Brown City Aiming High Following 1st Final
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
August 15, 2017
Kendal Muxlow offered nothing but praise when asked about the Brown City volleyball class of 2017, which left the school as the most successful in program history.
She raved about her graduated teammates’ leadership, work ethic and ability to raise up every player around them as they led the Green Devils to three Regional titles, two Semifinal appearances and a Class C runner-up finish over the past three seasons.
But while Muxlow was certainly fond of playing with Becki Krause, Alexia Mason, Breigha Donnelly, Jasmin Bender and Haley Bandemer, she’s less fond of constantly being reminded they’re gone.
“I have. I have heard (they’re gone),” the Brown City junior said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “In practice, they held us to that standard, they expected state-bound team stuff during practice. We all got along well in practice and everything, and as much as they wanted to succeed, they wanted everyone to be a part of it also.
“Since I’ve been a freshman, we’ve been trying to get lots of girls in the gym to get them excited to want to be part of the program. We had a lot of people come up and want to get in the gym. It’s a lot easier to get to where you want to go when you have girls that are excited about the program.”
For Brown City, that destination remains the same in the short-term: Kellogg Arena for the MHSAA Class C Final. That’s where the Green Devils, who hadn’t won a Regional title before 2014, landed a year ago for the first time before falling to Bronson in four games.
Taking a longer view, however, this season represents a chance for Brown City to keep working toward a larger goal: showing it’s a program that can consistently compete at the level it has for the past three seasons.
“I think that if that wasn’t my goal, I should probably step down from coaching,” said Brown City coach Jenna Welke, who is entering her fifth season directing the varsity. “I’ve told the girls all about building the program – not just a team, but a program. We have to show those younger girls what Brown City volleyball is all about and set that standard.”
Welke and her players do realize what they’re up against. They’ll be replacing 65 percent of their kills from a year ago, 94 percent of their assists, 67 percent of their blocks and 78 percent of their digs.
But they’re welcoming the challenge.
“We’re definitely a different team from last year,” Welke said. “They’re young, and yes, they’re inexperienced, but they’re willing to work hard. I think any coach is going take a more inexperienced team if they’re willing to work hard.”
Muxlow and Ann Schlaud return with the most experience, both having played significant roles throughout 2016, and taking the floor in the MHSAA championship game a year ago. While the other names and faces may be unknown to those outside the program, those within are confident they’re ready to step up.
“We have a lot of great players that were kind of not playing as much last year because of the key seniors we had,” Schlaud said.
The players are also confident in their coach, who happens to be a 2008 graduate of their biggest rival, Marlette, where she was a dominant athlete. Muxlow said the players don’t give their coach any grief about that, but Welke laughed when asked if she received any from elsewhere.
“I had such a great experience at Marlette, so I’ll always respect them – I think they have great programs,” Welke said. “I teach at Brown City now. I coach at Brown City now. So now I’m a Green Devil, but I’ll always have respect for them.
“I think it’s a friendly rivalry. We always respect each other, yet you don’t want to lose to them.”
Brown City is certainly happy to have her, as Welke, also a four-year player at Oakland University, has amassed a 144-43-18 record in four years, winning four Greater Thumb Conference East titles, four District titles and three Regional titles.
With results like those, it’s easy to see how players have bought into Welke’s system and the belief that building a dynasty in this small town is a possibility.
“She’s one of those coaches that in practice will push you to your absolute hardest, but also one of those coaches that if you have to sit down and talk with her about something, she will listen,” Muxlow said. “Since Coach Welke has been here, we’ve only been going up. She came and we’ve just been hanging more banners than we ever had.
“It’s easier when we have all these girls wanting to be part of the program, because she’s done that for the program.”
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) Brown City’s Kendal Muxlow (7) unloads a swing during last season’s Class C Semifinal against Adrian Madison. (Middle) Ann Schlaud (8) puts up a block against Madison. (Below) Brown City coach Jenna Welke instructs her team during the trip to Kellogg.
St. Phil's Winning Ways Lead to Summer Celebration, Fall Anticipation
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
August 24, 2021
BATTLE CREEK — Last season’s Division 4 championship gave Battle Creek St. Philip 11 over coach Vicky Groat’s 22 seasons leading the program.
But those stats are a bit off. They do not include the three Class D titles she won as a player at St. Phil, giving her 14 overall.
“We won three state titles with Mom in ’83, ’84, ’85 and were in the final four in ’82,” Groat said.
“Mom” is Sheila Guerra, who led the Tigers to nine Finals championships while guiding the program from 1982-1997. Together, the mother-daughter duo has accounted for 20 of the school’s MHSAA-record 21 state volleyball titles. (The first was under coach Becky Emrich in 1979.) Those 21 championships, in fact, are more than twice as many as any other volleyball program in the state, and the Tigers’ 30 MHSAA Finals appearances are 17 more than the next best achiever.
That incredible success was recognized in July when Groat was named the National High School Athletic Coaches Association’s Volleyball Coach of the Year.
Guerra died in May 2006. But Mom was very much on Groat’s mind as she received her award. While accolades, awards and championships continue to pile up, Groat said her mother is the foundation for it all.
“Mom always encouraged me, and there are still things I do today that she did,” Groat said. “It may be old school, but it still works.”
