Hazel Park, Warren

Warren Fitzgerald volleyball defeats Hazel Park to win program's first district championship

By Mark Vest
C & G Sports Writer

» click to enlarge « By Mark Vest First-year Fitzgerald coach Maria Marcotullio is happy to hold the program's first district trophy. By Mark Vest First-year Fitzgerald coach Maria Marcotullio is happy to hold the program's first district trophy.

WARREN — Warren Fitzgerald’s remarkable season continued Nov. 2, as the Spartans defeated Hazel Park 3-1 in a Class B district final matchup, capturing the first district championship in the history of the volleyball program.

Fitzgerald (14-1) has assured itself of coming away from the 2012 season with at least two titles, as the Spartans also won a Macomb Area Conference Bronze Division co-championship.

Things looked good for Hazel Park early, as the Vikings won the first game 25-22. Although Fitzgerald went on to take the next three, it was no easy chore closing out Hazel Park.

Games two and three were tightly contested, with Fitzgerald winning 25-21 in the second game and 25-22 in the third. After falling behind 1-0 in the fourth game, the Spartans scored nine unanswered points, which helped them to a 25-13 victory.

First-year coach Maria Marcotullio was pleased to see her Spartans protect their home court and give Fitzgerald its first-ever district championship.

“It’s amazing,” she said. “These girls gave 100 percent. Throughout this whole year, I couldn’t ask for a better group of girls. I’m getting choked up just talking about them. We pushed and we pushed. This is our house. Everyone stepped up to the plate. There wasn’t one girl I wasn’t proud of. Fitz has never done this before, so we kind of wanted to bring a little history to the team.”

 Although Hazel Park coach Sue Stuef was disappointed that it wasn’t the Vikings celebrating a district title, she does view making it as far as the Vikings did as a step in the right direction for the program.

“I am extremely proud of my kids,” she said. “Especially the first game. They came out like gangbusters and dominated. I think Fitzgerald was in shock with how we came out. We just couldn’t quite hold that level of play together. Hats off to Fitzgerald.  But I’ve got a great group of kids. We’ve come a long way between last year and this year.”

Junior  Lindsay Bullock had 22 assists and five kills for the Spartans, while teammates Tia Carter, Alexandra Sokolvskyy and Christina Gojac added 11, seven, and six kills, respectively.

Fitzgerald is now off to regionals, where it will face Detroit University Prep  in a regional semifinal matchup at 5 p.m. Nov. 6 at Pontiac Notre Dame Prep.

You can reach C & G Sports Writer Mark Vest at mvest@candgnews.com or at (586)279-1112. Follow Mark on Twitter.