Performance: Camden-Frontier's Jordan Stump
November 2, 2018
Jordan Stump
Camden-Frontier junior – Volleyball
Stump did a lot of many things well in leading Camden-Frontier on Saturday to clinch its first league championship in more than a decade, filling the stat sheet with 36 kills, 46 assists, six aces and 38 digs during the Southern Central Athletic Association Tournament. The Redskins, then ranked No. 5 in Division 4, beat rival North Adams-Jerome in the semifinal and No. 3 Battle Creek St. Philip in the championship match, earning Stump the Michigan Army National Guard “Performance of the Week.”
The 5-foot-6 junior joins sophomore Heather Shaw as a setter in Camden-Frontier’s 6-2 alignment, allowing both to direct the offense and pile up kills as well. Stump is averaging 4.8 assists and 3.1 kills per game with a .322 hitting efficiency and .897 serving percentage. The win over St. Philip avenged an earlier sweep by the Tigers at the start of October, when the Redskins were ranked No. 1 in Division 4 by the state coaches association. Saturday’s win and the league title are just the latest highlights from an impressive run for a team that started this season with eight players and has seen three, including Stump, work through ankle injuries. Camden-Frontier is 38-5-4 heading into tonight’s District Final against Pittsford, and moved up to No. 3 in the Division 4 rankings heading into the postseason.
Stump is a second-generation player for longtime Redskins coach Dawn Follis. Jordan’s mother Heather played for Follis and came back for a second run as junior varsity coach this fall, and she stepped in to guide the team during Saturday’s SCAA championship run. It was the first time Jordan had played for her mom – Jordan has been on varsity all three years of high school and is a three-time all-league first-team selection. She also has begun coaching, at the club level, and spends much of her off-court time and energy raising and showing livestock at the statewide level with her family. Stump is considering studying agri-nutrition or criminal justice after high school – but has plenty of time to decide and plenty of volleyball left to play with this season’s run and high expectations for next fall as well.
Coach Dawn Follis said: “Jordan, as well as many of her teammates, have put in endless years of extra work and dedication to make this year possible, and it has been such a joy to see all of their work come full round. Jordan started in the third grade playing club ball as well as managing my varsity team. Ironically, her mother was my first setter when I came to Camden-Frontier 29 years ago, so setting runs in her blood. Jordan not only has very good volleyball skills, but she has a high IQ of the game. She will come off the court often with great suggestions of how to beat the defense or score against the blockers. She doesn't power the ball through, but has a great court sense and knows where the holes are and can place the ball in those areas. Jordan not only sets and hits well, but many times has turned games around for us at the serving line. She is my floor general and has led her team this year to an unforgettable season.”
Performance Point: “Our team is really small, and I really enjoy that because we'll walk into a gym and everyone underestimates us. Our coach wasn't there on Saturday because her daughter's Senior Night was that night (Kasey Follis plays at Spring Arbor University), so as a team it was cool because we all just stepped up because we knew what needed to be done. And it was kind’ve a now-or-never situation. As a manager, I've always watched the older girls almost beat St. Phil, and they’ve come up just a little bit short. So I was like, you know, it's our time to do it. And when we played, it never crossed my mind, ‘What happens if we don't win this?’ It was just pure determination, and I think my adrenaline was so high. We just kept going, and it was a blast.”
‘Coolest mom of all-time’: “It was pretty cool to have my mom alongside and experience that with her. She's what got me into (volleyball). When I was littler – we live in a log cabin that has a tall ceiling – she kinda started me in the house, and we played there. Then she became the (JV) coach my eighth grade year, so it's just been really fun to watch her grow. We've kinda grown together – she'll bounce drills off of me, be like what do you think about this, and I'll go to her and be like, how do you think we should run this? It's just been really fun to experience that with my mom. … Passing, setting, and then it got to the point because our ceiling comes together at an arch, and I'd be jump-serving at the ceiling. Many broken blinds ... but she says, ‘Oh well.’ – it's made me a better player. It was just fun growing up. She started me in the third grade, just peppering back and forth. … We didn’t really tell my dad. It actually taught me a lot of control, because I didn't want to break stuff, so that's where I think I got a lot of my ball control from – so I didn't break things in the house.”
Building for something big: “It’s just been a great experience, coming from a small school, and having all the support behind us, and just watching us grow. I think that's one cool thing about volleyball, is watching the team and watching them grow and improve as time goes on. It's just been really fun, especially bringing up newer players and getting them into the group. When it all comes together, it's just a great experience. I love it. … Our overall goal is just to go as far as we can and work as hard as we can. Initially yes, it would be great to go all the way, but we're just going to keep on doing what we're doing and work every day and work super hard and see how far that takes us.”
Making the offense go: “I love setting, because when you get that perfect set, and your hitter puts it in, it's just a great feeling. Hitting is kinda secondary (for me), I'd say, because I'm not super tall. So I do have to find my way around the court and be smart about where I place the balls, because I can't go up and just go out swinging. But I still enjoy both very much.”
Family show: “We have a small farm; it's kinda my farm. I really want to raise show cattle when I get older, so when I turned 9 we started buying some cows and grew that little farm. We have 11 commercial cows that calve every year and we raise them and we sell them. My parents are a big help with everything that I do. My sister is involved. … We're big on family help and doing it together. My parents enjoy it do, so they support me in whatever I want to do, and that's pretty great.”
