TONTOGANY — Baley Bernthisel, Autumn Berry, Chelsea Bollenbacher, Katelyn Downing and Ashley Holzwart
helped Otsego’s volleyball team have a night to remember Tuesday.
The five were honored on their Senior Night and sang the national anthem with their teammates prior to
the match. [SEE
PHOTO GALLERY]
And then, most importantly, the Knights earned a share of the Suburban Lakes League lead by handing
Eastwood its first SLL loss of the season.
Otsego was terrific in every phase of the game on the way to a 25-21, 25-10, 25-22 rout of Eastwood, the
state’s 19th-ranked team in Division II.
The Knights and Eastwood both are 10-1 in the league heading into Thursday’s final SLL match of the
season.
If Otsego wins at Elmwood (5-6 in the SLL), it’ll earn no worse than a tie for the title for the second
straight season after it
won the outright championship last fall with a 13-1 record.
The loss prevented Eastwood, which finishes at home against Lake (6-5), from clinching the league title.

Otsego is 17-3 overall, while Eastwood is 18-3.
“We weren’t going to lose,” Berry said after Otsego avenged a five-game loss at Eastwood Sept. 17.
“It was vital for us to play well as a team tonight with the league on the line and the sectional
tournament coming up. This will give us a lot of confidence because we came together and played well as
a team.”
Berry and Otsego coach Cheryl Jones both said the Knights have played as individuals most of the season,
but the win over Eastwood was their best team match of the season.
Every Knight played well and filled their role. The core of the team returned from last season when
Otsego was 19-5 overall and advanced to the Division III district final.
“We were all on the same page tonight,” Jones said. “We’re in a society where it’s all about me, and
we’ve been working on that part. It’s about service to others and the community. If you want to be an
individual, go out for an individual sport. They were all in it for each other tonight.
“When they realize they can get their success by working together, amazing things can happen. We’ve had
individuals playing well before tonight but there was no chemistry. Tonight, there was chemistry.”
Otsego trailed only three times in the match, the last two times in Game 3. The Knights closed out the
match with a 9-1 run to erase a 21-16 deficit.
The Knights also were aided by a large home crowd, which included enthusiastic and loud group of
students.
“It was their home environment,” Eastwood coach Jeff Beck said. “We didn’t step up to the plate. (Otsego)
really wanted it. We didn’t produce tonight by any means. (Otsego) definitely deserved to win.”
The Knights pulled away from a 5-5 tie in Game 1 with six straight points and held the upper hand most of
the night.
The run included an off-speed kill by Holzwart, a kill by Bollenbacher and an ace by Hannah Greulich.
“The start and getting ahead was really important,” Berry said. “That gave us a lot of confidence and
enthusiasm, and it got the crowd into the match. That carried us through the entire match.”
Otsego, after trailing 6-5 in Game 2, later held a 9-7 lead in that game. But it closed out the middle
game on a 16-3 run. The Knights scored seven straight points for a 16-9 lead, including three kills by
Bollenbacher. She had seven kills in the game.
In the third game, Otsego scored the final six points to erase a 22-19 deficit.
The run included two kills by Holzwart, a kill by Greulich and a block kill by Berry.
“We should have had that third game, and then we buckled and (Otsego) stepped up,” Beck said.
Otsego had a balanced offense. Bollenbacher had 15 kills, while Bernthisel added nine, Holzwart
had eight, and Karessia Rowell and Greulich both had four. Berry had 36 assists.
“Our hitters were great,” said Berry, whose sets were consistently good. “They were calling for the ball
and when they got it, they put it down.”
The Eagles had trouble receiving serve and generating any consistent offense. And when they had chances
for kills, Otsego dug them up.
Bernthisel had seven digs and two blocks, followed by Downing and Holzwart with five digs each.
“They had bodies flying all over the place getting those balls back,” Beck said.
Katie Primeau had 24 assists for Eastwood, while Whitney Hoodlebrink had 11 kills and Christine Foster
had 11 digs.