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Notre Dame Finishes Milestone Run
November 18, 2017
By Perry A. Farrell
Special for Second Half
BATTLE CREEK – Betty Wroubel is closing in on 1,000 victories at Pontiac Notre Dame Prep.
Victory No. 990 always will be special. It gave her a third MHSAA Finals title at the school since 2007.
The win came Saturday at the Class B Final against Lake Odessa Lakewood, last year’s runner-up to North Branch, in a 25-16, 25-17, 28-26 sweep at Kellogg Arena.
It was Notre Dame’s 53rd win in a row, as the team finished the season 64-2-2.
“If you noticed, the newspapers they stopped printing how many we had won in a row because the pressure was starting to get to the girls,’’ said Wroubel. “It is very impressive. They worked hard for that. If you had been at our practices this last week, we were working as hard as we did in August. Kudos to them.
“They are great kids. They are great volleyball players and better people. My two four-year seniors, Lauren Burnick and Gabby Shilling, suffered a disappointing loss their sophomore year. It was at that point they said it’s never going to happen again. We’re going to win a state title before we graduate. They led us.’’
The game featured two longstanding coaches in Wroubel, in her 24th year at the school but fourth decade on the sideline overall, and Kellie Rowland in her 23rd season leading the Vikings and with 1,028 victories under her belt.
When top-ranked Notre Dame defeated No. 2 North Branch in the Regional Final, many thought the winner would claim the Class B title.
It worked out that way.
With an athletic front line, the Fighting Irish established themselves early, building a 21-15 lead against the Vikings that was never threatened.
The loud pops heard throughout the arena were the sounds of the Fighting Irish hitters spiking the ball against the smaller Vikings.
Notre Dame’s lineup featured Shilling, a 6-foot-1 middle hitter; 6-2 outside hitter Madeline Chinn; 6-foot outside hitter and setter Natalie Risi and 5-11 Morgan Verheyen.
That trend continued in the second game as the Fighting Irish jumped out to a 16-10 lead, using its superiority at the net to frustrate the Vikings.
Facing elimination, the Vikings (47-6-2) were more competitive in the third game.
They extended a lead to 15-9 as the Fighting Irish were reeling for the first time.
But Notre Dame quickly turned matters in its favor, scoring nine of the next 11 points to retake the lead at 18-17.
Now trailing 21-19 Rowland had to take a timeout to regroup.
Lake Odessa fought to a tie at 23-23, forcing Wroubel to call a timeout.
The score would deadlock three more times before Risi killed the final two points of the match and this Michigan high school volleyball season.
Risi had 17 kills for Notre Dame Prep, and Shilling 12. Burnick had 42 assists.
“We went into every game thinking if we trusted the process, trust the basics, we’d come out with this win,’’ said Fighting Irish junior Maria Famularo. “Our two seniors that have been on the varsity for four years have done an amazing job welcoming us.’’
Seniors Breanna Wickerink and Alivia Benedict capped strong careers for Lakewood with 10 kills apiece. Senior setter Kayla Sauers closed with 32 assists.
PHOTOS: (Top) Notre Dame Prep’s Gabrielle Schilling (9) and Maddy Chinn (16) put up a strong block as a Lakewood hitter begins her swing. (Middle) The Fighting Irish’s Morgan Verheyen prepares to connect.
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Kubiak Comes Back, Twice, to Lead Mustangs
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
September 20, 2016
PORTAGE — Mikaela Kubiak is a fierce competitor on the volleyball court. But the Portage Central senior setter had an even harder fight off the court her first two seasons.
Kubiak, who has been instrumental in the Mustangs’ run to a 23-3 start and No. 5 ranking in Class A, spent her first two seasons rehabbing from injury.
A starter on varsity as a freshman and sophomore, Kubiak tore her anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee, not once but twice, and endured two separate stints of grueling physical therapy.
Looking back, the personable Kubiak remembers every detail.
“It was our first home match against Kalamazoo Central and all my family and friends were here watching,” said Kubiak, who came to Portage from Central as a freshman and whose father Bob Kubiak had coached Kalamazoo Central football from 1993-2003.
But her first home volleyball match wasn’t even close to what she envisioned.
“It was in warm-ups and the second ball I hit, I came down and I blew my knee,” she said.
“Not a very good start. It was our first home varsity match, and I think it was the first or second week of school.”
