Lowell Prepared for 1st Trip to Final Week
November 18, 2019
By Dean Holzwarth
Special for Second Half
LOWELL – The Lowell volleyball team has earned a trip to the season’s final week for the first time.
A beefed-up regular-season schedule helped pave the way toward school history – last week’s program-first Regional title and a spot in Tuesday’s Division 1 Quarterfinal at Jenison against No. 3 Mattawan.
Second-year Lowell coach Jordan Drake said strengthening the schedule was a focal point after bowing out in the District Final against eventual Division 1 runner-up Rockford last season.
“That was something I looked at with my coaching staff after losing to Rockford last season,” Drake said. “What can we change in order to not be in this situation again next year? I talked with my athletic director, and I said to put us in the hardest tournaments that we could.”
The No. 2-ranked Red Arrows haven’t shied away from playing against, and beating, the top teams in the state en route to a stellar 53-3 record. Lowell has wins over seven more of the top 10 in the final Division 1 coaches poll, plus the top two ranked teams in Division 2 and No. 1 team in Division 3. The Red Arrows early this season handed Division 1 No. 1 Farmington Hills Mercy its only loss (although, it should be noted, Mercy was playing without senior hitter Jess Mruzik, who was in Egypt with the U.S. U-18 national team and was back when Mercy won a rematch with Lowell last month).
“I knew we had a good team last year, but we just weren’t battle-tested,” said Drake, whose team also won the first conference title in school history last season.
“Playing Mercy, Grand Rapids Christian, Lake Orion, Hudsonville, Lakewood and Schoolcraft that are championship-contending teams, those are the conversations that you want to be in and the matches you want to be in throughout the whole season so when you get to this point you feel like you’ve been there before. I think it’s been a huge difference-maker for our kids.”
Senior middle hitter Meghan Meyer, who’s recorded 438 kills and 74 blocks, said the improved quality of their schedule has paid dividends.
“Coach put us in tournaments where we could be exposed to those good teams more so we would be experienced and ready for when it came to moments like this,” she said. “That really showed us what we’re capable of doing.”
Lowell defeated No. 4 Hudsonville 3-1 in the Regional Final. It was a gratifying win that accomplished a season-long goal, while also avenging two of the Red Arrows' losses this fall.
“The girls were ecstatic, and winning Regionals was obviously one of the goals we had set out for ourselves this season,” Drake said. “It’s right where we want to be, and we’re taking this thing one game at a time and we’re looking forward to a great competition with Mattawan. It’s going to be another tough battle like the road we’ve had. It’s been just a grind.”
Junior outside hitter Jenna Reitsma, who leads the team with 795 kills to go along with 379 digs and 82 aces, was thrilled to pull off another program first.
“We were all just really excited, and we worked really hard to get here,” Reitsma said. “We wanted to get past that milestone, especially since our school hadn’t done it before, so it was exciting to make history and work hard together to get that win.”
The Red Arrows returned eight players this fall from a year ago. However, experience alone wasn’t going to be enough to help the team meet heightened expectations.
The intangibles also needed to be developed.
“I definitely thought we could reach this level, but it was a matter of them wanting to put the work in,” Drake said. “There was a lot of things we still had to get better at from last year, and that included taking game by game and growing from our losses against tough teams.”
Still, the five-set loss to Rockford that ended their 2018 season provided perfect motivation.
“I know when we were playing different teams we kept that loss in the back of our minds,” Meyer said. “We used that as willpower to push through. It was hard losing to them, and we remembered that. We pushed ourselves harder.”
Other key contributors for the Red Arrows include junior setter Sophie Powell (1,446 assists) and junior libero Emma Hall (476 digs).
“We have never been this far in Lowell history, but we’re just going to work our hardest,” Meyer said. “It’s going to be a good game, and I believe we’re ready.”
Dean Holzwarth covered primarily high school sports for the Grand Rapids Press and MLive for 16 years and more recently served as sports editor of the Ionia Sentinel and as a sports photojournalist for WZZM. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Allegan, Kent and Ottawa counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Lowell hitters await the serve during the St. Johns Invitational on Oct. 5, where the Red Arrows went 6-0. (Middle) Meghan Meyer (5) loads up for a kill attempt. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Performance: Notre Dame Prep's Maddy Chinn
September 14, 2017
Maddy Chinn
Pontiac Notre Dame Prep junior - Volleyball
Notre Dame Prep, one of the elite programs in Michigan with two Class B titles over the last decade, is ranked No. 1 again with a record of 24-2-2. The Fighting Irish have played 12 state-ranked teams – 10 ranked in Class A – and Saturday downed Class A No. 7 Temperance Bedford in the semifinal and then reigning Class C champion and top-ranked Bronson in the final to win the Battle Creek Lakeview Invitational. Chinn had 14 kills in the two-set semifinal and 21 in the three-set championship match to earn the first Michigan Army National Guard “Performance of the Week” of the 2017-18 school year.
