Eye of a Tiger, Will of a Champion
November 6, 2012
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The game was supposed to be fun with a little competition mixed in. That’s the general idea behind students vs. staff volleyball games like the one Vicky Groat stopped to watch during Battle Creek’s Catholic Schools week a few years ago.
But the tallest girl on the court, eighth-grader Amanda McKinzie, showed a little something extra that day – a desire the seven-time MHSAA champion coach continues to admire.
"There were some other kids in her class that were playing that were volleyball players, but (I thought) ‘She’s got it,’” Groat remembered last week. “She understands the game. She knows it’s joking around. But there’s that serious side to her, that competitive side. That’s cool.
“I remember sitting back (later), standing there going, that’s the competitive drive that I saw in her in eighth grade. Hopefully that continues for years to come.”
The 6-foot outside hitter enters the final two weeks of her high school career tonight ranking among the MHSAA all-time leaders in kills and aces, and as one of 10 candidates for this season’s Miss Volleyball Award handed out by the Michigan Interscholastic Volleyball Coaches Association. The Second Half High 5 recipient this week has helped the Tigers to the last three Class D championships and is a big part why they are considered the state’s best team in any class as they pursue one more title before she heads off next season to Virginia Tech.
That’s a mouthful. But this is a season – and career – that McKinzie began preparing for in first grade.
Like most girls who come through the Tigers’ program, that’s when McKinzie first became part of the St. Phil volleyball family. The eventual stars start early and follow the varsity growing up, attending MHSAA Finals and having their shirts autographed by the players they look up to and someday might replace.
By her admission, McKinzie looked up to everyone who played on those teams – although it was hard for the emerging hitter to not pay special attention to Allison Doyle, who graduated from St. Phil in 2006 and went on to an All-America career at Western Michigan.
The game that sticks out most was Doyle’s last, a five-set loss to eventual Miss Volleyball Alisha Glass and Leland in the 2006 Class D Final. St. Phil has won every Class D title since.
“I just remember that game, how crazy it was,” McKinzie said. “I never really thought, ‘Wow, some day that’s going to be me.’”
But Groat had an idea. She’d watched McKinzie during summer camps and as the junior high athletic director, and brought the then 5-9 hitter up to varsity as a freshman. McKinzie was a little erratic at that point – “I’d have games where I’d hit one out, get frustrated and keep swinging harder and it would not go where I wanted it to,” she said – but has turned into a kill machine.
She’s connecting on 49 percent of her kill attempts for the second straight season – a far cry from her 22 percent efficiency as a freshman – and is approaching her best season of 699 kills. She already has posted career highs of 429 digs, 41 blocks and 130 aces.
And it’s not like she’s built her numbers against meager competition. No small-school team in any sport takes on the biggest powers like the Tigers do each fall. They are 68-2-1, with those losses coming during the second weekend of the season to Class A No. 9 Livonia Churchill and then two weeks ago to Class A No. 1 Richland Gull Lake after St. Phil had beaten the Blue Devils the week before. The tie came against Class B No. 6 Wayland.
McKinzie also played basketball through her sophomore season, and started, before focusing solely on volleyball. The drive to win that Groat noticed long ago stretches into just about everything, even “the little things.” McKinzie joked that she’d like to win more at ping-pong – but then explained, ‘No, I’m pretty good at that too.”
That scenario mentioned by McKinzie above – the shots sailing beyond her control – still happens sometimes. But she’s learned control. She’s tough to stop because she’s so powerful. Groat said “she’s kinda mean” before laughing immediately. But the confidence McKinzie has built over the last four seasons is obvious every time she takes the floor.
“I just feel it. I kinda get nervous in a way, a nervous exciting feeling,” McKinzie said. “That’s my favorite way to play.”
PHOTO: Battle Creek’s St. Philip’s Amanda McKinzie blocks a hit during last season’s Class D Semifinals at Kellogg Arena.
P-W's Miss Volleyball Smith Shows What's Possible, But More Goals Await
By
Steve Vedder
Special for MHSAA.com
November 21, 2023
Don't get Taylor Smith wrong: Volleyball is, without doubt, her greatest passion.
