<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2eZtnr_1H4mfvKc00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2eZtnr_1H4mfvKc00" width="1389" height="812" ><figcaption>Lakewood junior Ahlanna Thomas steps back for a turn at the service line during her team’s three-set loss to Ionia in the MHSAA Division 2 District Final at Lakewood High School Thursday, Nov. 5. Photos by Brett Bremer</figcaption></figure>It’s a good line at driving school, at the end of a Sturgill Simpson chorus, and on the volleyball court.“Keep it between the lines.”It boiled down to the Bulldogs putting the ball down between the lines much better Thursday, Nov. 5, as the Ionia varsity volleyball team took a three-set win over the Lakewood girls in the MHSAA Division 2 District Final at Lakewood High School.Ionia won by the scores of 25-22, 25-17, 25-21 to earn the district championship trophy and advance to a Tuesday night regional semifinal at Charlotte High School against the team the Bulldogs shared the 2026 Capital Area Activities Conference White Division championship with, Lansing Catholic.Lakewood won the first two sets in a regular season conference dual with the Bulldogs, but Ionia rallied for a five-set win. Junior middle Ahlanna Thomas had 25 kills in that match for the Vikings. Looking at their stat sheet at the end of the evening Thursday, Lakewood head coach Brooke Francisco and assistant Chelsea Brehm couldn’t get their tally up to 25 kills for the whole team. Thomas and junior middle Johanna Duits had eight kills each to lead the Vikings.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3WI1u7_1H4mfvKc00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3WI1u7_1H4mfvKc00" width="1389" height="1165" ><figcaption>Lakewood junior Johanna Duits slides over to pass an Ionia serve during the MHSAA Division 2 District Final at Lakewood High School Thursday, Nov. 5.</figcaption></figure>“We would have liked to find the floor a few more times,” Francisco said. “I think overall we defended aggressively. We had some pretty good block touches here and there. I just don’t think we executed the game plan the way I would have liked. I think the girls worked hard, and they wanted it. Just, things weren’t going our way. On offense, we need to find a few more kills.“I think our tempo was a little bit off, and our timing. I think a little bit of that is the adrenaline of district finals. We just were never able to find those connections that we would normally see.”Junior outside hitter Amaya Frias hammered 17 kills for the Bulldogs and senior outside hitter Logan Thomas had 16, with senior setter Alli Shaw firing up 35 assists. Shaw also hit three aces. Frias had a teamhigh 19 digs, with freshman libero Aubree Shaw adding 17.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0UlfG3_1H4mfvKc00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0UlfG3_1H4mfvKc00" width="657" height="951" ><figcaption>Lakewood sophomore Zoey Schmitt goes up to block as Ionia senior Logan Thomas starts to tip the ball over the net during their MHSAA Division 2 District Final at Lakewood High School Thursday, Nov. 5</figcaption></figure>“They’ve put in the work to be as good as they are,” Francisco said of the Bulldogs. “As a team, I think they just worked a little better than us tonight.”Ionia had the lead on the scoreboard and the momentum throughout much of the evening. One of the Vikings’ best runs came late in set one. A Frias kill bumped the Bulldogs to a 21-16 lead, their biggest advantage of the opening set. A service error by Logan Thomas got the serve back for the Vikings though.Bump stepped to the left score of the service line and started pumping serves across the court that Aubree Shaw had to handle along the sideline, and it took a while for the Bulldogs to sort things out. Freshman Lilly Stewart hit a kill for the Vikings off an assist from junior setter Lillian Martin. Martin dumped a ball over for a kill, on a point kept alive by a diving dig from Ahlanna Thomas, who was new to the back row this fall. Duits blocked down a kill. Frias hit an attack wide, prompting an Ionia timeout with the set tied 21-21.Coming out of the timeout, a back row kill from Logan Thomas, who was honorable mention all-state in Division2ayearago,endedthe Viking run.Ionia got out to a four-point lead early on in set two, and a surge like that never came as the Bulldogs went on to an eight-point win in that second set.The Vikings were within 22-20 late in set three, another set where the Bulldogs held a small lead throughout. They survived one match point to get to 24-21, but couldn’t get through a second.A trio of Lakewood blockers got up, sophomore Zoey Schmitt, Ahlanna Thomas and exchange student Giorgia Sottile, on a big swing by Logan Thomas in the middle. They slowed her attack down, deflecting it up in the front row. Sottile backpedaled a bit towards the Lakewood bench to keep the tipped ball up, but her pass floated just over the net. Bulldog freshman outside hitter Carmen Hoppough jumped up and slammed the ball back over the net into the open corner of the court in front of the SportsCenter-themed Lakewood student section – keeping it between the lines.Copelin and Bump are a pair of four-year seniors on the Viking var- sity, who helped the team to a district championship as juniors.“They know what the Lakewood tradition is like. They were able to be leaders for me on and off the court, and they are passionate about the Lakewood program. We’ll miss that for sure,” Francisco said. “But I have some returners next year, and we’ll be able to figure it out. It’ll be different, but we’ll manage.”Ionia won the ultimate tiebreaker with the Lansing Catholic girls Tuesday, knocking off the Cougars in five sets in the MHSAA Division 2 Regional Semifinals at Charlotte High School by the scores of 14-25, 25-20, 23-25, 25-20, 15-11. The Bulldogs were slated to face third-ranked Parma Western in the regional final Thursday, Nov. 12, back in Charlotte. </div></body>

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It’s a good line at driving school, at the end of a Sturgill Simpson chorus, and on the volleyball court. It boiled down to the Bulldogs putting the ball down between the lines much better Thursday, Nov. 5, as the Ionia varsity volleyball team took a three-set win over the Lakewood girls in the MHSAA Division 2 District Final at Lakewood High School.

Bulldog attacks more efficient than Vikings’ in district final

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It’s a good line at driving school, at the end of a Sturgill Simpson chorus, and on the volleyball court. It boiled down to the Bulldogs putting the ball d

Bulldog attacks more efficient than Vikings’ in district final

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