Manistee Volleyball Makes Epic Comeback to Beat Frankfort in Five Sets

Frankfort Volleyball Team Faces Tough Challenge from Manistee

Frankfort's volleyball team found themselves in a tight situation against Manistee, leading two sets to none and holding a 24-21 advantage in the third set. However, the Mariners made a strong comeback, winning three consecutive sets to take the match in five.

"We talked about that in the huddle, we have to be able to close out these games," said Frankfort head coach Becky Miller. "We have to be able to finish close games and come out on top. I think we just ran out of gas. And credit to Manistee, they picked up their game in those last couple of sets."

Manistee, now with a record of 16-13, defeated Frankfort, which is 15-17-2, with a final score of 22-25, 27-29, 28-26, 25-22, 15-11.

"We started out today a little tired because we just were at the quad in Scottville and that was a challenge for us," said Manistee head coach Dana Wayward. "We played a lot of volleyball over there and playing back-to-back is always tiring ... Once these girls realize that working together as a team, they're unstoppable, that's pretty much when things start clicking together."

The first set saw Manistee take an early lead of 9-4 before Frankfort fought back with aces from Ava Meyer, Lily Wolfe, and Alice Luther. The Panthers took a 22-14 lead, but Manistee clawed its way back, scoring eight unanswered points, including three aces from Lindsey Gardner.

The Mariners tied the set at 22-22 before Frankfort closed it out with three final points. In the second set, an ace from Madalyn Wayward gave Manistee a 3-1 lead, while two aces from Ella Sweeney helped the Panthers climb ahead 7-3.

Leading 17-10, the Panthers got another ace from Wolfe to extend their lead to 18-10. Manistee went on a run in the middle of the set, scoring 11 unanswered points with Harlie Onstott serving to take a 21-18 lead. An ace from Luther tied the set at 21-21 before Wayward tied it at 23-23.

After a back-and-forth battle, a Manistee service error put Frankfort ahead 28-27. The Panthers closed out the set 29-27.

In the third set, Frankfort's Ella Sweeney secured two aces to help the team take a 6-4 lead. Manistee took a 7-6 lead before Frankfort's Ella Newbold put the Panthers ahead 9-7.

Manistee's Wayward notched three straight aces to tie the set at 15-15. Leading 17-15, Sweeney added an ace to put the team ahead 18-15. Trailing 19-16, Manistee's Natalie Mannon picked up three straight aces to tie the set.

A Manistee service error gave Frankfort a 24-21 lead, but Annabelle Kieszkowski picked up an ace to tie the set at 24-24. An ace from Onstott put Manistee ahead 26-25, but Frankfort tied the set. The Mariners stayed alive in the match with a 28-26 third set win.

"My seniors, we played hard, everybody played, everybody got in," said Miller. "We gave it our best effort, but just didn't come up on the winning side today."

Manistee took a 20-13 lead in the fourth set behind two aces each from Gardner and Onstott as the team won 25-22. When the Mariners are clicking, Wayward said there's a tell-tale sign of the team on a roll.

"They enjoy playing volleyball," Wayward said. "That's really been our motto for the last half of the year is that the first ball's ours, we're going to talk loud and we're going to play with joy ... Once they realize that they're here to have fun, everything starts going well for us."

In the tiebreaker set, Frankfort started out with a 2-0 lead behind an ace from Luther. Manistee led 8-5, climbing ahead 10-7. An ace from Frankfort's Meyer made it a 10-8 game before the Panthers tied the set. Manistee then scored five of the final six points to complete the comeback over Frankfort.

Manistee's Recent Changes and Adjustments

Manistee has now won four of their last five matches heading into district play. Over the last few weeks, the team has added new lineups due to injuries.

"The last two weeks, our main middle, Maya Goodspeed has been out and she is a huge presence for us," said Wayward. "Replacing her these last couple of weeks has been a hard thing but a really good thing for our team because I've always told them that we're all here for a reason. We all know how to play volleyball and I think that we've proved that we can step in and fill spots."

With a few injuries over the season, the Mariners have added some contributors from junior varsity.

"Natalie Mannon, we brought her up when we had our two other girls out," said Wayward. "I took a little inspiration from the Nebraska coach and was brave in some rotation changes and put (Mannon) in a middle position that she had not been playing and gave her a role and she has stepped into those big shoes. I couldn't be prouder of her."

Manistee will host Mason County Central for the District 69 first round at 6 p.m. Nov. 3.

"We're going down for a pre-district scrimmage on Saturday down to Montague," said Wayward. " ... We're going to work on a lot of block and tip coverage."

Frankfort Honors Seniors Before Match

Before the match, the Panthers honored their five seniors: Newbold, Meyer, Olivia Johnson, Leah McRae, and Jaidyn Joslin.

"Ella, she's a captain and she's taken a huge leadership role," said Miller. "She plays all the way around. You can tell that she's a lot of the heartbeat of our team and leads by example and also her vocal leadership which is great."

"Ava Meyer on the outside, she had a couple of goals today and she hit all those goals, which was really great," continued Miller.

Joslin is the team's libero.

"She played her heart out," said Miller. "We switched our defense a little bit to try and see (if) we could curb a little bit of their tipping and hitting and that played a big role. Same line with Liv in the back row and Leah was in the back row then she was in the front row ... All of them have a lot of heart and I think they showed that tonight."

The Panthers will take on Bear Lake in the District 106 first round at 5 p.m. Nov. 3. The winner will take on Onekama in the district semifinal.

District 106 is hosted by Bear Lake.

"Last time we played Bear Lake, they played us really tough," said Miller. "Obviously the (regular season) game against Onekama, we did not play well and we have grown a ton since then ... Bear Lake's going to give us a run for our money, I'm really hoping that we pass that first game and then they all want their shot at Onekama and they all want a shot at Suttons Bay. We have the opportunity to shine and to do things right and be really competitive from the start."