Her first thoughts were that she could walk it off and continue to warm up.
“Then I was like, whoa, this is way more serious than I thought,” she said. “I couldn’t get up. I kept walking, then I just sat down on the ground. It was throbbing and I was in pain.
“I was just super mad, super mad at myself that it happened. Of course, that game it would have to happen to me.”
She had knee surgery and spent nine months in recovery, including physical therapy at least three times per week.
“I wasn’t surprised she came back (after the first injury). I was surprised she got hurt again,” said Dawn Jaqua, who has coached the Mustangs for the last 18 years. “I was actually surprised she got hurt the first time because she’s such a strong kid, physically, so that was a shock.
“She is hugely determined and loves the sport. You can’t help but beat yourself up when you’re a coach and any kid gets hurt on your watch.”
After missing her first season, Kubiak was raring to go as a sophomore.
The team’s setter was Madison Jaqua, who earned all-state first-team honors that year, so Kubiak was once again a hitter.
“Mattawan was like our big rival,” Kubiak said. “We were in the middle of our third set. It was a nitty-gritty, tight match. It was point after point after point, back and forth.
“Madison set me a ball and I came down and just overran it too much and I blew it out again. I knew right away because my knee moved on me.
“I was like, ‘Oh great.’ I think I was even more mad at that. It was like a pin dropped in the room and I was so frustrated. I technically tore it twice in the same year. I actually tore it on 9-11 my freshman year and 9-9 my sophomore year.”
Once again, Kubiak missed the rest of the season. But this time she knew what to expect from the physical therapy and did a lot of work on her own to supplement the workouts.
Giving up volleyball was not an option.
“I was more comfortable going back my junior season because I was back in my original position (as a setter with Madison Jaqua graduating) and I had a huge brace on. I didn’t have a brace my sophomore year.”
Dawn Jaqua said Kubiak’s role changed as a junior.
“She was setting for us,” she said. “The biomechanics are way different. We didn’t have her play front row last year. She set from the back row. We ran a kind of modified system for that.
“Then she started playing front row a little bit for us at the end of the season. We let her block in controlled situations, and by the end of the season last year, we were running a 5-1 with her.”
The coach’s daughter, senior Devin Jaqua, who has been playing volleyball with Kubiak since seventh grade, was not surprised she returned stronger than ever.
“She’s always been a strong leader, and she’s always worked really hard,” the senior said. “She has a really big passion for the game, so I knew she’d always come back.
“She leads almost like the team mom. You can always depend on her, and she always plays her best. She always knows what to do and when to do it.”
In spite of losing two seasons of both high school and club volleyball, Kubiak earned Class A all-state honorable mention last season.
In November, she will sign to play collegiately with Division II Metropolitan State University of Denver.
Dawn Jaqua said Kubiak is the complete package.
“It’s all the components: her athleticism, her consistency, her decision making,” she said. “But at the end of the day, it’s about her will to want to win. She’s a great leader.
“She is a great problem solver. She’s demanding, but she does it in a very calming way. She’s very controlled. When things aren’t going well, she does a great job figuring out a different way to win. That’s her job.”
Devin Jaqua said this is a special year for the seniors.
“There’s five seniors, and it’s our last year,” she said. “Mikaela and Janell (Williams) are the only two so far going to play in college, so the rest of us really want to make it a memorable last year.”
Williams will sign with Western Michigan University. Jaqua will play soccer collegiately at Michigan State.
Talking from experience, Kubiak offers some advice: “For any other volleyball players out there, work hard all the time because you never know when it can be taken from you.
“Cherish every moment you have on the court with your teammates because it really does fly by.”
Other seniors on the team are Rebecca Barnes and Maddie Goodman. Juniors are Maddie Wojcik, Sara Denison, Olivia Harning, MacKenzie Zook and Jessie Zesiger. The sophomore is Ryann Jaqua and the freshman is Maizie Brown.
Pam Shebest served as a sportswriter at the Kalamazoo Gazette from 1985-2009 after 11 years part-time with the Gazette while teaching French and English at White Pigeon High School. She can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Calhoun, Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Mikaela Kubiak tips the ball over the net during a recent match against Richland Gull Lake. (Middle) Kubiak and Portage Central coach Dawn Jaqua. (Below) Kubiak sets for teammate Janell Williams. (Photos by Pam Shebest.)