Kestrels Prove to be Champions Again
November 17, 2012
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
BATTLE CREEK – Taylor Vuich and her teammates have learned to ride the wave of a good omen.
And so, when her hotel room was the first among Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central’s to wake up Saturday morning, and their favorite song was playing when they flipped on the radio, the Kestrels just knew “today was the day.”
Saturday was the day St. Mary got back the MHSAA Class C championship after coming within three points of a second-straight title one year ago.
The Kestrels claimed their second championship in three seasons and fourth overall with a 25-14, 24-26, 25-10 and 25-9 win over first-time finalist Traverse City St. Francis at Kellogg Arena.
“We got all the way here last year, (played) two and half hours, and then it just slipped away from us,” Vuich said. “They were a great team, but I think we knew this year that this is what we wanted. We wanted to prove to everyone that we’re state champions.”
It’s fair to call the 2011 Class C Final epic. All five games were decided by three or fewer points, with Morley-Stanwood claiming the last 15-12.
With now five championship game appearances over the last 11 seasons, it’s also fair to say the Kestrels (49-6) set high expectations heading into every fall – even if that might’ve turned a little dangerous earlier this week.
“When we talk about goals at the beginning of the year, they talk about getting back here,” St. Mary coach Diane Tuller said of her players. “I talk about the first game of the season, (that) this is where we want to be midway and this is where we want to be toward the end; this is what we need to keep working on. That’s the important thing to me. They set those goals, and I have to keep bringing them back.
“I think we overlooked the team we played in the Quarterfinals (Auburn Hills Oakland Christian). It was our worst game of the year. Everything shut down. … (But) our senior captains really wanted it, and they kept them focused. I gave them the job of keeping this team together.”
And they got back together quickly after the Gladiators took a close second set.
St. Mary scored the first 10 points of the third game and then jumped out to a 10-1 lead in the fourth.
And when junior McKenzie Todd and sophomore Cassandra Haut combined to simultaneously crush the winning point straight into the floor, it was a strong lasting impression of how those last two games had gone.
Haut, an all-state honorable mention as a freshman, finished with a team-high 16 kills from her powerful right arm. Vuich, swinging a hammer with her left, added 13 kills and eight digs, and Todd had 10 kills.
Senior Claire McMillan had 46 assists, tied for ninth-most in a Final since the beginning of the rally scoring era in 2004-05. Junior Kelsey Geiman – beating the previous record by five (and the record from before rally scoring by seven).
"We are really deep, in all our players. We have a lot of good hitters on our team,” Haut said. “We can always count on anyone on our team.”
St. Francis finished 42-8-3, impressive all the more because co-coaches Heather Simpson and Rita Jones didn't take over until a month before practice began.
They moved up from coaching the junior varsity after the former varsity coach resigned to take another full-time job.
“Our kids don’t quit, and I don’t think how we played today is really a reflection of how good we were, or are,” Simpson said. “From that aspect, it’s disappointing. But hats off to them. They’re a good team, and we are too, but we couldn't match them.”
St. Francis senior Bridget Bussell just missed getting into the Finals records as well, with her 18 kills just two short of that list. She also had six digs, and senior setter Katilyn Hegawald had seven and 26 assists.
“We just never got into our groove, except for the game we won,” Bussell said.
(But) we knew we were here for a reason, so we tried as hard as we could to keep pushing.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Monroe St. Mary sophomore Cassandra Haut (13) covers a kill attempt by Traverse City St. Francis during the Class C Final. (Middle) St. Francis senior Kaitlyn Hegawald (9) prepares to set up teammate Olivia Hardy (4).
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.