Marian Meets Championship Expectation in Finishing Repeat Run
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
November 20, 2021
BATTLE CREEK – Winning the MHSAA Division 1 Volleyball Finals title was the expectation for Bloomfield Hills Marian.
Not just Saturday, when that expectation became reality with a 25-18, 22-25, 25-18, 25-19 win against Ann Arbor Skyline. Not just as the postseason began.
That was the expectation from the time the ball was rolled onto the court for the Mustangs’ first practice in August.
“Although it was a goal, that never made us get complacent or get lazy,” Marian senior and Miss Volleyball winner Ava Brizard said. “We always worked our butts off like we were the underdogs, like we were the last-ranked team in the state. We always worked so hard even though people were expecting us to go back-to-back. But we just kept setting that bar higher and higher for ourselves, and I think that’s what really helped us get to this moment right here.”
The title was the second straight for Marian, and fourth in program history. The Mustangs rolled through the season as Division 1’s top team, going 53-1, and dropping just four sets coming into Saturday’s matchup. All this with a giant target on their collective back.
“I felt this enormous amount of pressure all season,” Marian coach Mayssa Cook said. “As a coach you like to think you have more control than you do. I tried to carry as much of it for them – I knew they had a lot on their plate and a lot on them. I will say I was so impressed with their composure and how they handled stress all season long. I absolutely know the four seniors on this team (Brizard, Janiah Jones, Sophie Treder and Sarah Sylvester) are very ready to step into playing roles at the next level. Most girls going into college don’t have this level of experience, level of play under pressure that they have had. So, we’re exceptionally proud of them as a school.”
Marian did not play like a team under pressure, running out to a double-digit lead in the first set and winning comfortably. But Skyline (55-4-2) came roaring back in the second with an attack led by Harper Murray and Cari Bohm, and handed the Mustangs just their fifth set loss of the season.
“I think we just have the offense that has the ability to compete with them,” Bohm said. “With Harper and me, we have some big hitters – Kate (Maley) -- they haven’t seen that competition yet.”
Marian responded to the rare setback, and while Skyline hung tough for most of the final two sets, Marian simply had too much down the stretch.
“Throughout the game, more of in the second and the later sets, we figured out that their right side defense wasn’t as strong, so we started targeting that,” Skyline senior setter Lauren Lee said. “Toward the end of that last set, they kind of caught onto what we were doing and polished it up.”
Brizard and Murray put on the show they were expected to provide as two of the state’s best attackers, each finishing with 25 kills. Brizard was backed by Treder’s nine kills for Marian, while Ella Schomer had six and Jones and Sylvester each had five.
Ava Sarafa had 44 assists and 12 digs for the Mustangs, who played solid team defense. Brizard led the team with 13 digs, while Lauren Heming had 12 and Treder had 10.
Bohm finished with 11 kills for Skyline, and Lee had 46 assists. Jordan Hall had 21 digs for the Eagles, and Murray added 14.
The trip to the Finals was the first for Skyline in its fifth year as a program. It had qualified for the Semifinals in 2019.
“I think this year it was our focus to get to Battle Creek and be in the Finals, and to give whatever team was on the other side a battle,” Skyline coach Chris Christian said. “I’m proud of these ladies, because they gave Marian a battle. It wasn’t like it was two years ago when we were here and we were just not ready mentally, not really equipped. This time, we were ready, and I think for them to be able to see that anything is possible from where this program started five years ago, we’ve come a long way. There still is room for growth for us.”
PHOTOS (Top) Bloomfield Hills Marian raises the Division 1 championship trophy after finishing a repeat title run Saturday. (Middle) Marian’s Janiah Jones (5) sends a potential kill at the block of Skyline’s Kate Maley (11) and Cari Bohm (18). (Photos by Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
North Branch Class of '24 Finishes Decade Together with Finals Repeat
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
November 18, 2023
BATTLE CREEK – A decade’s worth of team volleyball came to an end Saturday afternoon for eight North Branch seniors.