It's just that Smith's ultimate goals for herself include far more than being defined by athletics.
The Pewamo-Westphalia senior, named the first Lansing-area winner of the state’s Miss Volleyball Award, said her work in a variety of areas outside of volleyball is as equally rewarding as excelling on the court.
"I just want to be known as an all-around good person," Smith said. "That's what makes me feel real good. If you work hard at something, that's what makes you feel good about yourself."
In addition to becoming the 20th Miss Volleyball, Smith is a three-time all-stater and the foundation of an outstanding Pirates program which has won three league titles over the last four years, four Districts and Regionals, the Division 3 championship a year ago and finished with a 53-2 record this season.
The remarkable team success aside, it comes as no surprise to P-W coach Jon Thelen that his star setter wants to be known for more than athletics. Smith works in special needs and peer mentoring programs within the school district. She carries a 3.98 grade point average and will continue her volleyball career next season at Eastern Michigan.
"She's the type of kid who just wants to give of herself," Thelen said. "She works her butt off on everything she does. She'll be one of those kids that you'll want to hire as an adult. She's a driven kid who has been a blessing to coach."
Smith's journey from fledging sixth-grade volleyball player to receiving the Michigan Interscholastic Volleyball Coaches Association's highest honor is a bit unconventional.
She began her volleyball career as an 11-year-old, moved on to the December-to-July club volleyball season where Smith estimates she's played in 50 tournaments over her career, and finally became the cornerstone of the P-W program.
A four-time all-conference and three-time volleyball all-stater, Smith said she gave up a moderate interest in basketball to throw herself into volleyball. She was a varsity starter as a freshman, began gaining notice from college coaches as a sophomore, and committed to Eastern Michigan in April of her junior season. She also considered Gannon University (Pa.) and Wright State among others.
Smith is the first to admit she was no immediate volleyball sensation. Smith believes her game has improved in increments since the sixth grade. The last two facets of her game to fall in place were improvements in attacking and location in setting the ball. Those finishing touches transformed Smith from an excellent high school player to one capable of playing at the Division I college level.
A connection can easily be made, Smith said, from her love of the game to the sport providing a sense of community pride.
"Volleyball means everything to me," she said. "But it's not just playing volleyball, it's the sense of school and community I have from playing. I think that's helped my life in general. Overall, volleyball is fun and I love playing. But there is also that connection you have with community. That's important to me, too."
Smith said she began thinking playing volleyball at the next level would be possible after her freshman year of high school, That's when word began spreading that a school of 300 students possessed a 6-foot-1 setter who could help a college roster. But when Smith completed her own self-evaluations as a high school player, college seemed only a sketchy possibility lurking just over the horizon.
"Only because people told me I had a chance," Smith said of a college scholarship. "My game definitely needed work, and it wasn't just one thing. There were a lot of little things that came together for me."
The work has paid dividends. Smith's 165 points in the Miss Volleyball voting were 22 more than runner-up Zoey Dodd of Grandville. Smith said she considered herself a longshot in winning an award that recently has been dominated by Metro Detroit honorees. The last four played for Division 1 contenders.
This season’s Miss Volleyball ballot was filled mostly by candidates from the Grand Rapids area and also included representatives from Oakland County and the Thumb.
"I'm not kidding you; I didn't really think I had a chance. I was just happy to be in the top 10," she said. "When you see the (nominations), you see that there are a lot of good volleyball players in the state. I'm in a state of shock that I won."
Thelen said Smith winning the award is a statement about what players from smaller schools can accomplish. It's not about bigger always being better, he said.
"The neat thing is someone from a smaller school won it," Thelen said. "I think now those kids can go, 'I can do this.' You don't need to be at a bigger school to be represented on the big stage."
PHOTOS (Top) Taylor Smith (11) sets to her teammates during Pewamo-Westphalia’s 2022 Division 3 championship win at Kellogg Arena. (Middle) Smith accepts her medal.