Title IX at 50: Marysville Builds Winning Streak Yet to be Challenged
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
November 23, 2021
This weekend wrapped up a season that saw two of the most dominating team performances in nearly a half-century of MHSAA volleyball – Bloomfield Hills Marian and Pontiac Notre Dame were Finals champions, both finishing their seasons with only one loss. Over the previous decade, only one team did one better – the 2015 Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard team finished a perfect 41-0.
All of that provides just a little more context to an accomplishment that really doesn’t need too much – the 192-match win streak built by Marysville from Dec. 10, 1996 through Jan. 15, 2000.
After losing in a Lower Peninsula Class B Semifinal that previous March – when volleyball was still a winter sport – Marysville opened the 1996-97 season with a victory and didn’t lose or draw again until falling to Flint Carman-Ainsworth during the Birch Run Invitational on Jan. 15, 2000.
The sport has changed plenty in Michigan over the last 20 years, from when it’s played to how it’s played. But the streak is incredible in any era – the next longest in volleyball is 98 straight wins by Flint Kearsley during the 1984-85 seasons. Only Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern – with 92 straight wins from Feb. 24, 2002 through March 15, 2003 – has broken 90 since Marysville’s incredible run.
This also was only party of Marysville's marvelous story at the turn of the century. The front of this run made up part of a streak of eight straight Finals championships from 1997-2004, a record as well until Battle Creek St. Philip won nine straight from Winter 2007-2014.
Second Half's weekly Title IX Celebration posts are sponsored by Michigan Army National Guard.
Previous Title IX at 50 Spotlights
Nov. 16: Wroubel Has Championed Girls School Sports from Their Start - Read
Nov. 9: Pioneer's Joyce Legendary in Michigan, National Swim History - Read
Nov. 2: Royal Oak's Finch Leading Way on Football Field - Read
Oct. 26: Coach Clegg Sets Championship Standard at Grand Blanc - Read
Oct. 19: Rockford Girls Set Pace, Hundreds After Have Continued to Chase - Read
Oct. 12: Bedford Volleyball Pioneer Continues Blazing Record-Setting Trail - Read
Oct. 5: Warner Paved Way to Legend Status with Record Rounds - Read
Sept. 28: Taylor Kennedy Gymnasts Earn Fame as 1st Champions - Read
Sept. 21: Portage Northern Star Byington Becomes Play-by-Play Pioneer - Read
Sept. 14: Guerra/Groat Legacy Continues to Serve St. Philip Well - Read
Sept. 7: Best-Ever Conversation Must Include Leland's Glass - Read
Aug. 31: We Will Celebrate Many Who Paved the Way - Read
PHOTO Marysville's Randi Kettlewell (12) drives a kill attempt against Stevensville Lakeshore during the 1999 Class B Final. (MHSAA file photo.)
Be the Referee: Volleyball Double & Lift
By
Paige Winne
MHSAA Marketing & Social Media Coordinator
October 3, 2023
Be The Referee is a series of short messages designed to help educate people on the rules of different sports, to help them better understand the art of officiating, and to recruit officials.
Below is this week's segment – Volleyball Double & Lift - Listen
You’re sitting at a volleyball match and hear parents in the stands yell “Double!” or “Lift!”
What do those terms mean, and why are they yelling them?
Double refers to double contact. That’s when a player hits the ball twice in a row or if the ball touches two parts of the player’s body in succession. If a setter hits the ball with one hand then the other – even if immediate, it’s a double. She needs to set with both hands at the same time.
A lift is when the player, typically a setter, has prolonged contact with the ball that results in throwing or re-directing the ball back into play. The ball doesn’t rebound off the player's fingers or hands, but is directed by the player.
The official on the stand at the net is in the best position to notice these fouls.
Previous Editions
Sept. 26: Registration Process - Listen
Sept. 20: Animal Interference - Listen
Sept. 13: Feet Rule on Soccer Throw-In - Listen
Sept. 6: Volleyball Jewelry - Listen
Aug. 30: Football Rules Similarities - Listen
Aug. 23: Football Rules Differences - Listen
(PHOTO by Gary Shook.)