And the Tigers will have another strong chance this fall to show how.
Plenty to celebrate
Groat did not tell her players that she was a finalist for the award but they found out anyway, said senior standout Brooke Dzwik, an all-state first-team outside hitter last season.
“(The players) went on this camping trip up to Leland and stayed in Coach (Laurie) Glass’ backyard,” Dzwik said. “We were also with Notre Dame Prep and Bronson. Four winning coaches.”
Dzwik said Bronson coach Jean LaClair spilled the beans, telling the players the news.
“(The other coaches) were teasing (Groat) about having a speech prepared and she was like ‘No way,’” Dzwik said.
Groat texted her players a picture of herself with the trophy, and during the first day of tryouts in August, the girls welcomed the coach with a few signs, a balloon, a card and Mountain Dew, “her favorite,” Dzwik said.
“We were just overjoyed because no one deserves it more than her.
“She walked in (to the gym) and I think she was pretty happy, but she doesn’t like the attention on her so she will never admit it.”
After her mom retired after the 1996-97 season, Groat took over, stepped away for 1999-2000 but then returned to direct the Tigers again for the last two decades.
No one, including Groat, expected her team to win the Division 4 title after starting last season with a 23-13 record, just nine athletes on the team and no junior varsity to draw from in case of injury.
“I begged (current senior) Alex Kersten to come out — she’s a cross country runner — and she did,” Groat said.
After a two-month delay because of the pandemic a year ago, practice was held outside at Battle Creek’s Bailey Park.
“We started off in the sand, and we were grateful that we were even allowed to get together and see everyone’s faces for the first time,” Dzwik said.
“It was awful at first, but (playing in sand) definitely made our legs stronger by the end of the season, and we were thankful for it.”
This year, expectations are much higher.
The Tigers lost just one player, Harleen Deol, to graduation and return five seniors also including Rachel Myers, Alexis Snyder and Bailey Fancher. Fancher made the all-state third team last season at libero.
“I feel more pressure now,” Dzwik said. “We didn’t have an amazing record last year and then pulled out a win.
“This year, we do have a (championship) win, so we placed a target on our backs.”
This season already includes a “first” for St. Phil.
“For the first time in St. Phil history, we have an eighth grader, Charli Greger (on varsity),” Groat said. “We were under 100 students last year, so we could have eighth graders play this year.
“Right now, we’re at 100 (students) so next year we won’t be able to have eighth graders.”
Other players are juniors Maddie Hoelscher and Kate Doyle and sophomores Rylee Altman and Makenzee Grimm.
Groat also has a junior varsity team for the first time in two years – a really good thing, she said.
“Take out the five seniors next year and I’m left with four players if I don’t have a JV team,” she said. “We brought eighth graders up to the JV team with four freshmen.
“Never thought we’d have to do that, but we want a program. I couldn’t imagine not having a St. Phil volleyball team. That would be a sad day.”
Family tradition
While a student at St. Phil, Groat was coached by her mother in volleyball and track. In addition, Groat’s father Lou coached basketball at the school.
Her parents as her coaches was not always an easy combination for a young teen.
“It’s always the coach’s kid who gets the brunt of it.” Groat said. “I still remember one of my friends and I were fighting during volleyball and my mom was blaming me. I was like, what about her?
“In track if she had no one to run something, ‘Vicky, you’re going to do it.’ But it was fun.”
Groat, who is also principal and athletic director at the school, credits her parents for not only her coaching success, but her life skills.
“I learned from the best.” she said. “I try to carry both their philosophies in the way they treated people.
“My mom was tough on kids, but if anybody needed anything, she was the first one there. She pushed hard and had high expectations, but she really was a softie inside. People still don’t believe me on that.”
Groat relies on one other person who is like family: assistant coach Angela Williams Frost.
“We call her Willi,” Groat said. “She’s been a great assistant for 18 years. She was a head coach at Springport and could be a head coach anywhere in the state.
“She’s very talented and smart. It makes my job easier knowing that Willi is there. I’ll be in practice and someone will come to the door for me and Willi is there to take over.”
July’s recognition was a total surprise, Groat said, deflecting any accolades. But it also can be regarded as deserved praise for her work teaching an abundance of lessons she learned herself as part of the volleyball program and the Guerra coaching tree.
“It’s just so much about my kids, the kids who have been here and who have played in our system,” she said. “It’s not a big school; we have our traditions, and they buy into it. It’s been great.
“Hopefully over the years we, as coaches, have taught them the important things in life, the life lessons that they will carry on. Sports are an important part of it, but there are other things involved.”
Pam Shebest served as a sportswriter at the Kalamazoo Gazette from 1985-2009 after 11 years part-time with the Gazette while teaching French and English at White Pigeon High School. She can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Calhoun, Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Battle Creek St. Philip coach Vicky Groat holds up a picture of her mother, Sheila Guerra, with whom she’s combined to lead the Tigers to 20 of their 21 MHSAA Finals volleyball championships. (Middle) Senior Brooke Dzwik shows some of the signs she and teammates made to celebrate Groat’s national Coach of the Year recognition. (Below) Then-junior Bailey Fancher serves during last season’s Division 4 title match. (Top and middle photos by Pam Shebest.)