Veteran Eagles Soar to 1st Semi since '79
November 18, 2015
By Dean Holzwarth
Special for Second Half
GRAND RAPIDS – The Grand Rapids Christian volleyball team has enjoyed one of its best seasons in school history.
One main reason for the Eagles’ unbridled success: Experience.
Grand Rapids Christian entered this fall with a wealth of it, including one four-year varsity player and a core of three-year varsity players.
“We have six seniors on this team and they have a lot of experience,” Eagles fifth-year coach Tiffanie Gates said. “They have played together for a long time, in club and high school.”
The veteran leadership has been beneficial in their historic run to the Class A Semifinals. Thursday’s match against top-ranked Novi will be No. 3 Grand Rapids Christian’s first at this late round of the MHSAA Tournament since 1979.
Grand Rapids Christian (49-4) defeated No. 2 Mattawan 3-1 (25-21, 18-25, 25-23, 25-21) in Tuesday night’s Class A Quarterfinal at Caledonia High School.
“This season has been a blast,” said senior outside hitter Sam McLean, who’s been on the varsity all four years and earned all-state second-team honors last season. “We’ve been playing so well together as a team, and we’ve been playing some of our best games lately. It’s fun because we’re super close, and we’re friends outside of the court. It’s been a real good time.”
The seniors, which also include returning all-state first-team outside hitter Dylynn Otte, plus Ellen Long, Jessa VanderWeide, Maria Bolt and Megan Noordewier, have provided a calming influence to the underclassmen.
When things have gotten tough, they’ve persevered and proceeded with a confident demeanor.
“Any outside factors that get in our way, like a huge crowd or a team that is good, our seniors have calmed our players down,” McLean said. “We emphasize to our younger players to focus on us, and when we’re down or struggling, our seniors have been huge in helping our team out.”
The biggest evidence of a senior-dominated team has been its ability to not give an inch. They’ve developed a killer instinct, refusing to let other teams gain momentum.
The Eagles didn’t drop a set through 10 conference matches en route to an Ottawa-Kent Conference White championship and have lost only one set during the MHSAA Tournament.
“In this sport, it is whoever finishes and sees matches through,” Gates said. “I attribute that to our senior leadership with not letting up and not riding that rollercoaster that you see sometimes in high school volleyball.”
In last week’s Regional Final against No. 9 Hudsonville, the Eagles were up 2-0, but on the verge of losing the third set down 21-18.
“They rallied and finished it in three,” Gates said. “We’ve had conversations about not expecting it to go that way from here on out and the further you go the harder it gets, so they are prepared for it not to be that way. They have definitely worked hard to finish strong every time.”
Grand Rapids Christian has drawn motivation from two straight years of early exits in District play. They have refused to allow history to repeat itself.
It has changed their mental approach to every match.
“It’s been our theme,” McLean said. “We even break it down to one point at a time and one set at a time. Last year I think we looked ahead too much, and that’s why we ended so early. This year we’ve barely looked at the state finals.
“We’ve only looked at the next game and what we have to do to win the next one and the next one. That’s all we’ve been focusing on, and it helps a ton.”
The seniors have dedicated themselves to making this season a memorable one.
“It’s a special year for all of us, and we want to go as far as we can,” McLean said. “A lot of the seniors won’t play in college, so this is their final games. I love our underclassmen because they want to do well for us. It’s really cool to see.”
Added Gates: “The core group have been playing club together since they were 11 or 12, so it’s been a dream for them since they were little. You see it coming to fruition now, and it’s pretty neat. They are definitely motivated and driven.”
On the court, Grand Rapids Christian doesn’t have a lot of weaknesses. A balanced group of big hitters and solid blocking at the net have paced their attack.
“We have good ball control and defense,” Gates said. “And we’re pretty deep offensively. It’s difficult for teams to camp out on one hitter. We can definitely mix it up. I don’t think there’s a hole in our game so far.”
The Eagles overcame a major hurdle when they swept perennial state powerhouse Grand Haven in the Regional Semifinal.
The Bucs knocked Grand Rapids Christian out in the Quarterfinals in 2012 and entered this postseason ranked No. 5.
“We split with them in the regular season in tournament play so we knew their game and practiced for it,” Gates said. “It’s a fun little rivalry with them because it’s always been back and forth. It was an exciting and emotional match for us.”
