Peformance: Ida's Taylor Wegener
November 14, 2019
Taylor Wegener
Ida senior – Volleyball
The Bluestreaks’ four-year middle and outside hitter had a career-high and state record book-qualifying 34 kills in Thursday’s 3-2 Division 2 District Final win over Carleton Airport, earning the MHSAA “Performance of the Week.” The previous weekend, Wegener became the 24th player in state history to go over 2,000 kills, and after Tuesday’s Regional Semifinal win over Flat Rock has 2,098 – good for 16th most in MHSAA history since the move to rally scoring in 2004-05.
The 5-foot-11 Wegener has 630 kills this season – averaging 5.5 per game – and is scoring on nearly 50 percent (.489 kill percentage) of her attacks. She also has a career-high 93 service aces this season and is up to 287 for her career, just three shy of making the record book in that category. She has added 260 career blocks and made the Division 2/Class B all-state second team the last two seasons. The Bluestreaks are 41-7-1 and will face Dearborn Divine Child in Thursday’s Regional Final at Airport with an opportunity to advance to the Quarterfinals for the first time since 2008.
Wegener’s historic abilities are not reserved for the fall. She will play her fourth season of varsity basketball this winter and is 35 points from 1,000 for her career and 314 from setting the school scoring record; she averaged 18.4 points per game as a junior. Wegener also brings championship experience to those teams from a third sport – she played only one season of high school softball, as a freshman in 2017, but helped that team to the Division 2 title including going 3-for-4 in the championship game win over Richmond. She said her favorite sport is always the one in season, but it will be volleyball fulltime at the next level. Wegener – who carries a 3.78 grade-point average – will continue in that sport and academically at Saginaw Valley State University, where she’d like to study nursing.
Coach Bree Russow said: “Taylor brings so much joy and passion to the gym for all to see. That has really impacted how she has played over the past four years. Not only is she a fun player to coach, she is fun to watch. She loves the game and her teammates so much, she gives her all every time she steps on the court. Taylor is a great leader and has been team captain the last few years. Her teammates look up to her not only for her skill but as a teammate/friend/leader, which is so important – she wants everyone to have success, and her team comes first. I first started coaching Taylor in eighth grade during club season, and to see her growth has been truly amazing. She has worked so hard to get where she is today. She gets better every time she steps on that court, and she brings a little extra every day. Her teammates and younger athletes see that. No matter what she is playing – volleyball, basketball, and softball – she is there to battle. That says a lot, and others want to do the same.”
Performance Point: “I’ve been on varsity since I was a freshman, and just realizing that this is my last year playing for the Ida community, (now that) it’s almost over it’s just eye-opening how grateful I’ve been to be a part of such an amazing community and have had so much support,” Wegener said. “I think that I’ve just been playing my heart out because I don’t want it to end yet. I know all good things come to an end, but hopefully our end isn’t coming that soon. We have a total of eight seniors, and I think just all of us realize that it’s our last time playing together and you’ve gotta make the most of it.”
2,000 and growing: “I can’t get a kill without a good pass and without a good set, so it’s really my teammates that do all the work to make me look good. … I’ve never been one to count. People will come up to me and ask how many kills, or (for basketball) how many points did you have? I just say I have no idea. Those sports are all team efforts. The competitor in me just wants to win. If it’s two kills versus 30 kills, and my teammates pick it up in those certain places, a win is a win at the end of the day for me. I think I’ve improved with confidence over the years, and that’s why I’ve gotten those kills and I’ve taken advantage of the times when I’ve needed to get a kill.”
Embracing the opportunity: “The last Regional was actually my cousin (playing), which is my assistant coach Ashley Begeman, so (to win this week) would be a huge thing for not only me personally, but my family. And looking at the banner, (for reaching) the final four, in the gym, it’s always been a goal of mine. As a little kid, when you go in there and you see those letters up on that banner, it’s like, I want to be up there someday.”
Power player: “I’ve always been stronger in my grade. In basketball, it’s ripping a ball from someone. With volleyball, it’s slamming the ball as hard as I can. It’s just the aggression in me that’s like, ‘I’m going to do what I have to do to win as strong and as hard as I can.’”
Bluestreak building: “As we’re more successful in the state run, you just see that people from our community have just come out and been so supportive. The gym was so loud (Tuesday) night, and it was just an emotional time because right after the game you could just feel the happiness in the gym. People I hadn’t seen in years had come to support Ida. It’s just really amazing; it’s going to hurt that I don’t have that next year. … I’ve had that experience in softball too. When we won the state softball championship, it was that same feeling that brings tears to my eyes because I’m so happy to not only be proud of my teammates, but proud of my community. That self-pride, they’re returning it right back to us. It’s just an amazing feeling you can’t describe.”
