Seniors Cap Notre Dame Prep Careers with Championship Celebration
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
November 20, 2021
BATTLE CREEK – Josie Bloom and her Pontiac Notre Dame Prep senior classmates entered high school with the volleyball program on top.
They will leave having put it in the same place.
Led by a deep and talented senior class, the Irish defeated North Branch 25-17, 25-17, 25-12 on Saturday at Kellogg Arena to claim the MHSAA Division 2 Finals title.
“It’s awesome,” Bloom said. “We’ve had this goal since the beginning of the season, and it’s awesome to have that final feeling, and to go out with a bang.”
The title is the fourth for the Irish, and first since 2017, when the Class of 2022 was in the eighth grade. Notre Dame Prep has advanced to the Final Four in each of the past four seasons, and was a finalist in 2018. But the promise of this class was truly met Saturday as it capped off a remarkable 64-1 season by hoisting the Finals trophy.
“It’s so hard to do,” said Notre Dame Prep coach Betty Wroubel, who has coached all four Finals champions. “I don’t think people realize how hard it is to get this far and win. Anything can happen along the way. You need a little bit of luck, you need a lot of skill and you need a team that's going to persevere through adversity no matter what – injuries, officials calls or other teams that get hot against you – it doesn’t really matter, you have to be able to overcome that. I think this team’s mental toughness was awesome.”
The Irish, who are ranked fifth nationally and handed Division 1 champion Bloomfield Hills Marian its lone defeat, featured nine seniors. While standouts such as Bloom and Aly Borellis and Bianca Giglio deservedly get a lot of the credit, it was a late moment when reserve senior Leah Greif was inserted into the match and able to be on the court for the final points that garnered some of the loudest applause. She made it count with a perfect pass that led to a point.
“It’s awesome, because they work their butts off all season, too, along with all the starters,” Bloom said. “I think they definitely deserve a chance, and it’s awesome to see them succeed in a game like this.”
Bloom led the Notre Dame Prep defense with 20 digs, while Borellis led the attack with 17 kills and 13 assists. Giglio added 10 kills, while Margo Sudzina had 19 assists, and Elyssa Wallace had 17 digs.
While the Irish were senior-led, North Branch (46-9) was led mostly by its sophomore class.
The Broncos will graduate a single senior – Gracie Hyde – and the experience gained on the weekend is something coach Jim Fish believes will be of great value for the program as it also looks to get back to the top of Division 2. North Branch has won three titles itself, the latest coming in 2016.
“You can put it on the calendar; we will be back next year – we will be here,” Fish said. “They got a taste of it, we had a great weekend, we had a great time in this match. When the third game started, I told them, ‘Ladies, I’m having the time of my life and there’s nowhere else I’d rather be. So, let’s just enjoy this.’ Our 10 sophomores against their 10 seniors, that’s two years difference. We played OK; they’re just a very good team. I give them all the credit, they’ve earned it, and they’ve waited four years to get it.”
Adrienne Greschaw had 19 assists for North Branch, with Natasha Bickel (seven) and Kaela Chingwa (six) leading the team in kills. Hailey Green had 18 digs for the Broncos, and Alana Deshetsky added 15.
“I would love to play them at full strength – that's not an excuse,” Fish said. “My outside (Deshetsky) couldn’t jump, she has two bad knees. My defensive kid (Hyde) couldn’t move. The result might be the same, so I’m not taking anything away. We knew we were up against it, we knew they were skilled at every position and it was a tall task. We had a great night (in the Semifinal win against Lakewood), and that’s what we’re going to rest our head on. They want to be here next year. They’re already talking about it.”
PHOTOS (Top) Pontiac Notre Dame Prep celebrates its Division 2 championship Saturday night at Kellogg Arena. (Middle) The Fighting Irish’s Bianca Giglio (9) sends a kill attempt at a North Branch block including Natasha Bickel (15). (Photos by Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
North Branch Class of '24 Finishes Decade Together with Finals Repeat
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
November 18, 2023
BATTLE CREEK – A decade’s worth of team volleyball came to an end Saturday afternoon for eight North Branch seniors.
