Marian Avenges Season's Lone Loss in Clinching 3rd-Straight Title
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
November 19, 2022
BATTLE CREEK – Izzy Busignani spent most of the Division 1 Volleyball Final on Saturday smashing the ball through the court at Kellogg Arena.
But when it came time to close out Bloomfield Hills Marian’s third straight title, the sophomore went with finesse.
“I saw a triple block in front of me, and I saw that the defense was back on their heels, so I knew that if I tipped it short, it would either be out of system or it would go straight down,” Busignani said. “I was just kind of watching it and waiting to see what the result was.”
Busignani’s 27th kill on the day was a tip over the block that the Northville back line couldn’t control, ending a 22-25, 25-22, 25-22, 25-11 victory for Marian.
The win avenged top-ranked Marian’s only loss of the season, and gave the program its fifth Finals title.
“The biggest thing we talked about is that this is our home court,” Marian coach Mayssa Cook said. “Yes, we were the home team on the scoreboard, but we’ve been here now, our third year in a row, so this is our home court, and we knew we had that advantage. We had the experience of playing on this stage, in this gym. We know the way it smells, it looks, it feels, all that stuff.”
That experience came through in the third set, when Northville (47-4) looked to be in command, taking a 19-12 lead. The Kalamazoo Christian student section – waiting for its team to play in the Division 3 Final – had even joined the smaller group of students from Northville to put some more energy behind the Mustangs.
But Marian (49-1) got its own boost from the Pewamo-Westphalia students section, and rattled off seven straight points – six on the serve of senior Lauren Heming – to put Northville on its heels. Not long after, a pair of kills from Busignani closed out a 25-22 set and gave Marian a 2-1 lead.
“That’s not the first time that’s happened,” Marian senior setter Ava Sarafa said of the student section invasions. “Last year we were staying at the same hotel and we had multiple schools come and watch us from the stands. I thought the Marian students did a really good job of being loud, but adding that student section on both sides upped the amount of momentum that each team had. It didn’t increase the pressure, but it also just lightens the vibe and makes you really pumped up. It also fueled us a lot, having that extra support on our side.”
From there, Marian would roll, dominating the fourth set on its way to the title.
“I think they got mad,” Northville coach Sarah Lindstrom said of Marian. “A team like that, when they’re angry, is a scary team. You just kind of saw them realize, ‘We’re not going to let Northville do this to us.’ That’s at least how it felt for us. You have to give kudos to Mayssa for controlling their emotion and realizing a team that can be down to a team as good as mine, to get that many points and come back, you have to give credit to them.”
Busignani’s 27 kills led the Marian attack, and she also added 20 digs, tied for the team lead with Heming, who added four aces. Schomer added 14 kills and 17 digs, while Sarafa had 45 assists and 10 digs, and Molly Banta had 14 digs and three aces.
“Kids that don’t normally make spectacular digs and defensive plays were making them,” Cook said. “It was so beautiful to finally see us play the kind of defense – and I won’t name what schools – but there’s many times this season I said, ‘So and so plays defense like that,’ or ‘Their program is playing defense consistently point for point, there’s no reason we’re not, other than we’re choosing not to.’ It was so beautiful to see all our hitters be huge contributors in set 3 and 4, and all our defenders be contributors. Every kid went on a serving run. More than any year, this has felt like a true team effort.”
The Marian defense struggled to solve Northville star hitter Abby Reck early in the match, and she still managed to finish with 21 kills. But Marian eventually found a way.
“They started scrapping, they got a closed block,” Reck said. “We were out of system a lot. They started serving super aggressive, so our pass faltered a little bit. As soon as that happened, they can set up and it’s pretty hard to hit around. They’re a great team.”
Reck added 19 digs and three aces for Northville, which was making its first Finals appearance. Avry Nelson had 12 kills and three blocks, Taryn Rice had 20 digs, and Greta McKee and Ashlee Gnau each had 13.
PHOTOS (Top) Bloomfield Hills Marian’s Mckenzie Swanson (5) and Izzy Busignani (16) put up a block during the Mustangs’ Division 1 championship match win Saturday. (Middle) Northville’s Abby Reck (17) sends a kill attempt at Swanson and Ella Schomer (12). (Below) Marian celebrates its third-straight Finals victory.
TC Central Upholding Program Standards with Eye on MHSAA Tournament Goal
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
November 8, 2024
Traverse City Central’s volleyball team is living the dream.
More aptly put, the Trojans are living the vision — that of third-year coach Emily Wilbert.
