Block Party: 2026 Girls Volleyball Week 10 Report
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
October 28, 2026
We’re ready for the start of the MHSAA Girls Volleyball Tournament, and nearly 700 varsity teams across Michigan are making their final preparations as we begin to turn our attention to the beginning of District play.
Those brackets were announced Sunday, and we’ll be back Monday with our preview of next week’s opening rounds. In the meantime, there’s still plenty to report from the week that was, and the remaining few days of the regular season ahead.
MPR below refers to the Michigan Power Ratings (MPR) used to seed the top two teams in every District. Records are those reported and tracked on this website, and rankings reflect the latest polls posted by the Michigan Interscholastic Volleyball Coaches Association (MIVCA).
Week in Review
The countdown of last week’s five most intriguing results:
1. Farmington Hills Mercy d. Bloomfield Hills Marian (18-25, 25-19, 15-12) Division 1 top-ranked Mercy (31-5-1) ran its lead in this year’s series with No. 2 Marian (37-5) to 3-1 with this win at the Lowell East vs. West Challenge, and also defeated No. 3 Byron Center, No. 9 Lowell, honorable mention Battle Creek Lakeview and Midland Dow on the weekend.
2. Grass Lake d. Hanover-Horton (25-22, 25-19) Division 3 No. 6 Grass Lake (27-5-3) has won 10 straight matches since its most recent loss, Oct. 10 to No. 9 Hanover-Horton (28-9-5), and avenged it during a perfect run through the Cascades Conference Tournament.
3. South Lyon East d. Detroit Country Day (25-20, 25-21, 25-19) The Division 1 No. 3 Cougars (35-6) opened last week with this win over the Division 2 No. 2 Yellowjackets (14-8-1) and finished it with a 4-0 day at the Lakes Valley Conference Tournament.
4. Frankenmuth d. Roscommon (25-23, 22-25, 15-8) The Division 2 No. 4 Eagles (30-4) clinched their home invitational title with this win over the Division 3 No. 2 Bucks (38-9-5) after reaching the final by downing top-ranked Saginaw Valley Lutheran.
5. Plymouth Christian Academy d. Auburn Hills Oakland Christian (20-25, 25-17, 25-18, 25-23) Division 2 No. 3 PCA (28-12-7) came back after losing the first set to finish a regular-season sweep of the Division 4 No. 5 Lancers (28-10).
Watch List
With an eye toward November, here are two teams in each division making sparks:
DIVISION 1
East Grand Rapids (24-9-1) The honorable mention Pioneers got a nice tune-up at Lowell’s East vs. West Challenge, defeating Rockford and Lake Orion, losing to No. 3 Byron Center and No. 6 Clarkston and tying honorable mention Orchard Lake St. Mary’s. They then defeated Division 2 honorable mention Grand Rapids Catholic Central in four sets Tuesday. All nine of East Grand Rapids’ losses came to teams ranked among the top 10 in Divisions 1 or 2, and the Pioneers rank No. 11 in Division 1 MPR.
Portage Central (32-10) The Mustangs enjoyed an 8-0 run last week, with a 4-0 day at the Mattawan Invitational that included wins over Division 2 No. 3 Parma Western and honorable mention Otsego and a 3-0 night at Tuesday’s Battle Creek Harper Creek quad that included a victory over Division 2 No. 10 Tecumseh. Central is unranked in the coaches poll but No. 13 in Division 1 MPR, with half its losses to either No. 4 Byron Center or honorable mention Jenison.
DIVISION 2
Flat Rock (24-9-1) The honorable mention Rams – last season’s Division 2 runner-up in Battle Creek – won the Lincoln Park-hosted News-Herald Invitational with a 4-0 run Saturday, and seven of their nine losses this season were to teams ranked or receiving honorable mention in Divisions 1, 2 and 3. A sweep of Grand Rapids Catholic Central at the end of September was notable, and that combination of success and tough competition has Flat Rock sitting No. 14 in Division 2 MPR.