The 6-foot-3 outside hitter has been on varsity since freshman year, participating in three rotations starting out, five last season and now all six. She made the Class B all-state second team as a freshman and the first team last season – and this fall she’s averaging 4.3 kills per game with a .339 hitting percentage and .453 kill percentage. But she contributes all over the floor, serving for 105 points and 36 aces in 63 games so far, with 48 blocks and 167 digs as well. Her 682 kills as a sophomore qualified for the MHSAA record book for a single season, and her 1,484 career kills through Wednesday already make that list as well although she has the better part of two seasons to play. Chinn should finish as one of the most celebrated players to take the court for longtime coach Betty Wroubel, the third-winningest volleyball coach in MHSAA history.
Chinn has earned national recognition as well and committed to sign next year with Purdue University, currently ranked No. 15 by the American Volleyball Coaches Association. She carries a 4.0 grade-point average and plans to major in dentistry when that time comes; in the meantime, she’ll try to lead Notre Dame Prep to its first MHSAA title since 2013 and after the Irish fell in a Regional Semifinal last season to eventual champion North Branch.
Coach Betty Wroubel said: “Yes, being 6-3 helps in volleyball, but height alone isn’t going to get it done. She’s a student of the game, she works hard in the game, and it’s so much more than stats. Her leadership on and off the court is exemplary, up there with the top kids I’ve worked with. And it’s not just hitting; she wants to be the best defender, she wants to be the best server, she wants to do it all. She has a high volleyball IQ, and her biggest improvement has been her ability to read what the other team is doing offensively, what they’re trying to do to stop her … for someone so young to be able to see that, it’s pretty special.”
Performance Point: “In practice, we've been putting a lot of work in, not just calling the ball, but letting each other know what spots are open and analyzing the other side of the net to find and expose the other team's weaknesses,” Chinn said. “We've been working really hard on that, and I thought that came together a lot to help us be in the finals. My (biggest contribution is) communication, to deliver the information that I see to each individual teammate in a unique way which is best for them … I want to be someone they can look to for calmness and confidence in us as a team, especially in pressure situations. The Bronson game, I think we mentally and physically prepared ourselves to play them. I thought we just really performed well and were in sync.”
Time to lead: “As my role has expanded on the court, I’d say my vocalization on the court has expanded too. The more I’ve been on the court, the more I can express to my teammates some shots they can hit, what we can be reading, and I feel like the more I’m on the court, the more I can help my teammates – which is really important to me. Being a good teammate, I think, includes putting them in the most successful position they can be in.”
Another year wiser: “The game is slowing down even when we play high-level competition. For example, the Mercy game I saw things I wouldn’t have seen a year ago, like reading their shoulders and their arms and where they’re facing and their hips and anticipating what’s going to happen next. And being there before they even know where they’re going to put the ball.”
Learning from a legend: “Honestly, it's an honor to be an athlete and to have (Wroubel) as my coach. I've learned so much over the three years already I've been here. I can't say I go a day without learning something new or adjusting something that will help me now and in the future.”
Paging Dr. Chinn: “I’m going to major in dentistry. I think it would be really interesting, and I could do some good things in that area. I’ve always been into the medical field, and I think being an orthodontist – I’m really into math and sciences – I think that would be a great place for me.”
- Geoff Kimmerly, Second Half editor
Every week during the 2017-18 school year, Second Half and the Michigan Army National Guard will recognize a “Performance of the Week" from among the MHSAA's 750 member high schools.
The Michigan Army National Guard provides trained and ready forces in support of the National Military Strategy, and responds as needed to state, local, and regional emergencies to ensure peace, order, and public safety. The Guard adds value to our communities through continuous interaction. National Guard soldiers are part of the local community. Guardsmen typically train one weekend per month and two weeks in the summer. This training maintains readiness when needed, be it either to defend our nation's freedom or protect lives and property of Michigan citizens during a local natural disaster.
PHOTOS: (Top) Pontiac Notre Dame Prep's Maddy Chinn receives the ball during a match this fall. (Middle) Chinn rises to begin her swing on a kill attempt. (Photos by Kim Bucchi.)