Dean Holzwarth covered primarily high school sports for the Grand Rapids Press and MLive for 16 years and more recently served as sports editor of the Ionia Sentinel and as a sports photojournalist for WZZM. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Allegan, Kent and Ottawa counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Grand Rapids Christian players and coaches pose last week with their Class A Regional championship trophy. (Middle) Jessa VanderWeide, one of six seniors, prepares to unload a serve during a match earlier this fall. (Photos courtesy of Grand Rapids Christian High School.)
Carney-Nadeau Serving Up Fast Start
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
October 13, 2020
CARNEY — It has often been said practice makes perfect.
So far that has applied to the Carney-Nadeau Wolves, who have won all 10 of their volleyball meets this season. They are ranked No. 9 in Division 4 by the Michigan Interscholastic Volleyball Coaches Association.
“We spend a lot of time together on and off the court,” said senior outside hitter Taylor Kedsch, who recorded 10 kills and four digs against Munising in the team’s most recent match last week. “That helps our communication and helps us jell as a team.
“We didn’t really expect to be undefeated, but we’ve worked hard. When we were under ‘stay at home’ orders (due to Covid-19), I did some weight training at home. Then, we got to a point (5-6 weeks later) where we could practice once a week. It definitely felt great to get together again.”
Senior hitter Liana Blahnik, who collected 12 service aces, seven kills, two blocks and eight digs against Munising, also stayed in shape by doing some workouts at home.
“We’re kicking off the season real well,” she said. “We’ve cleaned up a lot of things and been improving steadily. Having to wear a mask during matches and practices has worked real well for us. It’s safer and not much of a problem.”
Senior setter Haley Ernest tallied 26 assists and seven digs in her latest outing.
“I feel it’s working pretty well,” she said. “I look to see who’s hitting well. When (Coach Steve Kedsch) finds a hole, he lets us know. We work real well together. Our team chemistry and communication have really picked up. During the ‘stay at home’ orders, a friend of mine who’s in college and I would skype and do practices together, which I think really helped.”
Among the Wolves’ achievements is a 25-19, 25-17 triumph over Kingsford in the final round of their quadrangular meet Sept. 26.
“That was probably our best match,” said Taylor Kedsch. “We were doing pretty well defensively. I think our team is doing real well. We’re grateful for everything.”
Coach Kedsch has similar thoughts about this season.
“We were fortunate enough to know we were going to have a season,” he said. “The girls came into the season in pretty good shape. Our seniors did a good job leading the juniors and motivating them. Our role players are getting better. Mel Baumler and Mackenzie Walcher have kind of gone to a place where they needed to be. I give a lot of credit to the girls for accepting different roles. This is a different game from jayvees. This is a faster game. We can only control what we can control. We try to run a fast-paced game.”
Coach Kedsch says serving has been a key to the Wolves’ success.
“We knew we had good servers on this team,” he said. “But we’ve been serving more than 92 percent as a team which was a surprise.
“This has been such an enjoyable season for me. We’ve gotten great support from our assistant coaches Dale Harris and Maisy Johnson and we have a senior group that’s so dedicated to the sport. They’re very focused and doing well this season. Give credit to the kids for buying into the program, taking ownership and providing input.”
Next up for the Wolves is a trip to Peshtigo, Wis. Monday.
“Taylor and I play on a club team with some of the Peshtigo girls,” said Ernest. “We’ve gotten to know them pretty well. We can put a game plan together. It should be a good match.”
Blahnik is also looking forward to Monday’s match.
“I think that will be a good challenge,” she said. “We’re going to have to know where their strengths are and make our adjustments.”
John Vrancic has covered high school sports in the Upper Peninsula since joining the Escanaba Daily Press staff in 1985. He is known most prominently across the peninsula for his extensive coverage of cross country and track & field that frequently appears in newspapers from the Wisconsin border to Lake Huron. He received the James Trethewey Award for Distinguished Service in 2015 from the Upper Peninsula Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association.
PHOTOS: (Top) Carney-Nadeau’s Taylor Kedsch (10) unloads a spike against Bark River-Harris during a match this season. (Middle) The Wolves Liana Blahnik (9) spikes the ball against Crystal Falls Forest Park. (Photos courtesy of the Escanaba Daily Press.