Gabriel Richard Achieves Volleyball Perfection
November 21, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
BATTLE CREEK – Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard finished the final set of the 2015 MHSAA volleyball season Saturday evening the same way it finished every match beginning in mid-August.
As the winner.
Gabriel Richard became the first undefeated MHSAA volleyball champion since Marysville in Class B in 1999, sweeping reigning champion North Branch 3-0 – 25-21, 25-14, 25-19.
The Fighting Irish – eliminated in a Quarterfinal a year ago – took on and beat many of the best in Michigan this fall. The perfect run included victories over five ranked teams in Class B and three of the top four in Class A including champion Novi.
"I remember our first practice when we made goals for ourselves: beat this team, make it to states. And I think we surprised ourselves to actually go through the season undefeated,” Gabriel Richard junior outside hitter Jurnee Tipton said. “We always had the talent last year, but I don’t think we knew what to do with it as much. This year, working on that and working on being focused, helped us.
“I think our talent was always there. We just needed to know how to work with it.”
And that said, Tipton admitted it still hadn’t sunk in what she and her teammates had accomplished. Coach Mayssa Bazzi said it might not for years to come.
That makes sense – the youngest Irish (42-0) might not have been born when Marysville completed its perfect 1998-99 run.
Gabriel Richard was among the final eight in Class B last season, finishing 22-7-1. But a series of wins this fall – first over Novi in the second tournament of the season, then over Class A semifinalist Grand Rapids Christian in the final at the Beast of the East tournament in October – convinced anyone watching that Gabriel Richard might have history-making in its future.
“My team has blown my expectations out of the roof,” Gabriel Richard senior Emily Tanski said. “I’m so thankful.”
The Irish lost only four sets all season and none during the MHSAA Tournament, even as expectations and anticipation continued to build.
“There’s been a little more pressure after each match this season. It just kept building and building and building,” Bazzi said. “The biggest thing is the composure of this team. I don’t think we take the pressure on the court with us. I think we feel it when we’re off the court and we’re anxious and we just want to play. When we’re on the court, we’re just in our element.”
In only three sets Saturday, Tipton had 26 kills hitting an incredible .658 with only one error. Tanski added 23 kills, and junior Emma Nowak had 50 assists – fifth-most in an MHSAA Final.
Junior Olivia Fike had 13 kills and freshman Allyson Severance had 11 to lead the Broncos (57-12-2).
North Branch coach Jim Fish said his team tried to leave other hitters open to persuade Gabriel Richard to go away from its big two. The Irish didn’t follow.
Gabriel Richard never trailed in a set by more than three points, and scored 14 straight points – the final five of the second set and first nine of the third.
“We played maybe the best we played all year, and we still couldn’t (stop them),” Fish said. “I’m glad we didn’t give up. I told them, that’s what they do. They just wear on you and teams give up. We’re not going to give up.
“We battled the whole time. We did not give up. That third game says a lot; we got back within four. We made them earn it. That is one of the best teams – I’ve been doing this a long time – one of the best teams I’ve seen. They’re just really good.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Gabriel Richard players rush toward coach Mayssa Bazzi as she presents the Class B championship trophy. (Middle) Emily Tanski (3) pushes a ball over the net for the Fighting Irish.
White Pigeon's West Finds Multi-Success
By
Wes Morgan
Special for MHSAA.com
September 5, 2017
Before most high school students have blistered their fingertips on a hot Pop-Tart in a rush to get out the door and to school on time, White Pigeon sophomore Claycee West has already completed a rigorous cross country workout.
It’s not for love of the sport that West logs miles at 5:10 a.m. with longtime Chiefs coach Pete Mestelle. She doesn’t even like the sport. But with volleyball also demanding her precious time, the two-sport fall athlete gets in her workouts whenever she can. And in this case, it’s before the sun comes up.
When that doesn’t work with her packed schedule, she’ll squeeze in a run when the nets and the sun start to come down.
West, who had a phenomenal freshman year, which included a scholar-athlete award on top of three varsity letters and a trio of Berrien-Cass-St. Joseph Conference all-league team nods in volleyball, basketball and track & field, made the mature decision to tack on another athletic endeavor in order to see improvement in all the others.
“It’s just keeping me in shape,” said West, who also participates in club volleyball and basketball during the offseasons. “(Mestelle) really got me in shape for track season and he has put a lot of work into me. I couldn’t do anything without him. He’s helping me tremendously.”
It works both ways. Mestelle’s girls cross country teams in recent years have struggled to put enough runners on the course to register team scores. This year, though, the Division 4 Chiefs have more than 10 girls on the roster. West, with no long distance running experience, is already vying for the top spot.
She may not reap the same rewards right away as she did in her other sports, but West’s competitive nature won’t allow her to be just a participant.
“She is probably going to be our No. 1 or No. 2 runner,” Mestelle said. “It’s going to help her with her mind. It’s not just running; you have to think about what you’re doing. Her form has really come a long ways.”
West is grateful to Mestelle for making himself available so early in the morning and the commitment required to make playing two sports at once possible.
Mestelle made light of his pre-dawn pledge.
“It helps keep me young,” he said.
West is a middle and outside hitter for the volleyball team, she’s the returning point guard and leading scorer for the basketball team and she qualified for the 2017 Lower Peninsula Division 4 MHSAA Track & Field Finals in both the 200 and 400 meters last spring. Her time of 1 minute, 00.89 seconds in the 400 was good for seventh place and all-state status.
In hoops, West scored 236 points as a rookie with 43 assists, 58 steals, 14 blocks and 89 rebounds.
But cross country is an entirely new challenge.
“I love to win, and I’m very competitive,” West said. “Honestly, at first (in cross country) I wasn’t trying to win. We had our first meet last week and I did OK. It killed me to see how I did compared to how I perform in other sports. I think that will change because I want to win. It’s hard for me because I dislike running, so it’s a mental challenge more than anything.”
It may sound contradictory, but West claims the demanding schedule keeps her fresh mentally and physically.
“I think the biggest thing is that I don’t wear myself out,” she said. “I love what I do, but if I do one thing for way too long, I’m going to get tired of it. I love so many different things that it’s easy for me to change it up. It works out my body differently. I don’t overwork myself just in one area.”
In a time when the topic of sports specialization in high school is heavily debated, West is a case study in how a multi-sport experience has far more benefits than that of a one-track approach. And for a small school such as White Pigeon, that attitude is vital to fielding competitive squads.
“So driven,” White Pigeon girls basketball coach Brooke McClure said of West. “She works really hard. Anything you want in a kid, a student-athlete, she’s it. She’s been like this since she was a little girl. We’re really fortunate to have her. She inspires other girls to do better in school and in sports.”
Wes Morgan has reported for the Kalamazoo Gazette, ESPN and ESPNChicago.com, 247Sports and Blue & Gold Illustrated over the last 12 years and is the publisher of JoeInsider.com. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Berrien, Cass, St. Joseph and Branch counties.
PHOTOS: White Pigeon's Claycee West awaits a serve during a volleyball match. (Middle) West works to get around a defender during last basketball season. (Photos courtesy of Wes Morgan.)