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March 19, 2006Comets capture crownDown 2-0, Leland rallies to beat St. Philip for titleKALAMAZOO - Where there's a will, there's a state title.Down two games to defending state champion Battle Creek St. Philip, Leland roared back to win the final three in record-setting fashion and capture the Class D volleyball championship on Saturday. The 21-25, 20-25, 25-19, 25-23, 15-9 triumph gives the Comets their fourth state title. "Oh my gosh, it's insane," said senior outside hitter Alisha Glass, who shattered the state record for kills in a championship match with 48. "Mind over matter, baby," added Leland senior right-side hitter Daina Parent. "This is what we've trained for all year. This is ours." It just took a while for Leland (67-4) to win the championship for the first time since 2002. "It was a great way to end the season," said Leland coach Laurie Glass, whose team broke the school record for wins with the championship. In both of the first two games, the Tigers (64-8-1) took early three-point leads and maintained that edge throughout. But the 2-0 deficit seemed to loosen up the Comets a little bit. "My sister, Megan, played on the 2002 championship team," junior setter Whitney Grant said. "She walked by and said, 'Go have the best time of your life because this is the last time to play with these girls.' "I truly had the best time of my life. I was smiling the whole time." Leland would soon have a lot on the scoreboard to smile about when senior Jennifer Hecht reeled off back-to-back kills to give Leland a 13-11 lead and force St. Philip into just its second timeout of the match. Then with Leland clinging to a 18-17 advantage, it was Glass' turn to take charge. She gave the Comets a sideout with a kill and then reeled off three straight to put the Comets up 22-17. Leland finished off the third game with a Glass kill and the tide was turning. "We saw Bedford and East Kentwood go into five games (in the Class A semifinals on Thursday) and you never expect it," Hecht said. "We were down 2-0 and then we just said, 'We have the will to do this.' " "It was scary," Alisha Glass said of falling behind 2-0. "You start to think what if this happens ... We just decided - we flat out decided - we were going to win the third game and that it was going all five. "Even in the third game, when we were back on the side we started on, I went back to serve and it was like the first time we led the whole time. It was so exciting. The crowd went crazy and I was like, 'We can do this.' " That's exactly what the Comets did. Laurie Glass said she didn't have a doubt about the outcome, even though she would have preferred a nice, easy three-game sweep. "But I never thought about what I could say to my kids if it didn't go well," Laurie Glass said. "When you have four seniors like I do, they're not going to give up without playing their best. "I knew they had their best in them and they gave it." After St. Philip took a late 18-17 lead in the fourth game, Glass tied the contest with a cross hit for a kill. She then had three more kills with teammate Erin Sneed serving - the final two on crosses that the Tigers couldn't stop. Anna Lau followed with a block of an overpass and Leland was up 22-18 and on its way to a final game. In the decisive fifth game, Hecht opened with a serving ace. Hecht had made six serving errors prior to that crucial ace. "I just let it go," she said. "You learn to let things go." With the Tigers clinging to a 4-3 advantage, Glass shot a ball to the deep left corner to tie the game. Glass then reeled off five straight points on her serve. Two of those points came on aces, two more on back-row kills from Glass and the fifth on a passing error as the Tigers tried to dig up a Hecht hit. It was all over from there except for the celebrating. Glass' 48 kills were 18 better than the former state record. She also tied the record for service aces in a final with 5. She wasn't the only record-setter for the Comets. Grant also had a record 57 assists, eight better than the previous mark. "The first two games we were kind of slow, not getting our rhythm," Grant said. "In the third game Alisha and I started to connect. I was just finding her." In addition to Glass' big offensive day, Hecht added 15 kills and Lau 4. Leland also turned in a stellar defensive effort. Glass led the Comets with 27 digs while Hecht added 22, several against St. Philip standout Allyson Doyle. "Her digs were the deal breaker," Laurie Glass said of Hecht. "She made three huge digs when Battle Creek tried to make a run at us. Her digs were studly, there were no other words for it." Doyle finished with 20 kills for the Tigers while Kristin Zull added 11. St. Philip had four players with double-digit digs, led by Doyle's 19. Of course a lot of that was dealing with Leland's 185 attacks, including a staggering 97 by Glass alone. "Alisha took over," St. Philip coach Vicky Groat said. "They jumped on her back and she drove them to the title. "Jennifer Hecht was back there passing balls when Allyson was hitting. "She was great, Alisha was awesome."
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