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Sports

The Week Ahead: Seaholm and Groves to Clash in Volleyball, Tennis

Fall sports heat up as Birmingham students head back to school.

Here's what's going on for local high school teams this week:

Seaholm and Groves varsity volleyball

The cross-town rivals don’t have to wait long this year for the Birmingham high schools’ annual game. The Maples will visit the Falcons' home court at 7 p.m. Thursday.

Last year, beat in the regular season 3-1 and then eliminated it from the playoffs with a three-game sweep. The Maples return 11 starters from a team that finished 37-14 last year and reached the district finals.

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Neither team has any other games scheduled for the week.

Seaholm and Groves varsity boys tennis

The volleyball teams from Seaholm and Groves won’t be the only teams from the Birmingham high schools clashing this week. At 4 p.m Tuesday, the Falcons boys tennis team will host the Maples in an OAA Red matchup.

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Since 2007, Groves has finished in the top 10 at the state finals; as a team, Groves finished in eighth place last year with 11 points — three points ahead of  Seaholm. Groves' Blaine Stannerd, who played in the No. 1 singles matchup at state finals, will try to lead his team past its inter-city rivals along with the top doubles pair of Calvin Greer and Alex Allen.

Groves also hosts Rochester Adams at 4 p.m. Thursday. Saturday, the team will participate in the Grosse Pointe North Invitational (time still to be determined). Seaholm has a similar schedule for the week: the Maples host West Bloomfield at 4 p.m. Thursday and will play in the Holly Invite at 8 a.m. Saturday.

Football

There’s no love between the Bloomfield Hills Lahser and Seaholm football programs.

"Seaholm is a real big matchup for us,” Lahser Knights head coach Dan Loria said. “It’s a real key game; that’s our other rival besides Andover.”

The teams will meet at 7 p.m. Friday on the Maples' home field for a game with added importance this year: both teams are 2-0 in the Oakland Activities Association Blue division.

For the Knights, their defense will face its first true challenge. Lahser gave up 35 points to Seaholm in a loss last season and this year the Maples offense is even better. Senior quarterback John Glazier has been tremendous through the early part of the year, spreading the ball around to his athletic receivers Chris Barr and J.D. Hess.

Other games this week include:

  • Groves: After defeating North Farmington in its home opener last weekend, Groves will have a chance to build on that momentum this week against Berkley at 7 p.m. Friday at home. Both teams are 1-1 on the season and the game could be pivotal to the teams' playoff chances.
  • Brother Rice: Brother Rice (2-0) will head to the University of Toledo to play Saint Francis DeSales at 7 p.m. Friday. The Warriors will attempt to avenge a 17-14 loss last year and stay undefeated.
  • Detroit Country Day: Detroit Country Day has a critical game at 7:30 p.m. Thursday when it hosts Harper Woods. The Yellowjackets have lost their first two games and a third straight loss would put put the playoffs nearly out of reach. 
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