'Hot Hand' Helps Romeo Land Class A Title
November 22, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
BATTLE CREEK – Romeo volleyball coach Stacy Williams didn’t feel comfortable Saturday until her team needed only one more point to win the MHSAA Class A Final.
That made sense for a couple of reasons.
At that point in the fifth set, Romeo led Novi by five points. That was much more comfortable than when the Bulldogs were falling in the third and fourth games after winning the first two.
But the most sizable reason for her brief moment of relief was 6-foot-1 junior Gia Milana – the “hot hand” and talk of this season’s Finals at Kellogg Arena.
Like she had 28 times already, Milana rocketed one final kill to give Romeo its first MHSAA championship since 1997 with a 25-23, 25-22, 14-25, 25-27, 15-9 victory.
The Bulldogs entered the weekend with five hitters tallying at least 147 kills this season and talked of a plan to spread the attack. But Milana had 19 kills in a three-set Semifinal win over top-ranked Temperance Bedford, and her 29 Saturday tied for sixth-most in MHSAA Finals history since the start of rally scoring in 2004-05.
“The plan from the beginning was to spread the ball out like usual. We like covering our middles, confusing their blocks, but today it was feed the hot hand,” Milana said. “The hot hand wins.
“I wanted (the ball) to go to whoever would put it away, because all I wanted was to win. But feed the hot hand. That’s what (setter) Lauren (Korth) did, and we got it done.”
Romeo (45-8-1) took those final steps this season after making the Quarterfinals in 2013. Friday’s Semifinal was the team’s first since 1999; the Bulldogs entered the tournament ranked No. 8 but dispatched the No. 1 Kicking Mules 25-14, 25-23, 25-9.
Novi – playing in its first championship match – was No. 2 at the start of the postseason and had beaten Romeo in a tournament final during the regular season – although Romeo didn’t have a full lineup for that event. The Wildcats finished 54-6-1 after making the Semifinals for the second time in program history.
Milana had six kills in the final set, her second-most of the five although the fifth is played to only 15 points.
She had only two as Romeo, leading 2-0, dropped the third set to Novi, which then won the fourth despite 11 Milana kills.
That had to be a good sign for Novi, which also had dropped the first two sets in its Semifinal win over Grand Haven on Friday before coming all the way back.
“We played pretty disciplined defense. We’d done our scouting. We had shot charts where she likes the ball,” Novi coach Jennifer Cottrill said of Milana. “She just hit the ball so high, and our biggest player is 5-9ish, 5-10 maybe. She’s just hitting the ball over the block, and it wasn’t just her. That team passes well and sets her the ball where she needs it.”
Novi’s comeback came in part on the arm of junior Victoria Iacobelli, who had six of her team-high 19 kills during the third and fourth sets, and the defense of senior libero Jordan Massab, who had nine of her game-high 23 digs in those games.
With three kills by Milana, Romeo opened the fifth set up 7-2. Novi pulled to within two of the lead at 8-6, but two more Milana kills and four Novi errors turned into the Bulldogs’ closing 7-3 run.
“The balls didn’t drop. Ones we though we were going to score on, they picked those balls up,” Williams said of the third and fourth games. “What we lost in the third and fourth games was that first touch, the first ball, but that last game we really started passing the ball and getting it to our hitters.”
Korth, a senior, had 43 assists to go with 11 kills, 12 digs and five blocks for Romeo. Sophomore Jodie Kelly added 13 kills and 11 digs.
Junior Paulina Iacobelli and sophomore Alyssa Cummings both added 14 kills for Novi, and freshman Erin O’Leary’s 47 assists tied for seventh most in Finals history during the rally scoring era.
With so many key contributors on both sides expected to return, it would fair to anticipate these teams meeting in Battle Creek again in 2015.
“We have a lot of young players touching the ball a lot,” Cottrill said. “Just having this experience of being here and knowing what to expect will definitely help us.
PHOTOS: (Top) A pair of Romeo blockers wall off a Novi kill attempt during Saturday’s Class A Final against Novi. (Middle) Novi setter Erin O’Leary passes to a teammate. (Click for action photos and team photos from Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS:
NOVI IMPRESSES - Novi turned the tables in the third set against Romeo, winning in impressive style. Alyssa Cummings smashes the ball for the set point.
MILANA BRINGS IT HOME - Romeo captured the Class A crown in five sets over Novi, the winner coming on this kill by Gia Milana.
