Undefeated Onsted Finds Winning Formula
September 28, 2019
By Doug Donnelly
Special for Second Half
ONSTED – Rhonda Hubbard teaches physical education and science in the classroom. But, on the volleyball court, she’s become a chemistry instructor.
Her creation this fall has been mixing up a 25-0 Onsted volleyball team.
“We were all so excited for this season,” said Wildcats junior leader Mya Hiram. “We knew we had the skill and talent and were just excited to work together. It’s all about team chemistry. Our team chemistry is amazing. That is a huge part of how good things are going.”
Onsted sits atop the Lenawee County Athletic Association at 7-0 and has beaten every team except Ida at least once in league play. The Wildcats have lost just two sets all season – one to Adrian Madison in the Tecumseh Tournament and one to Mason at the Mason Invitational – in rocketing to the undefeated start. The loss to Mason came in the first set.
“We didn’t get nervous or anything,” Hiram said about the 25-19 setback. “We all just kind of came together, re-grouped and did what we had to do. It pushed us that much harder.”
The Wildcats are experienced with several contributors back from last season’s 35-16-5 team.
Siena Heights University commit Kinsey Wagner leads the senior group that includes Brooke Gorney, McKenna Smith, Randall Strack and Randall Sexton. Hiram is part of a talented group of junior athletes that includes Brianna Benz and Kayla Ross. Kamryn Ross, Ruby Foster and Kennedy Ross are the three sophomores.
Hiram is one of several Onsted players who play multiple sports. She’s being recruited by dozens of college basketball teams, including some Division I programs. She also plays volleyball year-round.
“This group has played almost endlessly,” Hubbard said. “They play basketball and other sports, but they also play a lot of club volleyball. They put the time in, that’s for sure.”
It’s hard to pin-point one player on the deep Wildcats roster. Through 24 matches, Smith (92.1 percent), Wagner (96.8 percent), Ross (95.6 percent) and Gorney (91.4 percent) were all serving above 90 percent. Hiram averages 3.33 kills a game with Wagner averaging 3.03. Ross has 248 digs with Hiram having 210. Smith has 468 assists, an average above eight per game. Wagner has 42 blocks.
At the Mason Invitational, Wagner, Hiram and Ross all made the All-Tournament team. Hubbard said one thing that makes this group special is the opponent doesn’t know who to focus on.
“They are all very court-aware,” she said. “They move the ball well. I don’t have one go-to girl, although we could have. That makes us harder to defend because (the opponents) don’t know who’s going to get the ball.”
Hubbard is an Adrian graduate who coached the Maples freshman volleyball team 13 years before becoming the Adrian varsity head coach in 2004. This is her 10th season as the Onsted varsity volleyball coach. She also has coached track for 30 years.
“I was a sports nut,” Hubbard said about growing up. “Give me a sport and let me play it. It didn’t matter what it was. I loved the game, loved playing the game and had good mentors. I love coaching and do it because I love the kids. They keep me in it.”
Onsted has this weekend off before returning to the court Monday against Hudson. The MHSAA Tournament starts the first weekend in November. Hubbard isn’t concerned about still being undefeated.
“I think the girls understand it’s more important to be undefeated in the state tournament than the regular season,” she said.
Hiram said while the team is very aware of its record, she and her teammates aren’t resting on it or thinking too much about it.
“When we step onto the court, that doesn’t make us nervous at all,” she said. “It pushes us. We have a lot of confidence.”
Onsted’s most recent LCAA championship came in 2012, while Hubbard’s 2017 team won a District title. Onsted’s only Regional volleyball championship came in 1992. That Wildcats team lost in the Semifinals.
“I think they are capable of going deep into the tournament,” Hubbard said. “It’s just a matter of making sure to focus and do what we are supposed to do. We can do well at the county tournament, District, Regionals … but we all know anything can happen.”
While the victories are piling up, Onsted also faces some tough competition ahead.
The Wildcats still must play LCAA opponent Ida twice, play in the Lenawee County Tournament and will take the court at the Polish Classic Invite at Bronson on Oct. 5. Niles, Sturgis, Muskegon Western Michigan Christian, Edwardsburg and Bronson also will be there. Bronson is the four-time reigning Division 3/Class C champion.
