Trending
MARQUETTE -- Just a few small changes were made by voters in this week's Upper Peninsula high school volleyball polls as voted on by the U.P. Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association.
This is the final week of the regular season with MHSAA district tournaments beginning in the state's four divisions on Monday.
For this week, two area teams remain No. 3 in their respective Divisions 1-3 and Division 4 rankings, with another pair also receiving votes as they're in the "others receiving votes" purgatory.
Negaunee (19-13-1) held its spot in the middle of the Divisions 1-3 rankings at No. 3. The Miners didn't play a match last week, having had one at Gladstone on Tuesday.
Likewise, Baraga (24-1) held onto No. 3 in Division 4 after winning twice last week, defeating both Ironwood and Bessemer in three sets.
Back in D 1-3, Gwinn (15-11-3) continued to receive votes, two voting points this time, to miss fifth-place Jeffers by a single point. The Modeltowners played just one match last week, defeating Iron Mountain in three sets.
And in D4, Newberry (19-8-4) fell from No. 5 to the "others" list after splitting a pair of four-set home matches last week, losing to St. Ignace and defeating Pickford.
Kingsford (22-3) remained the unanimous No. 1 choice in Divisions 1-3, chalking up three-set wins over Escanaba and Marquette last week.
Calumet (20-11-1), which had been No. 1 throughout all the weeks of polling until last week, stayed No. 2 after a tough five-set victory over Houghton and a three-set triumph over Jeffers.
Houghton (11-8) didn't take a hit for that loss that was played at the Copper Kings' gym, also taking a three-set loss to Division 4 top-ranked Hancock.
Jeffers (11-7) moved back into the top five at No. 5 with a pair of abbreviated best-of-3 wins over Lake Linden-Hubbell and Calumet Copper Island Academy, while also losing to Calumet in a regular dual.
Norway (17-9-2) had been No. 5 but tumbled right out of the voting completely after a four-set loss to West Iron County and three-set win over Carney-Nadeau.
In Division 4, Hancock (27-2-1) maintained its unanimous top billing after beating LL-H and Houghton in three sets.
Forest Park (33-4-1) is just as unanimous at No. 2 after downing WIC and North Dickinson in three sets each.
LL-H (14-6) held onto No. 4 with a win over Copper Island Academy and losses to Jeffers and Hancock, with Cedarville-DeTour (25-4-5) moving into the rankings at No. 5 after beating both Engadine and Rudyard in three sets.
The regular season concludes Thursday with five matches involving area teams -- Superior Central at Munising, Copper Island Academy at Marquette, Ontonagon at L'Anse, Baraga at Ewen-Trout Creek, and Manistique at Escanaba.
Many area teams open districts on Monday, while some wait until Tuesday or Wednesday.
On Monday, Marquette hosts Alpena in Division 1, while Negaunee travels to Gladstone in Division 2.
In Division 3 that day, Gwinn plays at Westwood, while in Division 4, Superior Central hosts Mid Peninsula while L'Anse travels the short distance to Baraga.
On Tuesday, Newberry goes to Pickford for a Division 3 district.
For teams opening their district play on Wednesday, Manistique hosts Bark River-Harris in Division 3, while in Division 4, Ishpeming is at home to take on Monday's winner between SC and Mid Pen, the same for Munising hosting either Big Bay de Noc or Rapid River.
Story contents based on an email received from the U.P. Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee's email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.