The First Time-10/30

For the first time this season the Macomb Lady Monarchs were overmatched.  In the first round of MCCAA Tournament Macomb collided with a strong Muskegon team. The result of the game was Macomb being swept in three sets by a score of 25-22, 25-14 and 25-20.  All is not lost; the Lady Monarchs are back in action this Friday, November 6th against Oakland CC in the opening round of the District E Tournament.  Macomb is playing for a position in the NJCAA Tournament and a District Championship.   

Bound for postseason play-10/27

Wrapping up the regular season last night, the Macomb Lady Monarchs stretched their winning streak to six against Henry Ford CC.  Macomb won in three sets by a score of 25-17, 25-8 and 25-12.  In the last week, Macomb has faced some tough competition and ending the season on a 6-0 win streak is impressive.  The veterans of the team have been omnipresent and they continue to lead the team in each statistical category.  Stephanie Pietrzak led the team with kills with 11 with a hitting percentage of .600, 2 aces and 6 digs.  Christina Seward continues to flex her athletic expertise registering 24 assists with 5 aces, 2 blocks and 6 digs.  Filling up the stat sheet was none other than Katelyn Cosio recording 8 kills with a hitting percentage of .800, 2 aces, 2 blocks and 4 digs.  Rounding out Macomb’s impressive play was Brianna Giordano compiling 12 digs.  Macomb heads into the postseason with a record of 31-5 overall and 12-2 in the conference.

“The intensity of our practices has increased, which has followed through to our games.  We follow through with every play and aren’t afraid to play aggressive and that has really helped us pull some wins!”-Stephanie Pietrzak

Ending with a win-10/24

Concluding their weekend road trip and playing their fourth game in three days the Lady Monarchs traveled to Delta College and came out victorious.  Macomb won in three by a score of 25-21, 25-16 and 25-19.  The usual suspects of Jessica Rombach and Stephanie Pietrzak provided an assault on the opposition.  Rombach led the way with 7 kills with a hitting percentage of .875, 3 aces and 2 blocks while Pietrzak recorded 6 kills with a hitting percentage of .556, 4 aces and 2 digs.  Freshman Dana Szymkowicz added 5 kills with a hitting percentage of .400 and 2 blocks.  Macomb is 30-5 overall and 11-2 in the conference.  Macomb concludes their regular season Tuesday, October 27th against Henry Ford CC at 7pm. 

At the top of the Map-10/23

Opening Macomb’s weekend road trip was a double-header against Alpena.  Traveling to the tip of the mitten, the Lady Monarchs didn’t disappoint as they flexed their athletic prowess against the Alpena Lady Lumberjacks.  Macomb won both games easily 25-13, 25-14 and 25-15.  The second game wasn’t even close with a score of 25-9, 25-8, 25-16.  Danielle Meyer had an excellent two game spurt.  Meyer’s combined stats for the two games were 13 kills with a hitting percentage of .765, 3 aces, 6 blocks and 5 digs.  Jessica Rombach was equally impressive recording 15 kills with a hitting percentage of .625, 5 aces, 3 blocks and 3 digs for both games.  Adding damage in one game was Stephanie Pietrzak and Samantha Jones.  Pietrzak continues to play at a high level in her sophomore season adding 10 kills with a hitting percentage of .563, 3 aces and 2 blocks while freshman Samantha Jones played well registering 6 kills with a hitting percentage of .556, 2 blocks and 3 digs.  Macomb improved their record to 29-5 overall and 10-2 in the conference. 

Game On-10/22

Macomb clashed with a conference foe.  Macomb won in three sets 25-22, 25-23, and 25-17 against Schoolcraft College.  Coming from behind in the last two matches showed true grit and determination to capture the win.  Top performers were none other than Katelyn Cosio recording 7 kills with a hitting percentage of .375 and 1 block and Stephanie Pietrzak compiling 10 kills with a hitting percentage of .286 and 4 aces.  Adding to Macomb’s victory was Brianna Giordano with 13 digs, Christina Seward with 29 Assists and Jessica Rombach registering 9 kills with a hitting percentage of .222 and 2 blocks.  The Lady Monarchs improved to 27-5 overall and 8-2 in their conference.