“We put that tournament on our schedule a couple of years ago because we know they are competitive teams,” Hubbard said. “You have to do that to get better. We want to play the teams that are going to push us and make us better. If we get beat, okay, it’s not the end of the world. To be unbeaten right now is awesome, but we know who we still have to play.”
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 Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Onsted’s Mya Hiram (4) moves the ball ahead during a match this season. (Middle) Kinsey Wagner prepares to serve. (Photos by Laura Harvey.)
St. Mary Sends Tuller Out as Champ
November 22, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
BATTLE CREEK – Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central wasn’t always the best team in Class C this season.
Longtime coach Diane Tuller wasn’t sure at the start of this fall if these Kestrels had “what it took” to win the school’s fifth MHSAA championship and second in three seasons.
But she never told them that. Every time St. Mary stepped on the court this season, Tuller always told her players they were the best – and in the end, it proved true again.
The Kestrels dropped the first set of Saturday’s Class C Final to second-ranked Schoolcraft, 25-23, but won the next three 29-27, 25-20, 25-22, to defend their top ranking and send Tuller into retirement with one more title.
“There’s no words to describe how much it means for us to leave her with something – her last state championship, for us to be the last team she gets to coach – you’ll never find another coach like her,” St. Mary senior Cassandra Haut said, “and I know we’re all honored to be able to play for her.
“She tells us all the time we’re the best team in the state, and I think even if it wasn’t (true) she knows in our heads coming from her that means more than anything and gets us ready to play every time we step on the court.”
The Kestrels finished this fall 45-8-2, Class C champions for the third time in five seasons after making the Quarterfinals in Class B a year ago.
Tuller will retire from coaching having led St. Mary to all five of its MHSAA titles and 595 wins over 17 seasons (with 188 losses and 51 ties).
She had a great starting point for her final season in a strong senior class including Haut, a 6-foot-2 middle who was a finalist for the Miss Volleyball award and will play collegiately at Eastern Michigan University.
“They’re a great team and improved every single time they stepped on the court. That’s all I ever ask of anybody,” Tuller said. “It’s not so much the state championship that means a lot to me now, but the fact that at the beginning of the season I wasn’t sure this team had what it took to get there. They’ve been improving, working hard, doing everything I asked them. I get a little screamy sometimes, but they put up with me, worked really hard. They did it.”
St. Mary gave up only two sets in eight tournament victories – the first to Ottawa Lake Whiteford in the District opener, and the last to Schoolcraft, which led by as many as five points during the first set and also in the second and as late as 23-22 before the Kestrels came back to finish on a 7-4 run.
Haut and her teammates expected the Schoolcraft surge – the Eagles had dropped their first two Semifinal sets to Roscommon before coming back.
St. Mary never trailed in winning the third set, and came back from six down in the fourth to finish its run.
“The momentum just kept changing. We played chaotically a little bit in Game 2, and there were moments of it in Game 3,” Schoolcraft coach Erin Onken said. “But I was proud of how we did fight back, even though we had those moments.”
Haut finished with 23 kills – tied for 13th most in an MHSAA Final during the rally scoring era beginning in 2004-05 – and senior Sydney McGinn’s 48 assists tied for sixth-most in Finals history.
Senior Marianne Douglas capped her all-state career with 17 kills and 14 digs, and senior setter Sarah Wisser had 44 assists as Schoolcraft made its second championship game appearance and first since winning Class C in 2008.
The Eagles finished 46-11-1, and Onken said she expected her team to make this run. “I said if you’re going to go down, write a story, make it awesome, show people how good you are,” she added. “I think we can walk away happy; I think our fans can walk away happy.”
St. Mary’s finish seemed a little destined as well, even if that’s not quite how Tuller would describe her final team’s effort.
“I don’t know if ‘destined’ is the right word. But they were determined and disciplined in what they had to do this year,” she said. “It’s all on them.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central coach Diane Tuller holds up the MHSAA championship trophy to her team. (Middle) St. Mary setter Sydney McGinn moves the ball to a teammate while Schoolcraft prepares to block. (Click for action photos and team photos from Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS:
SCHOOLCRAFT PREVAILS IN FIRST SET - Schoolcraft made some nice defensive plays pay off for set point in the first against Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central.
BLOCKING FOR A TITLE - On match point, Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central blocks the Schoolcraft attack.
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