Whitehall coach Ted Edsall hit a personal milestone Saturday at the West Michigan Conference Lakes tournament, winning his 1,000th career match as a head coach.
Edsall is the 16th coach in Michigan to hit four digits in wins. He has coached almost continuously since 1991, first leading his alma mater, Reeths-Puffer, for six seasons before coming to Whitehall and taking over the job in 1998.
It was a great day to hit that mark for Edsall, because it was part of one of the Vikings' best days of the season. Whitehall finished third in the league tournament, earning a 3-1 record. The Vikings defeated Oakridge in the first round of the tournament (25-16, 25-21) before falling to the top seed, Fremont, in the semifinals (25-15, 25-17). Whitehall's win over Orchard View in consolation play (25-8, 25-20) was the milestone win, and win number 1,001 was even better, as the Vikings topped Oakridge for a second time in the third-place match, 25-21, 25-18.
"You can't plan on having that accomplishment, because you never know if you're going to win or not," Edsall said. "That's not how volleyball works. We needed a couple wins, and we hadn't been playing really well. We played a couple really good matches after losing to Fremont. It's fun to do it when everyone is contributing."
Sidney Shepherd had a big day for the Vikes, with team highs in aces (seven), kills (27) and assists (45). Bella Fogus added 25 kills.
Shepherd is a player who represents Edsall's Whitehall tenure coming full circle. Her mom, Stacy, was on Edsall's first Vikings team, and the Shepherds have been something of a constant at Whitehall ever since, whether a family member is on the roster or not.
"Every match I've been at Whitehall, they've kind of been involved," Edsall said.
On defense, Aaliyah Jamison racked up 40 digs. Delaney Kramer had eight blocks at the net.
Certainly Edsall's milestone is a testament to his longevity, but he also credited a strong community support for the game that's led to a steady Whitehall program. He noted that while some teams he's coached have been better than other ones, every Vikings squad has been, at least, competitive.
"That has a lot to do with the community," Edsall said. "I've had some good assistants, JV coaches and kids who wanted to be good at volleyball."
There's also a sense of the past greats connecting with the current ones. It's notable that Jenna Pider, who joined the Vikings' coaching staff this year, was on Whitehall's last final four team in 2012 (she was Jenna Pesch then). Edsall half-joked that no one on his current team knows those Viking players, but Pider's being around does create a sense of history for Edsall and his team.
Whitehall will head into the district with a tall task in front of it. If the Vikings dispatch Orchard View in the first round as they did in the regular season, a matchup with top seed Fruitport awaits. The Vikes saw Fruitport in the GMAA meet and know how good the Trojans are.
"We played great this last weekend, so if we play at that level we can be competitive with just about anybody," Edsall said. "The best doesn't always win on paper. We have several practices now to prepare, and hopefully we'll play our best volleyball next week."
It was a less successful day for Montague, which settled for fifth place in the tournament after taking second in the regular season standings. The Wildcats opened play with an easy win over Orchard View (25-7, 25-11) but took a tough defeat to the No. 3 seed, Ludington, in the semifinals (14-25, 25-16, 15-9).
"We really didn't expect Ludington to come back in that second set, and
that took the wind out of our sails, and it was
just a spiral downhill," Montague coach Gretchen Schneider said. "After that, we just couldn't recover."
To make matters worse, Montague dropped a match to Oakridge in the consolation bracket (25-17, 26-24) before salvaging a bright spot by beating Orchard View again in the fifth-place match, 25-16, 26-24.
Jordan Netcott led the Montague defense with 56 digs, and Reagan Cederquist had eight blocks. Offensively, Jaelyn Sundberg passed out 51 assists, and Emalee McGee had 22 kills. Maizie Collins and Ava Pumford added 17 each. Gentry Knop served nine aces, and Collins had eight.