So while the Broncos had just won their second-straight Division 2 title, the tinge of sadness to the tears streaming down their faces was understandable.
“All of us started, a majority of us eight seniors started when we were 8 years old in North Branch volleyball club,” Broncos senior Alana Deshetsky said. “No one, pretty much, left until they were in high school and played one or two years at a different club. We were all trained here and all played with each other since we were 8, so I think we have a deeper connection than most other teams.
“We pulled up a picture this weekend from our first year, and pretty much all of us girls were in it. It was really sad to see girls that I’d played with forever, and I won’t play with again. Most teams end on a low, but when you end on a high, you want it to keep going.”
While they won’t get to keep things going after the 25-18, 25-14, 25-18 win against Grand Rapids West Catholic at Kellogg Arena, this group has left a legacy that will never be forgotten at a program that was already considered one of the state’s elite.
For the first time in program history, North Branch won back-to-back titles. That came after a runner-up finish in 2021, giving a class that had been major contributors since they were freshmen three Finals appearances in four years.
And, as freshman, they lost in five sets to the eventual Division 2 champion, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep.
“I think it was something (coach Jim Fish) definitely saw the potential in us,” senior libero Hailey Green said. “We were freshmen. In that game our freshmen year, we were just trying to hang with Notre Dame Prep. I think our junior year it kind of hit us. Like, ‘Oh, we’re in the state finals.’ It definitely hit us last year.”
Fish definitely saw it early. When they were eighth graders, Fish coached them in a summer tournament in Ohio. It was a tournament that featured a varsity and JV division, and for the first time in his career, Fish chose to coach the JV group.
“(People) said, ‘Why are you coaching them?’ And I said, ‘Because I know what we’re going to be doing,’” Fish said. “We’ve been working with this group for a long time. As good of players as they are, they’re nicer kids. They’re team academic all-state, individual academic all-state. Phenomenal kids in the community.”
North Branch (56-4-1) spent the entire season ranked No. 1 in Division 2, and Fish scheduled the best competition he could find throughout the state – and even in some adjoining states – to keep his group sharp.
It worked, as did playing with a target on their backs the entire season.
“These teams scouted us very hard all season long,” Deshetsky said. “Our last tournament, I think we looked around and there were five cameras on our court scouting us for the postseason. This postseason was very difficult, because teams knew us as much as they could have, inside and out. They knew what we would do, because when you’re at the top, you’re the target, and everyone was coming for us.”
North Branch defeated the No. 2 team Grand Rapids Christian in Thursday’s Semifinal, but didn’t let down at all in the Final.
Aubree Deshetsky led the North Branch attack against West Catholic with 14 kills, while Clara Gyomory had nine. Adrienne Greschaw had 31 assists. The Deshetsky sisters led the defense, as Aubree had 19 digs and Alana had 13.
Brooke Tietz had seven kills to lead West Catholic, while Emma Tuttle had six. Alivia Mott had 11 assists, while Amelia Gagnon had 12 digs and Grace Steiner had 10.
“It was a great match – North Branch is a super good volleyball club,” West Catholic coach Megan Eversman said. “I think our kids gave a fight as hard as they could fight against that team. I’m just really proud of all of their efforts that they had.”
While North Branch had loads of experience at Kellogg Arena, West Catholic (38-10-6) was making its first Finals appearance.
“I’m just really proud that our team could get here,” Tuttle said. “I think we worked really hard this season to get here, and for our last season, I’m really proud.”
PHOTOS (Top) North Branch players celebrate their repeat Division 2 title win at Kellogg Arena. (Middle) Grand Rapids West Catholic's Mia Henne (4) sends a kill attempt into the block of Kaela Chingwa (10) and Clara Gyoromy (14). (Below) Adrienne Greschaw sets the Broncos' offense. (Photos by Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)