Monroe St. Mary's Proves 'This is the Year' by Clinching 8th Finals Title
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
November 23, 2024
BATTLE CREEK – McKenna Payne had a feeling she and her Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central teammates could be making a third trip to Kellogg Arena for this season’s Division 3 Volleyball Final Four.
She also felt it could end on a much brighter note than each of the last two trips.
The Kestrels proved that feeling to be prescient Saturday, sweeping Traverse City St. Francis 25-21, 25-20, 25-15 to claim the Division 3 title.
“All through this year, we were saying this is the year,” Payne said. “We were here our freshmen year, lost in the Finals. We didn’t make it past quarters my sophomore year, and we didn’t make it past semis last year. So, this year, I’m so proud of everyone. I’m so proud of me, Maddie (Dettling) and Jessie (Costlow) and the whole team. We all did it together.”
It was the eighth volleyball championship for the Kestrels in eight trips to the championship match, and first since title since 2020.
“I felt like this year we focused a lot on being together and working together in everything,” said Costlow, who was also on that 2021 team that finished Division 3 runner-up. “You can’t have offense without your defense, and you can’t have defense without blocking. So, we really had to work off of each other and just keep pushing the whole time.”
Costlow led the SMCC attack with 15 kills while pitching in 12 digs on defense. Alexa Turner had 20 assist for the Kestrels, while Payne stuffed the stat sheet with 13 digs, eight kills and eight assists.
SMCC was dominant for much of the season, finishing 39-4-1, but was especially so during the postseason, sweeping all but one opponent – Cass City in Friday’s Semifinal – on its way to the title.
“I think it was just working hard at practice,” Dettling said. “Every day, we were just being disciplined and watching film and being smart. Everything just came together.”
Those film sessions included watching the Gladiators’ Semifinal win against Kalamazoo Christian, even though the Kestrels were there to see it in person.
While that proved fruitful, Traverse City St. Francis did take a bit of a different approach Saturday.
“After watching their match yesterday, we were surprised that they utilized their middle as much as they did today,” SMCC coach Kim Windham said. “We anticipated they would go more to their outsides. I think (TCSF junior outside hitter Quinn Yenshaw) was set 70 times yesterday, so we expected them to be more of an outside game, and they were definitely more middle. I think the opportunity for us to play against (Cass City senior Shelby Ignash) yesterday helped us prepare for today’s match, for sure.”
Gladiators sophomore Lola Brown was the focus of that attack through the middle, and did finish with eight kills on 21 attempts, while Yenshaw had 12 on 36 attempts, as junior setter Reese Jones (who finished with 14 assists) spread the ball around.
But it wasn’t enough to overcome a Kestrels team that was hitting on all cylinders, and finished with .219 kill percentage on its 114 attacks.
“St. Mary’s is just an amazing team,” St. Francis coach Kathleen Nance said. “They have amazing ball control, they’ve got great hitters, and we just weren’t able to have an answer for that today.”
Avery Nance finished with 14 digs on the day for the Gladiators, who were making their second-straight trip to the Finals after finishing runner-up a year ago as well.
“We’re second in the state; there’s nothing to be ashamed of,” Kathleen Nance said. “St. Mary’s played better than we did today, and they earned the first-place spot, and we were second. We were the last two standing – what’s to be ashamed about? Nobody wants to lose, especially for those that this is their last time to ever play; no one wants that. But I’m proud of everything we accomplished this year. Because there were a lot of people who thought we couldn’t, and they proved them wrong.”
PHOTOS (Top) Monroe St. Mary’s McKenna Payne (11) and Olivia Beaudrie (2) wall off the top of the net as Traverse City St. Francis’ Landry Fouch (7) connects during Saturday’s Division 3 Final. (Middle) St. Francis’ Reese Jones (2) tips the ball over the net. (Below) Jessica Costlow serves for the Kestrels. (Photos by Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
Northville Finishes 3rd-Straight Trip to Kellogg as 1st-Time Finals Champion
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
November 23, 2024
BATTLE CREEK – As the Northville volleyball team knows all too well, only one team in each division can leave Kellogg Arena happy each year.
