Four Upper Peninsula high school volleyball teams won regional semifinal matches on Tuesday to stay alive in the MHSAA tournaments.
The Forest Park Trojans, the top-ranked team in the U.P., had to fend off a big challenge from the Hancock Bulldogs. The Trojans had to rally to win the first set, 26-24, and then slipped by the Bulldogs in the next two sets, 25-23 and 25-21. Forest Park (40-1-0) has lost just one match all season (to Saginaw Valley Lutheran in August), and lost just one set to a U.P. team (Munising).
Hancock's season ended with a 26-5-2 record.
The Ishpeming Hematites had an easier path, beating the Norway Knights, 25-11, 25-12, and 25-22. The Painesdale-Jeffers Jets also won in straight sets, beating the Manistique Emeralds, 25-13, 25-20, and 25-19. On the east end of the U.P., the Newberry Indians swept the St. Ignace Saints, 25-21, 25-20, and 25-19.
In the regional finals on Thursday, Forest Park will battle Ishpeming at L'Anse High School.
Painesdale-Jeffers will face Traverse City St. Francis Thursday at Newberry High School, and Newberry will face Atlanta at Pellston High School, also Thursday night.
In Division Two, the Upper Peninsula's last team standing, the Kingsford Flivvers, lost a five-set marathon to West Branch Ogemaw Heights. The Flivvers won the first set, 27-25, before the Falcons pulled out a 25-23 win in the second set. Ogemaw Heights took the lead in the match, 25-19, in the third set, but Kingsford stayed alive with a 25-20 win in the fourth set. The match went to a fifth set, and the Falcons won, 15-7, to advance to the regional final. Kingsford finishes its season with a 22-3-0 record.
