Berkley Volleyball Swept In District Finals

SOUTHFIELD – The varsity volleyball team had a hole in its defense that couldn’t be filled.

Playing in the district finals on Friday night without its starting librero Karsyn Baker, the Bears struggled to slow down Southfield in a three set 25-20, 25-0 and 25-19 loss. 

The librero is a volleyball team’s defensive specialist. Baker played the position all season, but the senior is a multi-sport athlete being recruited to play hockey at Division 1 schools.

Baker had a hockey showcase over the weekend and missed the finals.

“The girls were very understanding,” assistant head coach Liz Primeau said. “They were trying their hardest to do it without her.”

In a pivotal second set, it was clear how much Berkley missed Baker’s presence. Southfield senior Jade Ware scored 25 consecutive points on her serve to shut Berkley out in the second set.

“It’s really hard, especially with volleyball, it’s such a team sport so to go from playing in one rotation throughout the whole season to all of a sudden throwing people where they haven’t played before. It’s a lot of change,” Primeau said. “It’s a lot of change, and it’s just really hard to overcome.”

In the first and third set, the Bears kept things more competitive. Berkley (8-6) cut Southfield’s led in the third set to four points twice – 21-17 and 23-19 – late in the game.

The Blue Jays closed out the game by preventing the Bears from scoring more than two-straight points in the finals set.

“Considering we threw their whole world upside down, they did excellent,” Primeau said. “Fully stacked with our different rotation, it could’ve been different.”

The loss prevented Berkley from capturing its first district title since 2008. For Southfield, it continued a run of five-straight district titles.

“This is very sweet for me,” Southfield head coach Dana Cooper. “This is my first year coaching here as the head coach. I wanted it, the girls wanted it and we set this as a goal before the season.” 

Despite the loss, Berkley head coach Annie Stransky called the reaching district finals this year one of the “highlights of the season.”