Lady Trojans Win Regional

Forest Park Lady Trojans won the Regional 25 Volleyball championship defeating Stephenson on Nov. 10. Photo by Kevin Zini

By Patrick  Browne
IRON RIVER -The Forest Park Lady Trojans (35-2) won the Regional 25 Volleyball Championship on Nov. 10 by defeating a very strong Stephenson team in three sets. The Lady Trojans were led by a cadre of All Conference and All District players who are well coached and work well together.  

Although the Regional Final was not technically a home match, the Trojans benefitted from West Iron’s willingness to host the Championship and the Forest Park faithful came out in droves to support their team. Along with hundreds of fans, twenty-five FP faculty and staff were in attendance, including the lunch lady, the bus driver and every head coach of every fall sport. The Stephenson Eagles countered with a fan bus of their own and the fans were excited as the National Anthem provided the only unifying moment of the night.

From the very start of play, the Trojans quickly established themselves as the team to beat, winning the first four points of the first set and going on to win 25 to 13. The Eagles were not ready to surrender, however, and went up 10 to 6 in the second set before Trojan Coach Bobbie Jo Anderson called a time out to focus her team. The set was decided in a nail biter, 27 to 25,  when the Trojans won seven of the final 10 points.  

The Lady Trojans were on their way. Their youthful exuberance and genuine relief of going up two sets to nil, gave the Lady Trojans an ease which propelled them through the third set, 25 to 21.  

With the victory, Forest Park posted their 14th Regional Championship since 1995 and propelled themselves into the next round of the playoffs. The Trojans will match up against Newberry (15-3) on Tuesday, Nov. 14 in Manistique with the winner heading to Battle Creek for the state semifinals.  

Senior Charlie Larson reflected on the win, “It’s nice to win back to back Regionals especially in my senior year. Everyone on our team plays their role and we just want to keep winning.”

Fellow senior, Leah Feldhausen, shared Larson’s sentiments, “It was a good win and very exciting.  None of us want this to be over as there is such good energy.”