MACOMB TWP. – Waiting an entire year for a rematch, Macomb Lutheran North made the most of its opportunity Thursday night.

Macomb Lutheran North’s Charlea Revere (14) and Leighton Garner (7) get up high for the block on Pontiac Notre Dame Prep’s Olivia D’Souza (8) Thursday during this Division 2 district finals clash on Nov. 5, 2026. (DAN STICKRADT — MediaNews Group)

Ranked sixth in the state, the uber-talented Mustangs posted a 3-1 triumph over perennial state powerhouse Pontiac Notre Dame Prep in a Division 2 district finals clash on Lutheran North’s home floor. The Mustangs prevailed with a 25-18, 25-18, 23-25, 25-20 victory over the Fighting Irish – the same school that knocked Lutheran North out of the postseason in the district finals each of the past two years.

“This is my fifth year here and the third time we’ve hosted districts, so this was the third time is a charm. But it’s also our first district title here in a while,” said Lutheran North coach Paul Drdul. “We haven’t won here since 2020. This is the first since I’ve been coach. We’ve lost in the district finals the past three years and Notre Dame Prep was the team that knocked us out last year.”

Notre Dame Prep posted a 25-17, 22-25, 25-20, 25-11 victory over Lutheran North in last year’s district finals. But not this time around.

Lutheran North had four different players finish with double digits in terms of kills and the Mustangs received contributions from up-and-down their roster in moving to 39-3-0 overall on the season – by far the best record in program history and an equally impressive .929 win percentage on the season.

Middle hitters Delaney Behring and Leighton Garner and outside hitters Sammy VanSteenkiste and Lily Verbeke all combined for 53 kills and that overall size and athleticism was too much for Notre Dame Prep to overcome. Behring (five blocks) and VanSteenkiste (14 receptions and 17 digs) both had 14 kills, while Verbeke added 13 kills and seven digs and Garner slammed 12 kills with five blocks to aid a balanced effort.

Juliette Godwin supplied 30 assists with 12 digs, Eleanore Martin added 27 assists and Victoria Burnham scooped up 29 digs with 28 receptions for the Mustangs.

Macomb Lutheran North's Juliette Godwin (9) sets the ball Thursday during this Division 2 district finals clash against Pontiac Notre Dame Prep on Nov. 5, 2026. (DAN STICKRADT -- MediaNews Group)

Veteran Notre Dame Prep coach Betty Wroubel knew Lutheran North would be very good this season.

“I knew last year that they would be good (after) bringing back all of that size and talent from last year,” said Wroubel, who has won numerous district, regional and state championships as a coach. “They just have a lot of very good players and they are scrappy as all get out. They go after it all game long, all six of them on the court. They go after anything out of system. They also play very clean volleyball and they don’t make a lot of mistakes.

“We had a hard time blocking them tonight and that hurt,” continued Wroubel. “This was just one of those games where we just couldn’t stop them at times. We’re usually a better blocking team. And it hurt that we’ve just had a lot of injuries and we’re constantly moving girls around. We had over 200 games missed with all of our injuries. We’ve only played eight games this season where we had our best lineup. But we were still very competitive, and we were in a lot of games. We were competitive in this match, but we just couldn’t get into rhythm.”

Nichole McDowell and Vanessa Artinian combined for 36 kills on the night with McDowell, who has committed to NCAA Division I Ryder University finishing with 19 kills with a .289 kills percentage and Artinian had 17 kills with a.275 kills percentage for Notre Dame Prep (29-18-7).

Macomb Lutheran North's Victoria Burnham (4) clebrates a point with teammate Lily Verbeke (5) Thursday during this Division 2 district finals clash against Pontiac Notre Dame Prep on Nov. 5, 2026. (DAN STICKRADT -- MediaNews Group)

Lutheran North used its size and power to wear down the Fighting Irish with a pair of 25-18, 25-18 wins in the first two sets. The Mustangs were up 20-16 in the third set before Notre Dame Prep finally found its rhythm and rallied with a 9-3 run to close out the set. Jozlyn Clemens had four service points and Campbell Bordogna closed the game with a block-kill.

In Game 4, the two teams battled to a 9-9 start before Lutheran North began to assert itself once again and go to its deep well of offensive targets. The Mustangs closed with a 16-11 run with Behring ending the match with a kill to send her team onto the regional semifinals next week.

Lutheran North advances to the Notre Dame Prep regional on Nov. 10 at 5:30 p.m. to play the district finals winner of the Hazel Park-Ferndale game.