Madison 3-Sporter Wall Soars in Every Season
January 25, 2019
By Doug Donnelly
Special for Second Half
ADRIAN – How good of a senior year is Kaiya Wall having?
In the fall, Wall again earned all-state honors after leading Adrian Madison to 47 victories, conference and District championships, and she signed a letter of intent to play Division I volleyball after high school.
This winter, her Madison basketball team is 8-0, ranked among the state’s 10 best Division 3 teams by The Associated Press and sitting atop the Tri-County Conference.
What’s more amazing is her best might still be yet to come. Wall figures to be an anchor on a Madison girls track squad that has won 87 consecutive Tri-County Conference dual meets and could be an MHSAA title contender this spring.
“I don’t know if she has a ‘best’ sport,” said Madison track coach Josh Powers. “She is pretty darn good at all three she is playing.”
Wall is one of those rare athletes who can jump from sport to sport without skipping a beat. In the summer, she would split time between summer basketball and travel volleyball.
She is the third-leading scorer on Madison’s undefeated basketball team heading into tonight’s TCC clash with Ottawa Lake Whiteford. She also is one of top defenders on a suffocating Trojans defense giving up just 24.3 points per game. Three of Madison’s last four opponents have been held to 20 or fewer points.
Wall missed basketball season last year due to an injury, but her return this year has solidified the Trojans on the court.
“Kaiya has made a tremendous impact on our team this season,” Madison basketball coach Rick McNeil said. “She is very quick and has become an outstanding defender.”
Wall also has improved on the offensive end. McNeil said that has been the biggest difference for her.
“She has developed her ball handling skills, and we are able to move her to the guard position where she is a match-up problem for many teams because of her height and speed,” McNeil said. “She is an excellent passer and has the ability to hit the perimeter shot.”
Playing volleyball in college was far from a slam dunk decision. She also was recruited for track.
“I struggled deciding between track and volleyball,” Wall said. “I’ve gone on visits for both. I knew I wanted to play something in college. When I fell in love with that campus, I just decided I wanted to play volleyball.”
Wall was the Lenawee County volleyball player of the year as a junior and has earned second-team all-state honors three years running. She finished her career just shy of 2,000 kills and signed to play collegiately at Jackson State University in Jackson, Mississippi.
During her career she played in 545 sets, compiling 1,986 kills, 933 digs and 280 blocks – strong numbers for a girl who didn’t play competitive volleyball until seventh grade and only after friends talked her into it.
“I was terrible,” she said. “I was this tall, skinny girl, and they were like, ‘OK, you can play.’”
Her friends made a smart choice. Wall blossomed into a 5-foot-11 outside hitter.
“When I first met Kaiya, she was very raw with so much natural athleticism,” said Kathy Albers, now the head coach at Ypsilanti Lincoln who at one time coached Wall in travel volleyball. “She just needed to be taught and for someone to believe in her – but push her. After her first year of club with us, the talent was so apparent.
“She improved so much faster than most. Her height plus her jumping ability makes her tough at the net, and her quickness makes up for everything else.”
At Madison, Wall played for Dawn Opsal for her first three years and Kelsey Cortright this past season. Cortright stepped into the Madison job and saw first-hand Wall’s athleticism and leadership ability.
“Most importantly, she puts her team before herself,” Cortright said. “She is selfless and encouraging to all those around her, making her a role model for others both on and off the court. Outside of her abilities as a team leader, her athletic ability is remarkable.”
Jackson State coaches noticed that ability before ever seeing her in person. They found out about her by viewing a highlight video she had posted online. They reached out, and she went to Mississippi for a visit and fell in love with the campus and volleyball program.
Another criteria that helped her choose Jackson State was its academics. Wall has a 3.93 grade-point average and ranks 12th in her senior class at Madison.
“I plan on going into pre-med,” she said. “I want to be a trauma surgeon. They have a very good program.”
Had she not become enamored with the volleyball program, she might have been a track signee.
Wall won the Division 3 Finals 100-meter hurdles title as a freshman. As a sophomore she helped Madison win the team championship by finishing second in the high jump. Last year she was ninth in the high jump, second in the 100 hurdles and on the runner-up 1,600 relay team as the Trojans placed seventh as a team.
Powers, who will be inducted into the Michigan Interscholastic Track Coaches Association Hall of Fame next week in Lansing, said Wall is determined.
“She takes advice and works on it,” he said. “I am, and I think she is, expecting her best track season yet.”
Doug Donnelly has served as a sports and news reporter and city editor over 25 years, writing for the Daily Chief-Union in Upper Sandusky, Ohio from 1992-1995, the Monroe Evening News from 1995-2012 and the Adrian Daily Telegram since 2013. He's also written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Adrian Madison’s Kaiya Wall works to deflect a shot this season against Clinton. (Middle) Wall serves during a Division 3 Volleyball Semifinal in 2016.