You can watch the whole game and order DVDs by Clicking Here.
Novi Holds On to Claim Class A Again
November 19, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
BATTLE CREEK – At the start of the second set Saturday, just like many times this season, Novi senior Ally Cummings stood surrounded on the court by teammates who still have another season of high school volleyball ahead of them.
During those rotations, Cummings was the only player on the floor who knew what it was like for the Wildcats to finish a season not in the Class A championship match.
They played in their third straight Saturday, and as it should be, against one of their toughest opponents this fall in Rockford. But that made Novi only enjoy the afternoon more, as it won its second straight championship by downing the Rams 3-1.
Adding in this fall’s 53-1 record, the Wildcats are 158-10 over the last three seasons. Cummings, senior Emmy Robinson and junior Erin O’Leary have been the lineup’s constants throughout the run.
“It just really comes down to the chemistry on the team,” Cummings said. “If you have an amazing team with amazing players, but the chemistry is off, you’re not going to be successful. The past four years I’ve played here, it’s been like family for us. So I’m sure even when I graduate, and these people start to graduate as well, it’s still going to be as successful.”
Novi – top-ranked entering the postseason for the second year in a row – talks about creating its own pressure and blocking out the “outside noise” of others’ expectations.
Trying to match this season’s success would be an impressive goal.
The lone loss was to No. 2 Clarkston, 2-1, and the Wildcats gave up only seven sets this season – including the second of the championship match to Rockford. Only No. 6 Northville in the District Final also took a set from Novi during the postseason.
During coach Jennifer Cottrill’s first two years running the program, 2012 and 2013, Novi won league titles but lost to Northville in District Finals.
“It’s overwhelming. (This success is) not something that you ever expect, not something that we ever really talk about,” Cottrill said. “We just try to stay in the moment. But if you take a step back, it’s amazing, and it’s all because of the players in the program who have changed the culture and have tremendous leadership skills, expectations of themselves and their teammates … and we’re a family.
“We love each other, from top to bottom, and we like to win. So that motivates you to keep winning, when you have that success.”
But Rockford didn't make adding to it easy Saturday.
The Rams (48-9-1) entered the postseason ranked No. 5 and had beaten four of the top 10 teams in Class A and the top two in Class B entering the weekend. Following junior setter Hailey Delacher, who had 43 assists, Rockford forced many of the 11 lead changes and 29 ties over the four sets before falling 25-23, 20-25, 25-22, 25-22.
Cottrill noted that Rockford’s quick sets and two strong middles in junior Olivia Rademacher (12 kills, five blocks) and senior Cassandra Smigel (11 kills, four blocks) gave her team the most trouble. Junior outside hitter Sara Majerle added 11 kills as well, and junior libero Mykayla Vallad had 27 digs.
“I think we are just a good team, and we are a very well-balanced team. Five good hitters and we play good defense, and I think we did a good job of blocking today as well,” said Rockford coach Kelly Delacher, also Hailey’s dad.
O’Leary had 33 assists, with junior Abryanna Cannon leading with 20 kills, Cummings adding 10 and four blocks and Robinson tallying seven blocks. Junior libero Claire Pinkerton had 21 digs.
In Cannon, O’Leary and Hailey Delacher, the Class A Final may have featured three candidates for next year’s Miss Volleyball Award – while setting up the potential for another narrative twist.
Novi faced Romeo in the 2014 Final and then again in 2015, losing the first time but winning the rematch. With both of Saturday’s finalists expected to return so much next fall, it wouldn’t be shocking to see them meet again with the championship on the line.
Combined, the teams graduate only nine seniors – five for Novi and four from Rockford.
“Those seniors provided us with great leadership, and we really got on their backs at the end of the season this year. They will be tough to replace,” Kelly Delacher said. “That being said, I have a great group of juniors and I’m excited about a couple of sophomores coming in. I feel like we can be competitive next year as well.”
Novi will be prepared.
“All they know is pressure. All they’ve known is that target on your back, everyone coming for you, you get everyone’s best game,” Cottrill said of her team. “So you get used to it, and you get stronger mentally playing with a target on your back. I’m not saying it’s easy. But you get accustomed to it.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Novi coach Jennifer Cottrill hoists the Class A championship trophy as her players surround her Saturday. (Middle) The Wildcats' Abryanna Cannon attempts to tip the ball over the net with Rockford's Olivia Rademacher (5) and Zoe Anderson (13) defending.