Dig Pink Breast Cancer Awareness Match-10/20

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and to honor all that have been affected by breast cancer, last night’s match was the Dig Pink Breast Cancer Awareness Match!  In front of a sellout crowd, the 10th ranked Macomb Lady Monarchs battled against the Oakland Lady Raiders as both teams in pre-game warm-ups gave salutes to someone close to them that has dealt with breast cancer.  Dressed in pink, Macomb avenged one of their two conference losses by beating Oakland in four.  The scores of the matches were 25-22, 25-13, 15-25 and 25-20.  The middle matches were lopsided but the first and the last match proved that both teams are a force to be reckoned with!  The most entertaining of all was the last match as Macomb was down some six points during the match and rallied to win the game.  Turning in dominating performances was freshman Danielle Meyer with 6 kills with a hitting percentage of .750, 7 blocks and 3 aces.  Sophomores Jessica Rombach and Katelyn Cosio were equally menacing around the net.  Rombach registered 5 kills with a hitting percentage of .563 and 2 blocks and Cosio recorded 9 kills with a hitting percentage of .500, 2 aces and 2 blocks.  Macomb improves to 26-5 overall and 7-2 in the conference.  Macomb will battle with Schoolcraft on October 22nd at 7pm in the Sports & Expo Center. 

Return to Form-10/15

The 10th ranked Lady Monarchs found themselves in a trap game against Mott CC.  It would’ve been easy to overlook Mott CC and look ahead to Oakland CC for revenge for an earlier season loss.  But holding true to form, Macomb handled their business and won in three.  The scores of the matches were 25-16, 25-15 and 25-18.  With the win Macomb improves to 25-5 overall and 6-2 in the conference, but more importantly they have clinched a district tournament berth.  Macomb will play the Oakland Lady Raiders on Tuesday, October 20th at 7:00pm at Macomb.  The game against Oakland is Macomb's contribution Breast Cancer Awareness Month!  So come dressed in pink attire to support Macomb and the survivors of breast cancer!     

Crucial Loss-10/13

The 10th ranked Macomb Lady Monarchs returned to action October 13th as they traveled to Port Huron to battle their conference nemesis the St. Clair Lady Skippers.  After a week off and riding a wave of an undefeated week, Macomb dropped a goose egg and loss the game in four matches.  The outcomes of the games were 25-21, 15-25, 18-25 and 23-25.  With the loss Macomb’s record fell to 24-5 overall and 5-2 in the conference.  This was a crucial loss for Macomb because they fell to second place in the MCCAA Eastern Conference behind St. Clair as they are trying to capture the number one seed for post season play!  Katelyn Cosio registerd 10 kills with 1 ace and 3 blocks, Jessica Rombach recorded 7 kills with a hitting percentage of .429 and Jaimie Brynaert compiled 14 kills, 2 aces and 2 blocks.  The Lady Monarchs are back in action Thursday, October 15th at 7:00pm against Mott CC in Flint, MI. 

After a surprising loss to a conference foe, the Macomb Lady Monarchs Volleyball team responded with an undefeated week going 6-0 last week.  They played well and defeated Schoolcraft and Mott in conference play.   But the impressive wins were this past weekend at the Kalamazoo Valley Invitational.  Macomb swept the 10th ranked Kalamazoo Valley, Vincennes, Kellogg and the 16th ranked McHenry.  Macomb was led by the impressive play of the tremendous trio of sophomores Stephanie Pietrzak and Katelyn Cosio and freshman Jaimie Brynaert.  For the week, Pietrzak compiled 69 Kills, 27 Digs, 22 Aces, Cosio recorded 56 Kills, 28 Digs, 18 Blocks and Brynaet registered 59 Kills, 42 Digs for the week.  With such impressive wins Macomb earned the ranking of 10th in NJCAA poll and improved their record to 24-4 overall and 5-1 in the conference.  Macomb plays at St. Clair CC on Tuesday Oct. 13th!

