Watervliet Press Box

SAC team makes state champion in volleyball

The Southwestern Athletic Conference claims yet another state championship as Watervliet rival Kalamazoo Christian won the Division 3 volleyball title with a 3-1 win over Traverse City St. Francis on Saturday. The Comets played well, winning 12 straight sets heading into the finals including a 3-0 win over the powerful Pewamo-Westphalia team who ended the Panther’s season, and beat KC in the finals last year.

The Lady Panthers played the KC Comets close in two regular season matches, frustrating them in the last one with scrappy play. Then the Comets caught fire in the playoffs and as happened in championship runs they also caught most of the breaks and close calls in the tight games.

This season is the fourth in five years that the SAC has been represented in the D3 volleyball finals and the first conference win since 2008 when Schoolcraft swept Calumet 3-0 for the title.

End of season accolades for football

Meanwhile, the Watervliet Panther fall sports teams are holding their 2023 season banquets and awards ceremonies. This week we’ll cover the Panther football team who had a good season despite finishing 3-6. The highlight was winning the resumed rivalry with Coloma 18-16 while wearing their throwback uniforms at Panther Stadium in the middle of September. Both teams played great games in that matchup and finished with identical records.

The Panthers lacked an abundance of big, strong players and the overall number of players was lower than they’d like heading into the season, leading to the guys in the trenches being over-matched and getting worn down as the game moved along. They held onto the ball as well as maybe any Panther team, fumbling just a couple times all season while forcing over a dozen and recovering nine of them.

Three players earned First Team All- Conference honors; Wyatt Epple, Carson Underwood, and Chase Tremblay.

Epple was an easy choice as he led the team in tackles with 79 plus three interceptions and a fumble recovery as a defensive back. He also caught 32 passes for 346 yards and five touchdowns, in addition to rushing for 179 yards and two more TDs. Epple also returned eight kickoffs, averaging 24 yards for each - a huge number.

Underwood led the rushing attack with 480 yards and two TDs. On defense he had 64 tackles and forced two fumbles as a linebacker.

Tremblay broke bones in his hand in week two. He had them repaired after week four and missed a couple games. But then came back to lead the receiving corps with 34 receptions for 428 yards and five TDs, including a 64-yard TD catch.

Three players were named honorable mention; Joe Coulombe, Owen Epple, and Zach Rader. Coulombe was a defensive force, collecting 71 tackles and a single interception which he returned for a TD. Owen was the starting power running back until he banged up his knee and missed a couple games but still ran 53 times for 250 yards and three TDs. On defense he had 39 tackles as a middle linebacker. Zach Rader was the anchor of the defensive and offensive lines. He had 26 tackles on defense.

The players voted junior Carson Underwood as their offensive MVP and senior Joe Coulombe as the defensive MVP. The most improved player was junior Gabe Meachum. The overall MVP was senior Wyatt Epple. The coaches selected two winners for the coveted Panther Award, seniors Jacob Schaefer and Mike Melcher.

The head coach is Josh Tremblay, with assistants Kevin Eastman and Vic Fellner. The team has a pair of energetic managers in Cody Nearpass and Anthony Freemyer.