Milford went into the house of the KLAA Lakes Conference champion Friday night and went home with a district title in a five-game thriller. Hartland won the two divisional matches against Milford 3-1 in the regular season. But Milford got the win when it counted the most, in the playoffs and for a district title. “This is my first year as a coach and my first district title. I mean, I’m kind of on cloud nine right now,” said first-year Milford head coach Mary Shelton. “It’s a really exciting moment today.”It looked early like the Eagles were well on their way to winning again by blasting the Mavericks in the first game. Hartland took leads of 9-0, 13-1 and 19-6 before Milford figured some things out before losing 25-17.“I joke with the girls, the first set they use to get all their junk out,” said Shelton laughing. “We just kind of said to the girls - you know what, you have a choice to make when you step on this floor again. You can use this game as your momentum into your next set and you put in everything you have. Just don’t walk off the floor regretting anything.”The momentum gained in the end of the first game carried over to the second. The Mavericks turned an 11-7 deficit into a 23-14 lead thanks to a 16-3 run and went on to win 25-16 to even the match. The third game went back and forth throughout with the biggest lead being 7-3 by Hartland. Both teams had late leads, but Hartland’s big hitters senior Sarah Skinner and junior Elizabeth Storm knocked down consecutive kills to edge out a 25-23 win to go up two games to one. The fourth game saw big momentum swings with Milford jumping out to a 10-4 lead only to trail 12-11. This time it was Hartland going up 23-22 before Milford went on a run. Sydney Phipps and Anna Swanson knocked down kills and a hitting error by Hartland allowed the Mavs to stay alive with a 25-23 win and setting up a race to 15 in game five. The Mavericks ripped off the first four points of the fifth game and went on to lead 8-4 only to see the Eagles race back to take an 11-10 lead, its only lead of the final game and last of the night. The game was tied on a service error before Milford took the lead on an ace by Madeline Appleton. Another hitting error by Hartland put Milford up 13-11 before a sideout gave pulled the Eagles back within one.Milford big-hitter Jillian Butsavich switched things up and used a tip to get a sideout and put the game within one point of a win. She went on to close out the game with a block for a kill to win the match with a 15-13 victory. “I’ve never won districts. We haven’t won districts for a while. It’s just amazing, it’s so surreal,” said Butsavich. “Hartland is a great team. Congrats to them and their season. “It just felt amazing, and I can’t believe that just happened.”The win sets up an all Huron Valley regional opener Tuesday with Milford playing rival Lakeland at 5 p.m. at West Bloomfield. “Milford-Lakeland, we are excited,” said Shelton. “I know Lakeland is excited too. We’re really excited.”jtheisen@gannett.com
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