So while the Broncos had just won their second-straight Division 2 title, the tinge of sadness to the tears streaming down their faces was understandable.
“All of us started, a majority of us eight seniors started when we were 8 years old in North Branch volleyball club,” Broncos senior Alana Deshetsky said. “No one, pretty much, left until they were in high school and played one or two years at a different club. We were all trained here and all played with each other since we were 8, so I think we have a deeper connection than most other teams.
“We pulled up a picture this weekend from our first year, and pretty much all of us girls were in it. It was really sad to see girls that I’d played with forever, and I won’t play with again. Most teams end on a low, but when you end on a high, you want it to keep going.”
While they won’t get to keep things going after the 25-18, 25-14, 25-18 win against Grand Rapids West Catholic at Kellogg Arena, this group has left a legacy that will never be forgotten at a program that was already considered one of the state’s elite.
For the first time in program history, North Branch won back-to-back titles. That came after a runner-up finish in 2021, giving a class that had been major contributors since they were freshmen three Finals appearances in four years.
And, as freshman, they lost in five sets to the eventual Division 2 champion, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep.
“I think it was something (coach Jim Fish) definitely saw the potential in us,” senior libero Hailey Green said. “We were freshmen. In that game our freshmen year, we were just trying to hang with Notre Dame Prep. I think our junior year it kind of hit us. Like, ‘Oh, we’re in the state finals.’ It definitely hit us last year.”
Fish definitely saw it early. When they were eighth graders, Fish coached them in a summer tournament in Ohio. It was a tournament that featured a varsity and JV division, and for the first time in his career, Fish chose to coach the JV group.
“(People) said, ‘Why are you coaching them?’ And I said, ‘Because I know what we’re going to be doing,’” Fish said. “We’ve been working with this group for a long time. As good of players as they are, they’re nicer kids. They’re team academic all-state, individual academic all-state. Phenomenal kids in the community.”
North Branch (56-4-1) spent the entire season ranked No. 1 in Division 2, and Fish scheduled the best competition he could find throughout the state – and even in some adjoining states – to keep his group sharp.
It worked, as did playing with a target on their backs the entire season.
“These teams scouted us very hard all season long,” Deshetsky said. “Our last tournament, I think we looked around and there were five cameras on our court scouting us for the postseason. This postseason was very difficult, because teams knew us as much as they could have, inside and out. They knew what we would do, because when you’re at the top, you’re the target, and everyone was coming for us.”
North Branch defeated the No. 2 team Grand Rapids Christian in Thursday’s Semifinal, but didn’t let down at all in the Final.
Aubree Deshetsky led the North Branch attack against West Catholic with 14 kills, while Clara Gyomory had nine. Adrienne Greschaw had 31 assists. The Deshetsky sisters led the defense, as Aubree had 19 digs and Alana had 13.
Brooke Tietz had seven kills to lead West Catholic, while Emma Tuttle had six. Alivia Mott had 11 assists, while Amelia Gagnon had 12 digs and Grace Steiner had 10.
“It was a great match – North Branch is a super good volleyball club,” West Catholic coach Megan Eversman said. “I think our kids gave a fight as hard as they could fight against that team. I’m just really proud of all of their efforts that they had.”
While North Branch had loads of experience at Kellogg Arena, West Catholic (38-10-6) was making its first Finals appearance.
“I’m just really proud that our team could get here,” Tuttle said. “I think we worked really hard this season to get here, and for our last season, I’m really proud.”
PHOTOS (Top) North Branch players celebrate their repeat Division 2 title win at Kellogg Arena. (Middle) Grand Rapids West Catholic's Mia Henne (4) sends a kill attempt into the block of Kaela Chingwa (10) and Clara Gyoromy (14). (Below) Adrienne Greschaw sets the Broncos' offense. (Photos by Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)