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.
Kestrels Prove to be Champions Again
November 17, 2012
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
BATTLE CREEK – Taylor Vuich and her teammates have learned to ride the wave of a good omen.
And so, when her hotel room was the first among Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central’s to wake up Saturday morning, and their favorite song was playing when they flipped on the radio, the Kestrels just knew “today was the day.”
Saturday was the day St. Mary got back the MHSAA Class C championship after coming within three points of a second-straight title one year ago.
The Kestrels claimed their second championship in three seasons and fourth overall with a 25-14, 24-26, 25-10 and 25-9 win over first-time finalist Traverse City St. Francis at Kellogg Arena.
“We got all the way here last year, (played) two and half hours, and then it just slipped away from us,” Vuich said. “They were a great team, but I think we knew this year that this is what we wanted. We wanted to prove to everyone that we’re state champions.”
It’s fair to call the 2011 Class C Final epic. All five games were decided by three or fewer points, with Morley-Stanwood claiming the last 15-12.
With now five championship game appearances over the last 11 seasons, it’s also fair to say the Kestrels (49-6) set high expectations heading into every fall – even if that might’ve turned a little dangerous earlier this week.
“When we talk about goals at the beginning of the year, they talk about getting back here,” St. Mary coach Diane Tuller said of her players. “I talk about the first game of the season, (that) this is where we want to be midway and this is where we want to be toward the end; this is what we need to keep working on. That’s the important thing to me. They set those goals, and I have to keep bringing them back.
“I think we overlooked the team we played in the Quarterfinals (Auburn Hills Oakland Christian). It was our worst game of the year. Everything shut down. … (But) our senior captains really wanted it, and they kept them focused. I gave them the job of keeping this team together.”
And they got back together quickly after the Gladiators took a close second set.
St. Mary scored the first 10 points of the third game and then jumped out to a 10-1 lead in the fourth.
And when junior McKenzie Todd and sophomore Cassandra Haut combined to simultaneously crush the winning point straight into the floor, it was a strong lasting impression of how those last two games had gone.
Haut, an all-state honorable mention as a freshman, finished with a team-high 16 kills from her powerful right arm. Vuich, swinging a hammer with her left, added 13 kills and eight digs, and Todd had 10 kills.
Senior Claire McMillan had 46 assists, tied for ninth-most in a Final since the beginning of the rally scoring era in 2004-05. Junior Kelsey Geiman – beating the previous record by five (and the record from before rally scoring by seven).
"We are really deep, in all our players. We have a lot of good hitters on our team,” Haut said. “We can always count on anyone on our team.”
St. Francis finished 42-8-3, impressive all the more because co-coaches Heather Simpson and Rita Jones didn't take over until a month before practice began.
They moved up from coaching the junior varsity after the former varsity coach resigned to take another full-time job.
“Our kids don’t quit, and I don’t think how we played today is really a reflection of how good we were, or are,” Simpson said. “From that aspect, it’s disappointing. But hats off to them. They’re a good team, and we are too, but we couldn't match them.”
St. Francis senior Bridget Bussell just missed getting into the Finals records as well, with her 18 kills just two short of that list. She also had six digs, and senior setter Katilyn Hegawald had seven and 26 assists.
“We just never got into our groove, except for the game we won,” Bussell said.
(But) we knew we were here for a reason, so we tried as hard as we could to keep pushing.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Monroe St. Mary sophomore Cassandra Haut (13) covers a kill attempt by Traverse City St. Francis during the Class C Final. (Middle) St. Francis senior Kaitlyn Hegawald (9) prepares to set up teammate Olivia Hardy (4).