Frankenmuth (30-4) The Division 2 No. 4-ranked Eagles opened this season with 18 consecutive wins, and those four defeats have come against Division 1 opponents including No. 9 Lowell on Tuesday. Frankenmuth, as noted above, downed Division 3 No. 1 Valley Lutheran and No. 2 Roscommon to win its home invitational over the weekend, and also owns notable victories over Division 2 No. 9 Grand Rapids South Christian and honorable mentions Essexville Garber and Marshall.
DIVISION 3
Beal City (19-11-6) The Aggies moved into the Division 3 honorable mentions this week and rank No. 13 in Division 3 MPR with all but two of their losses to ranked or honorable mention teams in Divisions 1, 2 and 3 – and those two remaining defeats came against Division 4 No. 10 Onekama on Saturday at Beal City’s invitational. The Aggies have hit their stride over the second half of the season, going 14-5 since late September.
St. Louis (31-4-3) The Sharks joined the honorable mentions two weeks ago amid a run of 10 straight wins, and they’ve lost only one set over their last eight matches – to honorable mention Bath during a 5-0 Saturday hosting their Spirit of St. Louis Invitational. The Sharks also have defeated two of the opponents they’ve lost to – Alma and St. Johns – and the others came during a 4-2-2 start to the season.
DIVISION 4
Battle Creek St. Philip (29-12-4) A four-set win over honorable mention Hillsdale Academy last Thursday was the latest of 10 straight victories for the Tigers, who also started this season with eight wins during the first week before navigating several larger opponents through the middle of the season. Three losses came to Division 1 honorable mention Battle Creek Lakeview, and St. Philip also went 0-1-2 against top-10 Division 3 teams at the Oct. 10 Hanover-Horton Invitational – all solid prep as St. Phil seeks to build on three straight trips to the Regional Finals.
Buckley (28-8) The Bears are unranked in the coaches poll but No. 13 in Division 4 MPR and 13-3 in October with those three losses to No. 10 Onekama (twice) and Division 3 honorable mention Manton – two coming during a quad last week. Buckley opened this week sweeping Division 4 honorable mention Suttons Bay and downing Division 4 No. 3 Traverse City Christian 2-1, and the Bears could see the TC Christian again in a District Final next week after seeing their last two seasons end against the Sabres.
Can’t-Miss Contests
Be on the lookout for results of these matches and tournaments coming up:
Thursday – Battle Creek Lakeview (32-7-3), Edwardsburg (25-5), and Orchard Lake St. Mary’s (16-14-3) at Marshall (28-12-1) – Division 2 honorable mention Marshall will host a strong playoff tuneup featuring Division 1 honorable mentions Lakeview and St. Mary’s and Division 2 No. 7 Edwardsburg.
Thursday – Cass City (25-7-5), Leland (7-21-1) and Traverse City St. Francis (27-15-2) at Kingsley (43-5-1) – The Division 2 No. 8 Stags will welcome some final postseason prep with Division 3 No. 5 St. Francis, No. 10 Cass City and the longtime rival Comets.
Thursday – Fremont (32-17), Morley Stanwood (24-11) and Whitehall (6-24-1) at Big Rapids (20-15-3) – Morley Stanwood is an honorable mention in Division 3, and Fremont was the same in Division 2 until the last few weeks.
Thursday – Zeeland East (26-5) at Zeeland West (22-14) – The Dux of West are seeking their first win in this rivalry since 2023, with East taking the last six matchups.
Saturday – Temperance Bedford Spooktacular – Division 4 top-ranked Adrian Lenawee Christian (35-5) and Division 3 No. 9 Hanover-Horton (28-9-5) are among teams joining the Kicking Mules (19-12) for this regular-season finale.
PHOTOS (Top) Fowler players celebrate Saturday during a league tournament match against Pewamo-Westphalia. (Middle) LeRoy Pine River, left, and Shelby players contend for a ball at the net during a September match. (Fowler photo by John Johnson. Pine River/Shelby photo by Tonya Holmes Photography.)
Battle Creek St. Philip Reaffirms its Place Atop Division 4
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
November 20, 2021
BATTLE CREEK – The state’s winningest volleyball program is back to doing what it does best – winning consecutive MHSAA Finals.