Central is 36-1-1 entering Saturday’s Division 1 District Final against Mount Pleasant and coming off a 25-22, 25-15, 25-13 win over crosstown rival Traverse City West. That was the Trojans’ fourth win over West this season and kept them on track to achieve perhaps their biggest goal – to advance in the playoffs farther than any volleyball team in the school’s history.
They are moving along living their vision clearly spelled out by Wilbert in a preseason letter to her team.
“I wrote a letter and read it to the 12 varsity players that made the 2024 varsity team the night we finished cuts,” Wilbert recalled. “In my letter I talked about standards. I talked to them about three things that were non-negotiable and that are all within their control – working hard, having a good attitude and supporting your teammates.”
Central wears a warm-up T-shirt every game with the words “WORK, ATTITUDE, SUPPORT.” The shirt was designed by captains Elyse Heffner and Marley Richmond, the only seniors on the squad, which is also coming off a third-straight Big North Conference championship. A third-straight District title is now in immediate site.
“We are starting to reap the benefits of our culture and our process,” Wilbert said this week as the Trojans entered postseason play. “We are committed to excellence in all we do. We are disciplined to the process and committed to the team – if we do these things, the results we want will follow.”
The Trojans will play one game at a time, but the result they really want is to win a Regional title for the first time. If they do that, they could get a chance to meet one of the teams that knocked them out of the playoffs the last two years – Rockford, which won its District again this year. Grand Haven, which knocked the Trojans out last year, already has been eliminated this week.
“We’ve made it to the Regional Final once before and our coach has told us our school, our volleyball team, has never won a Regional Final,” said Heffner, a dominating outside hitter for the Trojans. “We can’t look ahead. We have to focus on the games in front of us. We still have Districts.”
Heffner led the Trojans over West with 15 kills, 11 digs, one ace and one block. Richmond, the team’s setter, had 31 assists, 10 digs and two kills.
Central’s lone loss this year was to Rockford in an early-season tournament. While trying not to look ahead, a postseason win over the Rams would be special.
“I think it would be cool to get a chance to play Rockford again,” admitted Richmond. “Our previous times playing them, we haven’t been fully ourselves.”
The only other time Central was not victorious this year was in pool play of a tournament against Grand Rapids Catholic Central. Both teams took a game for a two-set draw, but Central advanced out of the pool play. The two teams met again later this season in another tournament pool play match, and the Trojans won both games.
Coming off an undefeated conference season, the Trojans are concentrating again on Mount Pleasant. They defeated Mount Pleasant 25-17, 25-20, at their home quad late last month. The District Final will be played back at Central. The Oilers defeated Cadillac in their semifinal at Cadillac. Central’s semifinal was at West.
The Trojans have won all of their matches at home this year. They’re excited to get back on the home court, where their coach also played for the Trojans. Wilbert enjoys coaching in the Trojans’ gym as much as she enjoyed playing there; it’s her favorite place to play.
“I love being a TCC Trojan alumni,” Wilbert proclaimed. “It feels special to have been part of this program, played four years on varsity and now to be coaching the varsity team.”
Wilbert started coaching JV volleyball at Central in 2010. When you add in the time watching her sister also play for Central, she’s been “connected to the program for over 25 years.”
During those 25 she also coached some JV at West and took a break to have twins, daughter Avery and son Grady, now age 6. She has hopes Avery will someday play volleyball for the Trojans.
Wilbert measures Central’s success by more than victories, although she’s quick to point out she’s a competitive person who likes to win.
“Coaching gives me the chance to unlock a young person’s potential to maximize their growth, teach them the skills and give them the tools to be successful as a student-athlete and beyond,” Wilbert said. “I encourage them and believe in them so they can believe in themselves and create memorable moments and memories they will cherish for a lifetime.”
Heffner and Richmond have provided strong leadership for the Trojans both on and off the court. Coming into District play, Heffner led the team in serving aces (70) and kills (456). She was also second in digs with 253. Richmond was tops during the regular season in assists with 889 and second in aces at 50.
Erica Heffner, a sophomore, came into the postseason with 252 kills and 230 digs. Junior Sydney Richmond was leading the teams in digs at 265. The Trojans were also getting strong serving from freshman Macaire Kudary.
Win or lose in the days ahead, the Trojans will hold their heads high and recall a fun season.
“We’ve had an incredible season,” Wilbert said. “It’s got to be fun. When your work hard and put in the time, the results sort of come.”
Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Traverse City Central players, including Elyse Heffner (6), Adelae Nelesen (10) and Bella Hernalsteen (11) huddle before the start of a match this season. (Middle) Central’s Macaire Kudary (12) attempts to put a ball over a Cadillac block. (Below) The Trojans’ Marley Richmond (2) attempts a one-handed block against Gaylord. (Photos by Ryan Hernalsteen Photography.)