After Injury Brings Past Standout Home, Slack Takes Milan on Historic Trip
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
November 21, 2023
MILAN – Makenna Slack turned 21 in August, just days before she started her first season as the Milan volleyball coach.
Little did she know that four months later she would lead the Big Reds to their greatest season in school history.
“I think this season, this run, over the last three weeks, as a Milan player or coach, this was the biggest high I’ve seen from the Milan program,” Slack said. “It was an amazing run and amazing year. It was the best way we could have represented Milan.”
Milan never had won back-to-back District championships before these last two seasons, and never had won a Regional title. Slack’s Big Reds ended up going 29-7-2, finished second in the Huron League behind perennial power Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central, won District and Regional titles and reached the Semifinals at Kellogg Arena.
Milan ended up bowing out with a loss to Grand Rapids West Catholic, ending the season as one of the four remaining teams left in Division 2.
How the Big Reds got there made the postseason run even more remarkable.
Slack played four varsity seasons at Milan after moving to the area in eighth grade. She went on to play volleyball at Olivet College but suffered a devastating knee injury that cut short her career. She had knee reconstruction surgery.
“I basically couldn’t walk or drive for six months,” she said. “The recovery was going to take a year and a half to get back to being an athlete. I decided to cut my losses and moved home.”
Milan varsity volleyball coach Kathy Bradshaw knew Slack was home again and asked if she was interested in coaching. Bradshaw got the idea because she was the junior varsity coach at Milan when Slack was a senior player on the team.
“I was the varsity captain, and I’d come down and help run the practices sometimes,” Slack said. “That’s where I think she saw me as maybe a coach.”
It wasn’t her first coaching opportunity. While in high school she coached club volleyball as a way to earn extra money.
“As a high schooler, I didn’t really realize it, but I took on a little bigger role than most high schoolers do,” she said. “I had my own team, and we went to tournaments and stuff. It started there. It came natural to me. I felt comfortable teaching kids.”
She was the Milan JV coach for one season, then Bradshaw’s assistant in 2022 when Milan won its first District title since 1999 and reached the Regional Final. Not long after last season, Bradshaw stepped down but encouraged Slack to apply for the head coaching position. Slack wasn’t sure.
“It seemed like a lot, and I’m so young,” Slack said.
“I ended up applying and got the job. After really thinking about it, I ended up taking it. We have a huge support system in the community. The athletic director is amazing, there is a really good booster group. Feeling the support all around me, I ended up taking the job.”
She had her 21st birthday during the annual MHSAA preseason downtime at the start of August. The following week she was running tryouts for the volleyball team.
Milan had a good season.
“When we were going through league play, we were a solid unit,” she said. “We would win the games we were supposed to win and lose the games we were supposed to lose. It became a little robotic. We weren’t really challenged. No one really challenged us, and we never really challenged anyone.”
Then came the District tournament and a first-round match against Lenawee County Athletic Association champion Adrian Madison. Madison took the first two sets, but Milan rebounded to win three straight and the match. Slack was surprised. She’s still not sure if the Big Reds upset Madison or if Milan was the favorite.
“That was such a huge moment,” she said. “It was very fulfilling. It felt like we were on top. Our postseason run was for sure the highlight of our season. The girls maxed out, their energy was maximum. It was definitely our highlight.”
Milan took another step the following week by winning the Regional, then beat Dearborn Divine Child in the Quarterfinals.
“The girls are an amazing group,” she said. “It’s the best group we’ve had since I’ve been there. The team bonding was strong, the camaraderie was strong. I have a lot of athletes on my team that understand goals and the process you have to do to get to the goal. Having a lot of athletes on board for the full ride made the difference.”
The Big Reds had just three seniors, including their best all-around player in Courtney Nye. They will return Malea Wourman, named the team’s best offensive player, and Lauryn Parris, named the team’s top defensive player.
Slack will graduate from Wayne State University soon and is unsure what her future holds. If she gets a job in the financial field, for example, her coaching career might be over.
“It’s really up in the air right now,” she said. “I don’t know if I’m going to move on with my life or stay in the coaching game. It’s a weird spot to be in.”
Slack loved her time at Milan, both as a player and being part of the coaching staff. If she does have to give it up for now, she can see herself returning to the sidelines someday. If not, she can step aside knowing she helped Milan to its biggest volleyball achievement to date.
“Working with young athletes and being able to guide them is something I truly enjoy,” she said. “I’m thinking at some point I’ll be back into the coaching game.”
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) Milan volleyball coach Makenna Slack, kneeling, huddles with her team during last week's Division 2 Semifinal. (Middle) Slack surveys her team's play during its first trip to Kellogg Arena.
