each had four kills.

“We had to do some lineup switches,” Cornelia said. “I’m just proud of the girls the way they played in different spots and the way they adjusted tonight. Obviously losing isn’t our favorite thing. We’re just looking ahead to districts and keeping everybody healthy.”

Cornelia said she didn’t see what led to Simmons’ injury.

“I think she just had a collision at the net,” she said. “I don’t know what happened exactly. She just wasn’t a hundred percent.”

Forest Park visits Kingsford on Tuesday while North Dickinson hosts Bark River-Harris.

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