- Geoff Kimmerly, Second Half editor
Every week during the 2018-19 school year, Second Half and the Michigan Army National Guard will recognize a “Performance of the Week" from among the MHSAA's 750 member high schools.
The Michigan Army National Guard provides trained and ready forces in support of the National Military Strategy, and responds as needed to state, local, and regional emergencies to ensure peace, order, and public safety. The Guard adds value to our communities through continuous interaction. National Guard soldiers are part of the local community. Guardsmen typically train one weekend per month and two weeks in the summer. This training maintains readiness when needed, be it either to defend our nation's freedom or protect lives and property of Michigan citizens during a local natural disaster.
Past 2018-19 honorees
October 25: Danielle Staskowski, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep golf - Read
October 18: Adam Bruce, Gladstone cross country - Read
October 11: Ericka VanderLende, Rockford cross country - Read
October 4: Kobe Clark, Schoolcraft football - Read
September 27: Jonathan Kliewer, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern soccer - Read
September 20: Kiera Lasky, Bronson volleyball - Read
September 13: Judy Rector, Hanover-Horton cross country - Read
PHOTOS: (Top) Camden-Frontier’s Jordan Stump prepares to serve during a match this season. (Middle) Stump, right, works to put the ball past a block. (Photos courtesy of the Camden-Frontier athletic department.)
Veteran Madison Aiming for Repeat Run
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
September 8, 2017
By Doug Donnelly
Special for Second Half
ADRIAN – Last November, Kiarah Horn was part of the first Adrian Madison volleyball team to reach the MHSAA Semifinals in more than 25 years. She’d like nothing more than to do it again.
“It was an awesome experience,” said the Madison senior. “We all want to get back to where we were last year. We are excited about it.”
If the first few weeks of the 2017 volleyball campaign are any indication, the Trojans from Lenawee County could be knocking on the door again come MHSAA tournament time.
Madison went 57-4-2 last season, including a perfect 14-0 in the Tri-County Conference, and was a surprise winner over Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central in the Class C Regional Final. The Trojans beat Allen Park Cabrini to advance to the Semifinals at Kellogg Arena in Battle Creek before losing to Brown City. It was Madison’s first Semifinal run since 1993 when current head coach Dawn Opsal’s sister was a member of the Trojans team.
“It was so rewarding last year for the girls to get there,” said Opsal, who is a Madison graduate in her 20th season leading the program. “They worked so hard. To beat SMCC, to get to the Semifinals, that was a great experience for everyone. It kind of showed them that, ‘Hey, we can compete.’”
SMCC was the top-ranked team in Class C and a 2015 Class C runner-up when Madison knocked it out of the 2016 tournament.
Opsal, who works in the business office at Madison, was a four-sport athlete in high school and has been around Madison nearly all of her life. The school held a ceremony retiring her number a couple of seasons ago, but she is still going strong. Madison has steadily climbed the volleyball ranks since she took over the program in 1999, a season that saw Madison win just 10 matches. She now owns four TCC championships and six District titles since 2008. She has more than 500 wins.
This year, Opsal created a more rigorous summer schedule and beefed up the regular-season schedule. Topping the school wins record is the last thing on her mind.
“The 57 wins just sort of happened,” she said. “That wasn’t our goal. We just got on a roll and it happened. For me, it’s not about a record or number of wins. I want the girls to play hard, to work hard and get better and, when the time comes, be ready for the (MHSAA) tournament.”
Horn, the senior setter, said the summer schedule was good for her and her teammates, who had to replace three key players, including Ysabela Soto, now playing at Oakland Community College in Auburn Hills.
“We played a lot of bigger schools,” Horn said. “It was a challenge.”
The regular season has been kind to Madison so far. The Trojans are 14-3-1 after winning Thursday’s match against TCC opponent Britton Deerfield. That also includes winning the Addison Tournament, advancing to the finals of the Tecumseh Tournament before losing to Ann Arbor Huron in the championship match (25-23, 25-19) and making it to the semifinals at Schoolcraft College before bowing out to Detroit Cass Tech, 25-22, 22-25, 15-8.
Madison played in summer leagues at Siena Heights University and Schoolcraft College, plus got into some games at Spring Arbor University.
“We have had a good start to the season,” libero Kia Rainey said. “We’ve played against some bigger schools. That will help us later in the season.”
Opsal said the schedule is by design.
“I kind of wanted to see some different schools and see how we competed with them,” she said. “I want to show this team right where we need to be.”
Seven players from last year’s team are on this season’s roster, including Rainey and Horn, Rachel Isom (opposite/middle blocker), Emma Freshcorn (middle blocker), Mahala Raleigh (opposite, middle blocker), and outside hitters Laura Teunion-Smith and Kaiya Wall. Wall, who is approaching 1,000 career kills, was second team all-state last season while Horn was an honorable mention choice.
Of the 10 girls on the varsity roster, five are seniors and five are juniors. Jersi Garza, Taylor Jordan and Kaitlyn Svoboda are the three newcomers.
“I’m excited with all of the returning players and the young ones coming up,” Opsal said. “I know the team has great hope. Last year was a great experience, but we want to make that repeat again and again. We’ve got a lot of little things to work on, but there is time.”
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 Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Madison all-stater Kaiya Wall puts down a kill past two blockers. (Middle) Trojans coach Dawn Opsal (facing, third from left) huddles with her team during last season’s Semifinal against Brown City. (Top photo by Joni Cabello Ehinger.)