ATTENTION

The scheduled volleyball contest against Delta College on October 8th has been moved to Saturday, October 24, 2009, at 1pm.  The game will be played on the campus of Delta College in Saginaw, MI.

KVCC Invitational-10/2

This past weekend was another exciting weekend of volleyball at Kalamazoo Valley  Community College. The Macomb Lady Monarchs competed against four teams and came away victorious in each game with a 4-0 record.  Macomb continues to improve as they defeated Kalamazoo Valley in five matches 26-28, 25-17, 27-25, 25-15 and 15-9.  Macomb had no time to rest as they were back on the court against Vincennes College and Macomb won in four 25-15, 26-28, 25-17 and 28-26.  The Lady Monarchs then took care of Kellogg in three sets 25-23, 25-14 and 25-18.  Rounding out the undefeated weekend Macomb clashed with McHenry College in a nail biting game.  Macomb dug deep and won 20-25, 19-25, 25-23, 25-18 and 15-10.  Macomb improves to 24-4 overall and will take a few days off as they prepare to face Delta College on the 8th of October.   

Tune up-10/1

Macomb completely dominated Henry Ford , winning in three matches by a score of 25-13, 25-11 and 25-12.  Top performances were turned in by the engine of the team, sophomores Stephanie Pietrzak and Jessica Rombach. They orchestrated eloquent melodies as the crowd grew enthused by the sounds of spiking volleyballs.  Pietrzak complied 12 kills with a .524 hitting percentage and 2 aces, while Rombach had 9 kills with a .818 hitting percentage.  Sophomore Brianna Giordano continues to play well as she added 11 digs to the match.  Macomb improves to 5-1 in the conference and is 20-4 overall.  Macomb heads to Kalamazoo Valley to take on several teams at the KVCC Invitational the weekend of October 2nd.  

Adversity-9/29

The Macomb Lady Monarchs approach ever game expecting to win.  The contest against the Schoolcraft Lady Ocelots was no different.  However, the approach the Lady Monarchs took to gain the win was out of their character and they often displayed looks of exasperation.  Macomb struggled to find balance in their execution and in the second match they made so many mistakes that they literally handed Schoolcraft a victory.  In the clinching match the Lady Monarchs looked as if they were going to give the game away again and were down 13-17.  But like a prize fighter on the ropes trying to conjure the will power to win the fight.  Macomb went on a 12-6 run and won the game 25-23.  The overall scores of the four matches were 25-20, 24-26, 25-21, and 25-23.  Stephanie Pietrzak led the team with 14 kills.  “Lady J” Jaimie Brynaert and Jessica Rombach registered 12 kills apiece.  Katelyn Cosio compiled 10 kills and Brianna Giordano had 16 digs.  The win was a wonderful birthday present for freshman Dani Meyer as she recorded 5 blocks, 10 digs and 4 kills.  Macomb improves to 4-1 in the conference and 19-4 overall.  The Lady Monarchs face Henry Ford October 1st at 7:00pm. 

Back in Business-9/26

The Macomb Lady Monarchs were back to business as usual this past weekend facing Jackson CC and Rend Lake CC of Illinois.  Macomb defeated Jackson in four matches by a score of 19-25, 25-20, 25-19 and 26-24.  ‘Devastating Dani’ Meyer strikes again with another good performance, registering 10 kills and 10 digs.  In the second game against Rend Lake, the Lady Monarchs won in four matches by a score of 25-16, 24-26, 25-13 and 25-8.  Absent for a couple of games but always true to her vigor to achieve success was none other than the Stephanie Pietrzak.  Pietrzak attacked the net furiously recording 10 kills and 11 digs and the pride of Romeo Jaimie Brynaert compiled 10 kills and 11 digs as well!  The Lady Monarchs improve their record to 18-4 overall and remain 3-1 in conference play.  Macomb’s next game is against first place Schoolcraft CC Tuesday, September 29 at 7pm.

Minor Snafu-9/24