St Philip Adds to Record Title Total
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
January 16, 2021
BATTLE CREEK – For most programs, a five-year gap between MHSAA Finals appearances is a sign of incredible strength.
For Battle Creek St. Philip volleyball, it must have felt like an eternity.
The state’s winningest program made its way back to the top Saturday, defeating Auburn Hills Oakland Christian 25-8, 25-15, 22-25, 22-25, 17-15 in the Division 4 Final at Kellogg Arena. It’s the 21st title for the Tigers, and first since 2014.
“I think it’s about time we got another one for Coach (Vicky) Groat,” St. Philip senior Harleen Deol said. “It’s been a dream since fifth grade, so it’s a dream come true my senior year.”
St. Philip dominated the sport after the turn of the century, making 15 straight Finals appearances and winning 10 titles – including a record nine straight – from 2002-15.
“I think in the past – I don’t think our team would take it for granted – I think our supporters took it for granted,” said Groat, who has now won 11 titles as St. Philip coach. “I’ve had many people say, ‘Oh, you’re always going to win state. St. Phil, we’re tired of St. Phil, they recruit.’ We don’t recruit, our numbers are going down – we have 10 total players in our program. … We preach about it at the start of every year, our goal is to win a state title. That’s what you want to strive for, and these kids believed in it.”
It took everything the Tigers had to get No. 21, as Oakland Christian pushed them deep into the fifth set. The back-and-forth final frame ended with a Lancer attack going long, followed by St. Philp jubilation.
“It was mentally and physically draining,” said St. Philip junior Brooke Dzwik, who had 37 kills in the match. “But at the end of the day, when you work your tail off and leave it all on the court, it makes the reward so much greater. We were able to do it for our senior, Harleen, and we reminded the youngers of that multiple times in the huddles. Everybody just was working, and that helped.”
Groat looked to the sky before being embraced by her assistant coaches.
“It feels like the first time,” Groat said. “I’ll never forget (2005), that was my first title as coach, but this is extra special, with the break (because of COVID-19).
Volleyball teams, and all fall sports teams, paused activity for nearly two months because of rising COVID-19 metrics. Teams returned to practice two weeks ago and restarted the tournament with Quarterfinals on Tuesday.
Early on Saturday, it didn’t appear as if St. Philip would have much trouble collecting title No. 21. The Tigers rolled through the first set, winning 15 of the final 16 points. While the second was tighter, it was never in doubt, as Oakland Christian didn’t have any answers for the Tigers’ attack.
Midway through that set, after a back-row attack found a hole in the back of the Lancers’ defense, Dzwik had her 13th kill of the match. Oakland Christian, meanwhile, had scored 14 points as a team.
“She did all right,” Groat said with a laugh. “Brooke has been our main hitter this year, and today we kind of relied on her a lot. Besides Brooke, Harleen in the middle played a great game … to complement Brooke. But Brooke is an outstanding volleyball player. She sees the court so well, she wants it so bad, she pushes her teammates. I preach we’re a team, it’s not about individuals. We have 10 girls out there who bust their behind and help Brooke out.”
Oakland Christian flipped a switch in the third set, however, winning a back-and-forth affair to extend the match. They kept that momentum going in the fourth, turning what had looked like a St. Philip walkover into a toss-up.
“I didn’t want them to go down like this,” Oakland Christian coach Brian Theut said. “We’ve been through a lot of stuff this year, and this wasn’t how we were going to end it. Today, what was that final chapter going to be in the book that we wrote this year. I knew our seniors deserved a better way out, so I just kept telling them to hang in there. That third game, I knew if we could just get one, get a couple points in a row, I knew we had it. I just wanted to give us a chance, and that fifth set, it was anyone’s game. I wanted us to compete and show that we could.”
Oakland Christian was led by senior libero Olivia Colletti, who had 36 digs. Katie Hopkins had 27 assists, guiding a balanced Lancers attack, led by Anna Frazee’s 10 kills. Kylie Morga added nine kills, while Kaylee Page had eight.
“I am extremely proud of my team,” Page said. “This has been our dream, our goal, and we got to where we wanted. We may not have gotten the outcome we desired, but we laid it all out on the floor, every single girl – our whole bench, all our fans, our parents. We are so incredibly blessed to be where we are now, and that’s all I could ask for. Of course I want to win, but I’m proud of how we played.”
Dzwik added 32 digs to her match-high kill total. Rachel Myers had 51 assists, while Bailey Fancher had 29 digs, Kate Doyle had 20, and Deol had 16 kills.
PHOTOS: (Top) Battle Creek St. Philip’s Rachel Myers controls possession for the Tigers during the Division 4 Final. (Middle) Abigail Franey serves for Oakland Christian. (Click for more from Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)