Battle Creek St. Philip won its second-straight Division 4 volleyball title Saturday, sweeping Indian River Inland Lakes 25-17, 25-12, 25-8 at Kellogg Arena.
"For me, it’s just a whole different aspect now, seeing those little girls up in the stands,” St. Philip senior Brooke Dzwik said. “That was us at one point. They’re going to be the legacy. It’s not us anymore, it’s them. To really win so that they could see means a lot.”
St. Philip now has 22 Finals titles, including a record nine straight from 2007-14. If the win a year ago in a COVID-interrupted season wasn’t enough to prove the Tigers were back, Saturday’s dominant result should more than handle that.
“Last year everyone thought that we didn’t deserve the championship,” St. Philip senior Bailey Fancher said. “This year, there was no COVID (pause), there was nothing stopping us, so we wanted to prove everyone wrong that we were made to win both last year and this year’s state championships.”
St. Philip (40-11-1) entered the postseason ranked No. 3, and defeated No. 2 Athens in the Regional Final and No. 1 Adrian Lenawee Christian in the Quarterfinal just to get to Kellogg. Getting to play the underdog was a role the Tigers relished.
“We were the underdog all last year, too,” said Dzwik, who was one of five starters who returned from last year’s team. “Part of it is the competitive nature in all of us, that we wanted to prove everyone wrong, that we shouldn’t be the underdog.”
They were not the underdog Saturday, however, playing Finals newcomer Inland Lakes, which was coming off its first Regional title since 1995.
Inland Lakes (27-11-11) didn’t seem to be fazed by the moment early on, trading blows with the reigning champions, and even responding to a 4-0 run midway through the first set with a 4-0 run of its own, tying the score at 16. But following a timeout, St. Philip rattled off eight points in a row to take control and put the first set away.
From there, it was all Tigers.
“Our hitting wasn’t as powerful today – I think they got a little nervous and frazzled as things weren’t going their way,” Inland Lakes coach Nicole Moore said. “That’s a solid team that has great hitters that we weren’t adjusting to and getting touches on. That’s been our goal the whole time, and it’s worked most of the time, but today we just weren’t able to get those touches that we needed on those big hitters.”
For the Tigers, keeping the momentum when they got it was important, as St. Philip coach Vicki Groat didn’t want Inland Lakes to build confidence during the match.
“That’s a good team, and watching them on Thursday, there was no intimidation for them,” Groat said. “They were playing relaxed, they had nothing to lose, and they were the underdogs. In this stage, if you have them down, you have to keep the momentum going, keep the pressure on until the very end. I thought we did a good job of that today.”
Dzwik led the St. Philip attack with 14 kills, but Groat was impressed with how setter Rachel Myers spread the ball around throughout the match. Maddie Hoelscher (five kills), Alexis Snyder (five kills), Alex Kersten (four kills) and Makenzee Grimm (four kills) all helped to keep Inland Lakes off balance, and not allow it to focus solely on Dzwik. Kate Doyle led the St. Philip defense with 12 digs.
Natalie Wandrie had five kills and 10 digs to lead Inland Lakes, while Ryann Clancy had 11 digs. Alyssa Byrne finished with eight assists, and Olivia Monthei had four kills.
The disappointing finish didn’t take away from the historic season for the Bulldogs, as Byrne noted, “We played volleyball as long as we could.”
“We talked about before the game, we made this visual where we have this outer ring of people – northern Michigan volleyball, we’re the only people here, right,” Moore said. “We were representing them. We were representing our conference, our region, because not a lot of northern Michigan teams make it down here. We were the smallest school and the farthest school away, and I think we had a lot of blue in the stands, so that was really cool to see.”
PHOTOS (Top) St. Philip’s Makenzee Grimm (8) gets up a block as Inland Lakes’ Olivia Monthei (6) makes a play on the ball. (Middle) The Tigers’ Brooke Dzwik (9) connects, with teammate Baily Fancher (13) nearby. (Photos by Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)