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Plymouth Christian Completes Repeat Run

November 18, 2017

By Perry A. Farrell
Special for Second Half

BATTLE CREEK – Plymouth Christian Academy coach D.J. Kellogg and his Eagles flew into Kellogg Arena as the reigning Class D volleyball champions.

They left the same way Saturday morning after dispatching the Fowler Eagles 25-18, 25-23, 25-21 in this year’s Final.

In a division that had been dominated by Battle Creek St. Philip and Leland over the last two decades, the Eagles now sit atop Class D for the second straight season.

Sisters Grace and Gabriella Kellogg led the offense with 15 kills each, while Abigail Pray contributed 31 assists for the winners, who improved to 45-8-3.

“Winning this with my daughters means everything,’’ said D.J. Kellogg. “We didn’t really plan it this way. I coached them in club. It gives you a chance to spend quality time with your kids.

“I never like being the one ranked first because you have a target on your back, but having lost eight from last year it was a completely different animal this year,’’ Kellogg added. “It wasn’t like there was a pressure to repeat because we lost most of the team. I try to play a tougher schedule so we don’t get too cocky.’’

It worked.

Tied 8-8 during the first game, Plymouth Christian reeled off eight of the next nine points to take a 16-9 lead against the first-time finalist.

Plymouth Christian’s lead reached 20-12, forcing Fowler coach Patty Feldpausch to call a timeout to stem the tide.

It was too late. Plymouth Christian was never threatened in finishing the first set win.

In the second, Plymouth Christian made its move with the score tied 5-5.

The Eagles scored three straight points to take an 8-5 lead, and after an ace by Grace Kellogg, Fowler was forced to call another timeout while trailing by four.

Fowler scored the next two points after the timeout, but Plymouth Christian was on another roll.

Robin Alert’s back-to-back aces had the Eagles in control at 13-8. The lead grew to 16-9 as the reigning champ’s poise and experience started to dominate the match.

Fowler didn’t go away easy, scoring four straight points of its own to trim the deficit to 17-14. Fowler elevated its play and Plymouth Christian got sloppy as the deficit was trimmed to 22-21, forcing Kellogg to call his first timeout of the match.

But after a few anxious points, the defending champs prevailed when Fowler hit a ball out to give Plymouth Christian a 2-0 lead.

Fowler turned the tables on Plymouth Christian in the third game, scoring six of the first eight points to lead by four with Kellogg calling a timeout in an attempt to change momentum.

It didn’t fare better after the timeout as Fowler scored the next two points to increase its lead to 8-2.

Fowler fought to stay ahead, but when a kill by sophomore Gabriella Kellogg reduced the lead to 10-9, Feldpausch called a timeout to keep her team in the championship.

A kill by Elise Miera brought Plymouth Christian all the way back at 11-11, and a kill on the next point gave them a one-point lead – which turned into a 14-11 by the end of a 12-3 run.

Marissa Snyder had 11 kills for Fowler (38-12-5), and senior Kennedy Koenigsknecht had 25 assists. The team made quite a turnaround after winning only 12 matches a season ago, and Tuesday’s Quarterfinal victory also was a program first.

Plymouth Christian had been ranked No. 1 all season long and dropped only two sets during the postseason.

“We lost a lot of great players from last year,’’ said Grace, a senior. “To come back and do it again is great. Our JV team last year was good. We had a lot of girls come up from that team and step it up. This is our third straight year here. Last year we were ready to go and knew what to expect.’’

Another championship.

Click for the full box score.

PHOTOS: (Top) Plymouth Christian Academy’s Grace Kellogg (3) sends a kill past a pair of Fowler blockers during Saturday morning’s Class D Final. (Middle) Plymouth Christian raises the champion’s trophy for the second straight season.

Tony Coggins serves as PA announcer during a 2022 Division 3 volleyball match at Kellogg Arena.

In Memoriam: Tony Coggins (1971-2023)

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

October 24, 2023

The MHSAA and Holly school communities are grieving this week after the sudden loss of Tony Coggins, a shining light in his educational community and an enthusiastic supporter of school sports as a public address announcer for several of our largest championship events.

But while that cheerful tone has been quieted, it surely will not be forgotten by the many fortunate to enjoy an event in the presence of that voice and the joyfulness he brought into every arena, press box and classroom.

Coggins, 51, died Saturday. He is survived by his wife Kristy and children Emma and Bradlee, among several family and friends from his local and greater sports communities.

Tony CogginsHis career as a PA announcer began during his freshman year of high school in 1985, when his father Dale Coggins – Flushing’s athletic director at the time – couldn’t find anyone else to announce middle school football games. That was 39 years ago, and this fall Tony Coggins was in his 24th announcing at Holly, where he taught and served as an administrator in addition to his role as “Voice of the Holly Bronchos” for football, basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball, competitive cheer and swimming & diving over the years.

Coggins has been a mainstay among MHSAA Finals PA announcers over the last decade in football, basketball, softball and most recently volleyball. He lent his voice to college sports at University of Michigan as well. “Tony was a huge part of our Finals events. It’s hard to imagine it being the same without him,” MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl said.

As part of the run-up to the MHSAA public address announcers clinic in 2018, Coggins said this about what drew him to the microphone:

“I have zero athletic ability whatsoever, which is interesting because my father was an all-state running back. But I enjoy being involved, and I've always been the one for history and statistics and knowing what's going on,” Coggins said. “This is a way for me to be involved. It's a way for me to use a talent I've been given; public speaking has always come pretty naturally for me.

“So I worked at my craft to get better. I got better from watching the people around me, from studying the people I like, and the people – if I saw someone I didn’t care for – I'd make a note and say to myself, ‘Don't do that.’ I take feedback from people very personally, and I mean that in a good way. If somebody takes the time to come up and say, ‘You did this well; I think you should change this,’ that means they care about the program also. We all have the same goal in mind, and that's to make the experience good for the high school student and the parents, the fans, that come there.”

Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 28, at St. John Vianney, 2415 Bagley Street in Flint. There will be visitation from 2-8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 27, at the Swartz Funeral Home, 1225 West Hill Road, and at the church from 10 a.m. Saturday until the time of the Mass.