Despite Torn ACL, Lapeer's Erla Drives On
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
February 26, 2020
Hannah Erla was so devastated by the diagnosis, she basically stopped listening.
The Lapeer senior point guard had torn her ACL, which in her mind meant her final high school season was over after just four games. She wouldn’t be able to lead the Lightning to their first District title since her freshman year. She was done playing for coach Andrew Roberts. She would end her career about 100 points shy of 1,000.
As all this was swirling through Erla’s head, the good news came: she could still play.
“There was maybe a pause, then he said it after,” Erla said. “I was so upset, I wasn’t comprehending what he was saying.”
After Erla processed the news, her next decision was a simple one. She wouldn’t have surgery on her knee until after the season. She would wear a brace, and she would finish her high school career on the court. After talking with more doctors, getting the proper clearances and missing just two games, Erla was back in uniform leading the Lightning.
“What drives me to play is that it’s my last year of high school, and I’ll never be able to play with my friends again, or have Roberts coach me,” she said. “I just want to win a District with my team. … It was immediate. I decided right then that I was going to finish out the season and reach my goals to get 1,000 and try and win a District.”
Erla reached 1,000 points in the waning seconds of Lapeer’s game Feb. 7 against Grand Blanc. The District title is yet to be decided, and Erla still has some work to do to ensure she’s on the court to make that happen.
She has missed the Lightning’s past three games because the swelling in her knee has increased. She plans to be on the court, however, for the regular-season finale Friday at home against Bay City John Glenn, and the postseason which begins March 4 for Lapeer.
Betting against her seems unwise considering what Erla already has overcome. But either way, she’s already provided a shining example for the program.
“Hannah always wants to get into the gym,” Roberts said. “Hannah plays and works hard in the offseason. We ran a summer camp for kids, and I made sure that I stressed that she’s a four-year player because of her, because she has put this extra time in. When you have a walking, living example of that, it holds so much more water than just saying it.”
Roberts took over the Lapeer girls basketball program at the same time Erla was entering it. As a freshman, she wasn’t a starter, but she still managed to earn honorable mention all-Saginaw Valley League recognition. As a sophomore and junior, she earned first-team honors.
Lapeer, which was 5-13 entering Tuesday’s game against Midland Dow, started this season 3-0, with all three wins coming by double digits. It was early in the fourth game, a 41-39 loss to Davison on Dec. 13, when the Lightning lost its leader. Erla ran toward a Davison player who was bobbling the ball, but as she planted her foot and tried to turn, her knee gave out. Erla said she didn’t hear the pop that players so often recall when tearing their ACL, and she was able to walk on it. The trainer told her she couldn’t return, however.
“Our trainer went out there and knew she was done for that game,” Roberts said. “When they say they’re done, and it’s a knee issue, you tend to think the worst.”
Erla’s tear was described as straight across, and not jagged, which allowed her to get the green light to play with a brace. She returned to action Jan. 7.
“I’m happy, selfishly, to have her,” Roberts said. “But I’ve never seen it done before, so I was pretty apprehensive, because the last thing I wanted to do was hurt her. I was excited to have her, but at the same time very, very nervous. When you start talking to people, there were other situations out there, which kind of eases your mind a little bit. You have to go by what the expert says, not what I think.”
Erla had to adjust to playing with her injury, as she had lost some of her signature explosiveness. Roberts said her strength as a shooter became more prominent.
“I just let things come more naturally rather than before when I tried to do most of the work,” she said. “This time, I just waited for my shot. At first, it was (frustrating) because I wasn’t expecting it. I was expecting to play how it used to be, but then I adjusted and I wasn’t frustrated anymore.”
In 14 games this season, Erla is averaging 12.6 points, three rebounds and 1.2 steals per game. She is also shooting 80 percent from the free throw line.
One of those free throws earned Erla her 1,000th point one month after she returned to action. She said the moment was made more special because of what she had to endure to get there.
“It was a lot of pressure; I was all worked up over it,” Erla said. “After I hit it, I was overwhelmed with emotion and so thankful to reach that goal. I was just beyond happy and overwhelmed with emotion. I didn’t know what to think. I was crying and hugging my teammates.”
After the season ends, and after spring break, Erla said she will have her surgery in early spring. She is still hoping to play basketball at the next level, and Roberts said she has been in contact with several NAIA programs. The most important quality Erla, who holds a 4.1 GPA, said she is looking for is a good engineering program.
Roberts says that whoever signs Erla will be bringing in a great asset.
“I would sign her because right now, she needs to score in high school for us to be successful,” he said. “It might take a year or so, but when you develop her into more of a point guard, you’re going to have a guard who can break a defender down and get into the paint – that's what she does. A healthy Hannah can get into the key at will.”
Paul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Lapeer’s Hannah Erla lines up for a free throw against Bay City Western this season. (Middle) Erla prepares to make her move against Grand Blanc. (Photos by Ross Carithers, courtesy of Hannah Erla.)