Undefeated Manistique Makes Banner Run
November 9, 2015
By Dennis Grall
Special for Second Half
MANISTIQUE – Finally, the time has arrived to put volleyball on the sports map at Manistique High School.
The Emeralds will play in their first Regional tournament Tuesday when they face perennial power Calumet in Class C at Gladstone High School. They achieved that pinnacle by upending Gwinn 3-1 Thursday, in Ishpeming.
Under coach Amy Nixon, the Emeralds take an 18-0 record into the Regional. Their first District title came on the heels of their first Mid-Peninsula Conference championship, which means a volleyball banner finally will be hung in the high school gym and a couple of trophies will be displayed in the school's trophy case for the first time.
"The girls have become almost like rock stars," said Manistique athletic director Rob Ryan, noting the sport had very little success during the previous 20 years. "It's been a great journey. They now have crowds that are similar to boys and girls basketball, and the community is getting involved."
A fan bus of 50 students attended the District title game, which was a two-hour drive each way. Nixon was told by several people at Ishpeming that her student section was the loudest they had ever seen in Ishpeming. The team received a police escort back into Manistique late Thursday night.
"I'm proud of our students, family and friends," said Nixon. To which Ryan added, "everyone in the community is buzzing about it."
The success is a much-needed boost for the school and the community. The area is still reeling from the closure of its paper mill, its' biggest employer, earlier this year. And athletic success has been rare in most sports over the years as the Emeralds compete in the M-PC, regarded as one of the most competitive conferences in the state, in all sports.
Football was 1-8 in the fall, so volleyball has provided the important ingredient of success in Manistique. "Volleyball is something everybody is talking about," said Ryan.
"For 10 years volleyball has not been on the map at Manistique. We just were not competitive. It was very quiet in the gym. It was dark and depressing. Now we have raucous crowds. It has really done a 360. It is unbelievable."
With seven seniors on the team, including three-year starters Lexi Carlson, Machaela Hinkson and Sydney Chartier, the Emeralds have been groomed to succeed this fall. Carlson, a first-team M-PC standout, had 13 kills and three blocks Thursday while Chartier had 20 assists and Brooke Whiskin had 23 of Manistique's 91 digs.
"Our defense has improved so much," said Nixon, indicating the Emeralds changed formations from a man-up defense to a rotation system this year. "We don't let a whole lot of balls drop to the floor," said Nixon.
While Carlson, who joined the varsity late in her freshman season, is the leader, Nixon said, "we are a complete team. We are so strong mentally and physically. They have each other's back. There is no girl drama. This is really a well-rounded team. We have five hitters who get kills on a consistent basis.
"We are a tough-attacking offensive power."
Nixon, in her eighth season at the helm, is a native of Kingsford and spent two years as volleyball coach at Gwinn before coming to Manistique. She was a student assistant on the Northern Michigan University volleyball team and has used her experience, along with attending clinics, to instill success in Manistique.
"It's been an amazing ride," said Nixon, indicating the journey began with a five-set loss to Gwinn in the Class C District a year ago. "The girls were heart-broken when they lost last year," she said.
With nine returnees from that team, Nixon got the girls together in April and discussed goals and what the future could look like if the players were willing to put in the time and effort.
With her husband Tim conducting strength and conditioning programs, the girls began to reach for this season's success with the help of open gyms and small-scale skill sessions during the four months prior to official practice starting in August, when they "hit the ground running," said Nixon.
"It has been grueling," said Nixon, noting team bonding has been a focus. "For six months, volleyball has been our life. Their hearts have been 100 percent in it every day. They have been so determined to make it happen. They focused on achieving something great this year."
Changing the mind-set after so many years of struggling was vital. "I set high expectations for my team. I would not accept being mediocre," said Nixon, who strived to have the players give their best effort at all times. As the triumphs began building this season, Nixon said, "it proved to them what they were capable of doing."
The experienced core of the team has helped give the Emeralds an edge this season. "Their court vision is very cool for me to see," said Nixon. After being previously happy to just get the ball over the net, now the Emeralds set targets for their shots.
"They put it in specific spots. Their instincts are so good," said Nixon.
Ryan said this squad's success also occurs off the court, noting their team GPA is 3.7 or 3.8. "This is a great group of girls. They never have a discipline problem. They deserve everything they are getting,” he said.
"Getting that first volleyball banner on the gym wall will be very emotional. To finally clear this hurdle (District title) is really rewarding."
The Emeralds have not seen Calumet this season, but Manistique hosted the Copper Country power in the Class C Quarterfinal last year and received some insight into the team.
"The girls are really focused and will stay the course," said Nixon. "We had a motto (when practice began), Battle Creek or bust," she said of the MHSAA Finals site. "It started out as a joke, but as we have experienced success the motto is not so much a joke. It is reality."
Denny Grall retired in 2012 after 39 years at the Escanaba Daily Press and four at the Green Bay Press-Gazette, plus 15 months for WLST radio in Escanaba; he served as the Daily Press sports editor from 1970-80 and again from 1984-2012. Grall was inducted into the Upper Peninsula Sports Hall of Fame in 2002 and serves as its executive secretary. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for the Upper Peninsula.
