Novi Holds On to Claim Class A Again
November 19, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
BATTLE CREEK – At the start of the second set Saturday, just like many times this season, Novi senior Ally Cummings stood surrounded on the court by teammates who still have another season of high school volleyball ahead of them.
During those rotations, Cummings was the only player on the floor who knew what it was like for the Wildcats to finish a season not in the Class A championship match.
They played in their third straight Saturday, and as it should be, against one of their toughest opponents this fall in Rockford. But that made Novi only enjoy the afternoon more, as it won its second straight championship by downing the Rams 3-1.
Adding in this fall’s 53-1 record, the Wildcats are 158-10 over the last three seasons. Cummings, senior Emmy Robinson and junior Erin O’Leary have been the lineup’s constants throughout the run.
“It just really comes down to the chemistry on the team,” Cummings said. “If you have an amazing team with amazing players, but the chemistry is off, you’re not going to be successful. The past four years I’ve played here, it’s been like family for us. So I’m sure even when I graduate, and these people start to graduate as well, it’s still going to be as successful.”
Novi – top-ranked entering the postseason for the second year in a row – talks about creating its own pressure and blocking out the “outside noise” of others’ expectations.
Trying to match this season’s success would be an impressive goal.
The lone loss was to No. 2 Clarkston, 2-1, and the Wildcats gave up only seven sets this season – including the second of the championship match to Rockford. Only No. 6 Northville in the District Final also took a set from Novi during the postseason.
During coach Jennifer Cottrill’s first two years running the program, 2012 and 2013, Novi won league titles but lost to Northville in District Finals.
“It’s overwhelming. (This success is) not something that you ever expect, not something that we ever really talk about,” Cottrill said. “We just try to stay in the moment. But if you take a step back, it’s amazing, and it’s all because of the players in the program who have changed the culture and have tremendous leadership skills, expectations of themselves and their teammates … and we’re a family.
“We love each other, from top to bottom, and we like to win. So that motivates you to keep winning, when you have that success.”
But Rockford didn't make adding to it easy Saturday.
The Rams (48-9-1) entered the postseason ranked No. 5 and had beaten four of the top 10 teams in Class A and the top two in Class B entering the weekend. Following junior setter Hailey Delacher, who had 43 assists, Rockford forced many of the 11 lead changes and 29 ties over the four sets before falling 25-23, 20-25, 25-22, 25-22.
Cottrill noted that Rockford’s quick sets and two strong middles in junior Olivia Rademacher (12 kills, five blocks) and senior Cassandra Smigel (11 kills, four blocks) gave her team the most trouble. Junior outside hitter Sara Majerle added 11 kills as well, and junior libero Mykayla Vallad had 27 digs.
“I think we are just a good team, and we are a very well-balanced team. Five good hitters and we play good defense, and I think we did a good job of blocking today as well,” said Rockford coach Kelly Delacher, also Hailey’s dad.
O’Leary had 33 assists, with junior Abryanna Cannon leading with 20 kills, Cummings adding 10 and four blocks and Robinson tallying seven blocks. Junior libero Claire Pinkerton had 21 digs.
In Cannon, O’Leary and Hailey Delacher, the Class A Final may have featured three candidates for next year’s Miss Volleyball Award – while setting up the potential for another narrative twist.
Novi faced Romeo in the 2014 Final and then again in 2015, losing the first time but winning the rematch. With both of Saturday’s finalists expected to return so much next fall, it wouldn’t be shocking to see them meet again with the championship on the line.
Combined, the teams graduate only nine seniors – five for Novi and four from Rockford.
“Those seniors provided us with great leadership, and we really got on their backs at the end of the season this year. They will be tough to replace,” Kelly Delacher said. “That being said, I have a great group of juniors and I’m excited about a couple of sophomores coming in. I feel like we can be competitive next year as well.”
Novi will be prepared.
“All they know is pressure. All they’ve known is that target on your back, everyone coming for you, you get everyone’s best game,” Cottrill said of her team. “So you get used to it, and you get stronger mentally playing with a target on your back. I’m not saying it’s easy. But you get accustomed to it.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Novi coach Jennifer Cottrill hoists the Class A championship trophy as her players surround her Saturday. (Middle) The Wildcats' Abryanna Cannon attempts to tip the ball over the net with Rockford's Olivia Rademacher (5) and Zoe Anderson (13) defending.
'Girls Night Out' Takes over Stadium
September 19, 2012
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
A crowd of roughly 1,200 fans – including more than 700 students – loaded into Muskegon Mona Shores' football stadium on Sept. 5.
Batman, Captain America and the Cat in the Hat were there among cheering sections out in full force. Festivities included plenty of sun and live music to keep the crowd rolling.
It was a typical football night. And this was a typical football crowd. But Sept. 5 was a Wednesday. And the four teams playing on this night were a little bit "outside" of their natural element.
Mona Shores hosted the Grand Haven, Fruitport and Spring Lake volleyball teams for "Girls Night Out," a quad match that began with two rounds on portable courts in the football stadium and finished before a raucous crowd inside the Sailors' gym.
“The energy was outstanding. The student athletes playing loved the fact they were treated like football players on a Friday night,” Mona Shores athletic director Ryan Portenga said. “We had the adults in the bleachers facing the kids, and portable bleachers closed off (the court) with student sections yelling back and forth. It was wild.”
The idea was sparked some by a similar match between Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central and Grand Rapids Christian last season, when those teams played on a portable court on top of a high jump area.
But the additional challenge at Mona Shores was building two courts so four teams could play, sitting mostly on the track but also partly on the grass near the football sideline. The 12-by-12 inch plastic tiles, supplied by Illinois-based NetLynx, were pieced together like a puzzle by a crew that worked until 10 p.m. the night before.
Organizers waited out a forecast calling for thunderstorms. And given the significance of these matches, conditions had to be as close as possible to perfect – at the time, Grand Haven and Mona Shores were honorable mentions in Class A, while Fruitport (in A this fall) is the reigning Class B MHSAA champion and Spring Lake was a semifinalist in Fruitport’s district last season.
But it came off with barely a hitch. The first matches began at 6 p.m., and the football stadium lights were turned on about an hour later. The third matches were played in the school’s gym in front of all four student sections cheering throughout the final points.
Mona Shores finished 3-0, while Grand Haven was 2-1. Fruitport ended 1-2 and Spring Lake fell in their three matches.
With the help of a forklift and workers who stayed late, the courts were cleared from the football field by 1 a.m.
“It takes a lot of parental involvement to pull of that kind of event,” Portenga said. “We had a lot of helping hands.”
Click for additional match coverage from the Muskegon Chronicle.
PHOTOS courtesy of the Muskegon Mona Shores athletic department.
