Lansing Community College volleyball dominates district, reaches NJCAA national championships for first time
Graham Couch
Lansing Community College’s volleyball team is having a meeting Monday to reassess its goals for this season — because the Stars have already achieved what they set out to do.
LCC’s 3-0 win over Edison State on Saturday capped a three-match, 9-0 run through the NJCAA Great Lakes District A, sending the Stars to the Division II National Championships for the first time in program history. LCC will learn its seed and place in the 16-team bracket later this week. Play begins at the national tournament on Nov. 15 at Alliant Energy Powerhouse Arena in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
“(Getting to nationals) that was one of the goals,” said LCC coach Emily Quintero, whose 30-3 team also won the Michigan Community College Athletic Association Western Division. “Well now we can't just be there. What do we want that to look like? So we will reassess it. And I absolutely think we are going to perform there.”
LCC’s team, which is made up entirely of players from the Lansing area, dominated its three district matches at St. Clair County Community College in Port Huron late last week, beating St. Clair County and then Edison State twice, after Edison State worked its way back to the championship match. The lopsided final victory allowed Quintero to play her non-starters to finish the match, which only added to the good vibes.
“That’s actually when they become even more excited and supportive of each other,” Quintero said. “When it hit that final point, they were just beyond excited. They're excited for next steps, excited to put on their District 12-A championship shirts. It was just excitement all over.”
LCC’s Ella Didion, a sophomore from Grand Ledge, was named district tournament MVP. Sophomore Alex Widner, from Mason, and freshman Karsyn Near, from St. Johns, both also made the all-tournament team.
Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @Graham_Couch.