Find out who had the most succesful opening week in Gaylord-area high school sports

REED CITY ― Day one of the high school sports season did not go as planned for Gaylord volleyball.

A team coming into the season with high expectations, the Blue Devils faltered in their home opener on Wednesday, Aug. 21 against Ogemaw Heights. They couldn't dwell too long on that performance, however; with a long day of winnable games coming at the Reed City Invite on Saturday, Aug. 24, GHS needed to be ready to compete again on short notice.

Their performance on Saturday was a better example of what they expected of themselves coming into 2024.

Gaylord played nearly flawless volleyball, going 6-0 without dropping a set to claim the Reed City Invite Championship to cap their weekend road trip.

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Volleyball schedules: Take a look at the complete high school volleyball schedules for the Gaylord area in 2024

GHS cruised through pool play, sweeping Bear Lake (25-11, 25-14), Reed City (25-9, 25-17) and Buckley (25-20, 25-9), earning themselves the top overall seed. Bracket play was nearly just as dominant, sweeping Comstock Park in the quarterfinals (25-17, 25-22), Evart in the semis (25-13, 25-14) and Boyne City in the finals (25-11, 25-17), only allowing Comstock Park over 20 points in a set.

Gaylord flips their record from 0-1 to 6-1, now feeling a bit better about their chances in the Big North Conference as they approach games with Grayling (Aug. 26) and Cheboygan (Aug. 27) next week.

GHS soccer beats up on Sault, finishes opening week strong

GHS head coach Brand Contreras is excited about his team's chances this year. After what was a lackluster 2023 season, he believes this team has the tools to be competitive, both in league play and in the playoffs.

After what was a solid opening week, he has every reason to be confident.

GHS went 2-1 in their opening week, going on the road to defeat a solid Midland Calvary Baptist on Monday, Aug. 19, dropping a 4-0 match with Traverse City St. Francis on Aug. 24 before wrapping the week with a 7-0 blowout victory over Sault Ste Marie on Aug. 24.

"It definitely came together today," said Contreras after the 7-0 win on Saturday. "The boys all played well, and we really needed that."

Korban Sadjak scored the first goal of the season in Monday's matchup in Midland, scoring an unassisted goal in the 13th minute of the game. Lucas Hella scored the second and eventual game-winner, using an assist from Aidan Blehm to score in the 47th minute for a 2-1 victory.

After going against a formidable TC St. Francis team on Wednesday, the team bounced back with seven goals on Saturday, led by Aidan Blehm (hat trick), Bryton Thaxton (two goals), Carter Slezak and Kaden Sullivan. The two forwards, Blehm and Thaxton, showed how their athleticism is helping the GHS offense improve this season.

"It's really nice to have that outlet, and they're starting to learn how to work together too, finding each other," said Contreras.

The schedule doesn't get any easier from here as GHS gets set to host Leland on Tuesday, Aug. 27 before opening the BNC schedule with a home matchup against Petoskey on Tuesday, Sept. 3.

GHS's Berkshire wins opening meet

Gaylord's cross country state title contender wasted no time getting her first win of the season as junior Katie Berkshire won the Big Schools division at the Pete Moss Invite on Saturday, Aug. 24.

Berkshire, one of the top female distance runners in the state, finished the 5,000 meter race with a time of 18 minutes, 20.8 seconds, a full 10 seconds ahead of the runner-up. Berkshire has high hopes this season after making trips to the D2 state finals in both cross country and track the past two seasons.

Other results

Volleyball

Wednesday, Aug. 21

GSM beats Hillman 3-0

Contact GHT Sports Editor Dylan Jespersen at Djespersen@gaylordheraldtimes.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @dylanjespersen, and Instagram, @dylanjespersen

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Find out who had the most succesful opening week in Gaylord-area high school sports