– Geoff Kimmerly, Second Half editor
Past honorees
Nov. 7: Carter Solomon, Plymouth cross country - Report
Oct. 31: Jameson Goorman, Muskegon Western Michigan Christian soccer - Report
Oct. 24: Austin Plotkin, Brimley cross country - Report
Oct. 17: Jack Spamer, Brighton cross country - Report
Oct. 10: Kaylee Maat, Hudsonville volleyball - Report
Oct. 3: Emily Paupore, Negaunee cross country - Report
Sept. 26: Josh Mason, South Lyon soccer - Report
Sept. 19: Ariel Chang, Utica Eisenhower golf - Report
Sept. 12: Jordyn Shipps, DeWitt swimming - Report
PHOTOS: (Top) Ida's Taylor Wegener (6) rises for a kill attempt during a match at Carleton Airport. (Middle) Wegener also saves a ball from hitting the floor. (Photos courtesy of the Ida volleyball program.)
After Record Finish, Onsted Off To Fast Start
October 19, 2020
By Doug Donnelly
Special for Second Half
ONSTED – Last season the Onsted volleyball team had about as impressive a season as it could.
The Wildcats started by not losing until early October – a 28-match win streak – and finished with a school-record 50 victories.
What are they doing for an encore?
How about a 24-2 start this fall, a tremendous showing at a big quad in Bronson and they are on the verge of back-to-back Lenawee County Athletic Association titles.
“We’ve played well at times,” Onsted coach Rhonda Hubbard said. “Everyone is making contributions to the team. We’re doing well in some areas. We're attacking the serve and we are doing the things we need to do, and we are winning.”
Still, Hubbard is never completely satisfied. She’s hoping for more from a team that returns six key players from last year’s 10th-ranked, record-breaking club that lost in the Division 2 District Semifinals to Parma Western.
Hubbard doesn’t want to see such an early exit this time around.
“We can’t just waltz in and let the same thing happen to us this time,” she said. “Yeah, we rolled last year but I know what we are capable of. We have to perform, and we have to be more consistent.”
There was no long win streak to start the season as Onsted lost to Manchester on Sept. 11, the first day they played an official match. Since a loss to Erie Mason at Mason the following day, however, they have won 18 straight.
“We are 21-2, but I don’t think we should have lost to Manchester,” Hubbard said. “We should have had that one.
“We have to start bringing it in practice more often. We aren’t consistent. I can sometimes be unhappy with how we practice. That’s how we are going to improve.”
Mya Hiram and Kayla Ross are the senior co-captains. Hiram was third-team all-state in volleyball last year and followed that up with an all-state season in basketball. She’s bound for a college basketball career – she's committed to Ferris State University – but not before she leaves her mark on Onsted’s volleyball team.
She’s getting close to the career kills record, and she and Ross are Nos. 2-3 on the Wildcats’ career digs list.
The team’s biggest day came at Bronson when the Wildcats beat the host school, Muskegon Western Michigan Christian and Niles. They also beat Homer and Stockbridge earlier in the season and have collected wins over state-ranked Lenawee Christian and traditional LCAA championship contender Ida. Onsted also has a nonleague win over Adrian Madison, who has run its Tri-County Conference winning streak into the 30s. The Wildcats are likely to face the Trojans again in the upcoming county tournament.
Ross and Izzy Kisor both are serving at a 93.8-percent clip, while Hiram has 39 aces, Kate Gorney 21 and Kennedy Ross 20.
In attacking, Hiram has compiled 246 kills, an average of 3.56 per match. Hiram also has 208 digs, which is just ahead of Kayla Ross, who has 200. Kamryn Ross leads the team in assists, at 8.3 per match. Ruby Foster has been “block city,” Hubbard said, and added that Kayla Ross, Kisor, Kennedy Ross and Hiram lead the team in service points.
Hubbard is an Adrian graduate who teaches at Onsted. She’s attended Eastern Michigan University on a track scholarship. She won the 2019 county Coach of the Year award after the team broke the previous school records of wins, 46 from 2012.
Hubbard said the fewer matches this season is affecting the slow development of the team. She did say there is still time remaining for the Wildcats to piece together a stronger ending to the season than last year.
“We are down 33 to 35 sets than last year at this time,” she said. “Teams don’t want to play three out of five. They want to play two of three, which I don’t think a varsity team should be doing, at least on the weekends. Our dates are all full; we just haven’t played as much.”
Doug Donnelly has served as a sports and news reporter and city editor over 25 years, writing for the Daily Chief-Union in Upper Sandusky, Ohio from 1992-1995, the Monroe Evening News from 1995-2012 and the Adrian Daily Telegram since 2013. He's also written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTO: Onsted’s Mya Hiram unloads over the net for a spike during a past season. (Photo by Dolores Clark-Osborne.)