For the first time Saturday, the Mustangs were that team in Division 1.
After finishing as runner-up in 2022 and losing in the Semifinals in 2023, Northville got over the hump this year, defeating Rockford 26-24, 25-16, 25-27, 25-22 to claim its first Finals title on the volleyball court.
“Every time I’ve walked out of this place, I’ve been sad for the last two years,” Northville senior Molly Reck said. “Being able to leave happy is just an indescribable feeling. I can’t even put it into words.”
Reck and her twin sister Mallory, along with senior setter Ella Craggs and junior libero Giselle Burlingame, were part of each team that made it to the final weekend over the past three years. On Saturday, they were winning not only for themselves and their teammates, but everyone who had come with them before.
“Their sister, Abby Reck, when we were in the Finals (in 2022) came into the locker room and said, ‘You’ll be back, this will help you,’” Northville coach Sarah Lindstrom said. “(Former players) Greta McKee, Ashlee Gnau, Avry Nelson, Ava Thomas, these players that were here for the last four years that bought into what we were bringing to Northville. Northville was good at volleyball before, but these kids trusted us and our coaching staff, and this wasn’t just for the people here. We kept saying during that match, this is for all of your teammates in the past that have built something, brick by brick they put together what we think might be a dynasty. We’re just so grateful for everybody that’s been a part of this.”
The Reck twins and Craggs led the Northville attack Saturday, with Molly (26) and Mallory (20) combining for 46 kills and Craggs finishing with 49 assists. Mallory Reck added 15 digs, while Molly Reck had 10.
But they were far from alone. Burlingame had 18 digs, while junior Kaylyn Tuck had seven kills and four blocks and senior Brooke Feller had six blocks.
“We put a lot of work into – I kept telling them, ‘The three of you (Reck, Reck and Craggs) can’t win a state championship,’” Lindstrom said. “‘We’ve seen that before. You need other people around you.’ And we work on our cohesiveness all the time and building up those other kids.”
Northville (41-2) nearly swept its way to the title, as it had a match point in the third set. But Rockford held on, thanks to a pair of kills from Olivia Hosford to take a 25-24 lead, and eventually won the set to force a fourth.
“I just have so much confidence in every single one of my teammates,” Rockford senior Layla Visser said. “I know what we can do. We can put the ball away, and we can make the right play no matter how many points we’re down.”
That confidence in each other carried over to the fourth set for the Rams. While it was mostly back and forth, Rockford was able to build a 20-16 lead before Northville closed on a 9-2 run to win the title. Mallory Reck served out the final four points, with a pair of aces to close the victory.
“In my head I was kind of just thinking, ‘As much as I don’t want to serve this ball, I know the feeling of being on the other side, and they don’t want to pass this ball just as much,’” Mallory Reck said. “So, that kind of just calmed me down and I was thinking, ‘Serve to get an ace.’ That’s what we’ve worked on all year; we’ve focused really hard on serving. I just took a deep breath and just served it.”
Hosford led the Rockford attack with 22 kills, adding 11 digs. Sophomore Mallory Wandel had 16 kills and 19 digs, while Visser had 10 kills. Isabella Delacher had 25 assists, Ashley Williams had 22 assists, and Eleanor Goad had 12 digs for the Rams (41-10).
“Proud of our girls. They battled against a very good Northville team,” Rockford coach Kelly Delacher said. “It felt like we might have been down and out after the second set and midway through the third set, and they did a great job of battling back to force that fourth set. Overall, proud of my players and proud of our seniors and the way they led us out there.”
PHOTOS (Top) Northville’s side of the court celebrates Saturday, including Brooke Feller (4). (Middle) The Mustangs’ Molly Reck (8) sends a spike into an awaiting Rockford block. (Below) Northville players raise their championship trophy. (Photos by Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)