PHOTOS: (Top) Manistique senior Allie Nagy follows through on a kill attempt during a victory this season over Iron Mountain. (Middle) Lexi Carlson (7) goes high to set up a block. (Below) The Emeralds celebrate during their victory. (Photos courtesy of Manistique athletic department/Jeffrey Bolm.)
#TBT: Brimley Makes Name as UP Power
October 26, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Girls Volleyball Districts begin Monday, providing another generation the opportunity to become "Legends of the Games."
The MHSAA during the late 1990s and early 2000s honored past champions at the Finals as exactly that – and for today's #TBT we'll recall our 2000 volleyball honoree, Brimley, which was recognized the season the MHSAA's Finals became unified after formerly having separate tournaments for each peninsula.
Below is the piece that ran in the souvenir program celebrating the Bays' dynasty.
It was a legitimate question – "Where's Brimley?"
It had been a long time since the little town located off Whitefish Bay in the Upper Peninsula had made some noise on the statewide level with its school's sports success – not since back-to-back Class D MHSAA Boys Basketball crowns in 1950 and 1951.
It was 1978, and the growth of girls sports saw the birth of a volleyball team at Brimley. Charles Compo took on the coaching reins with very little experience in the sport, but with an eagerness to learn and to teach.
It was the start of something big.
Just two years later, the first MHSAA Upper Peninsula Girls Volleyball Tournament took place, won, somewhat predictably, by a bigger school. Class C St. Ignace took the measure of Bessemer in that first tournament, but what happened next gave a whole new meaning to the phrase "U.P. Power."
Over the next decade, Brimley established itself as the first volleyball dynasty in the Upper Peninsula, and in fact, raised its game to where it was occasionally the top-ranked team statewide in Class D in the coaches polls.
With open-class U.P. championships in 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, and the first U.P. Class D title in 1991, Brimley earned its spot as one of the Legends of the Games.
But to earn that spot in U.P. and volleyball lore, the Bays had to travel – and oh, did they travel.
"We did a lot of traveling," Compo said. "That's where the competition was. It helped our program get statewide recognition."
Located just off I-75, the Bays went southbound weekend after weekend to face Lower Peninsula competition, which had been playing the game longer. It didn't take long for Brimley to become established as a force to be reckoned with.
"Being from the U.P., we traveled many, many hours on a bus. On those long trips, our teams became very close and developed lasting bonds," said Laura Compo, a setter on the team from 1985 to 1988. "When we arrived at some tournaments, many people wondered where Brimley was; they had never heard of us. Some would even laugh out loud about playing a Class D team from the U.P. More often than not, they wouldn't forget us at the end of a match and tournament. It was very rewarding to make our mark on Michigan volleyball."
While the road to success included long trips, it was an opponent of a relatively short drive away that was Brimley's largest hurdle in its rise to the top. Knocking off the first tournament champion, St. Ignace, was not an easy task.
"The St. Ignace team had beaten us every other time we had met over the previous three seasons and had our number," said Laura Newland, a setter on Compo's first three teams. "They looked like giants, they acted cocky and had a confidence about them that made our team feel like we didn't belong in the same gymnasium with them."
The breakthrough match was in the regional tournament that year, where the Bays finally defeated the Saints in three games to advance to the final level of the tournament.
"That game, the excitement of the fans, the near perfect game both sides played will always be the championship for me – it was one of the greatest experiences of my life," Newland said.
"The first time we defeated St. Ignace, everyone in the stands were on their feet. Some of the dads were crying," said Robin Burton, a setter on the team from 1980 to 1982. "It was the turning point for the team.”
Brimley took the U.P. title a week later by defeating Watersmeet. A team made up of three seniors, four sophomores and four juniors was poised for more success. "We should be better next year, we really should," said Compo after the first title.
Four more titles ensued, with back-to-back wins over Ironwood in 1982 and 1983 and Bessemer in 1984 and 1985. Sault Ste. Marie broke the first streak in 1986 by representing the Eastern U.P. in the finals and claiming the championship, but Brimley's last two Open Class titles came in 1987 and 1988. Two years later, Compo retired from coaching after compiling a 12-year record of 408-74. The next year, the U.P. tournament was broken into classes, and Brimley, directed by Coach Walter Hyvarinen, won the first Class D title.
The Brimley players remember Coach Compo.
"My fondest memory of the team is of Coach Compo," said Burton. "He was a motivator and made working hard fun. He gave much of his time to volleyball – not just practices and games – but in-between – finding new ways to improve our skills and getting us into tournaments all over the state. We wouldn't have been nearly as successful without his extra efforts."
"I remember all the hard work we put into practices and games. We had so much fun, we felt like one big family," said Sherri Carrick, an outside hitter from 1984-87. "Mr. Compo was such a great coach and person that only he could push me to be the player that I was."
Legends in high school sports are about teams that build up their communities, and for the decade of the 1980's, it happened in Brimley. It provided lifetime memories for a team that still makes those who took part feel every bit as proud today as they did while in the school's uniform.
"I remember that pride the most," said Barb Cameron, a middle hitter on the 1985-88 teams. "That, and the shared desire to win against all odds. People would say, 'Where's Brimley?' And we showed them!"