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.)
Fowler Seniors Make Childhood Dream Come True with 1st Finals Championship
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
November 22, 2025
BATTLE CREEK – The Fowler volleyball team called its shot in January, naming its group chat “State Champs.”
But the Class of 2026 has believed that was the endgame for much longer than that.
Behind the leadership of nine seniors, they made it happen Saturday, as the Eagles claimed the school’s first volleyball Finals title, sweeping Mendon 30-28, 25-19, 25-22 in the Division 4 championship match at Kellogg Arena.
“I think we’ve known the whole time that if we stick with it and we push each other, that we could do good things,” senior middle hitter Josie Simon said. “I think especially last year, we wanted to do it for those seniors, and that hurt us. We knew during that Regional Final game that it was the big game, so when we lost we knew we had to come in this year and we were ready to go. We knew what we were chasing.”
Saturday’s Finals appearance was just the second in school history for Fowler, and first since 2017. That year, Simon and her classmates were fourth graders, and several of them were at Kellogg Arena watching.
The following year, their own journey began.
“I’m super thrilled for them, and they literally have been talking about this since they were in the fifth grade when they started playing volleyball,” Fowler coach Patty Feldpausch said. “To want something so bad and know you have to stay focused, and know that mistakes don’t matter because the next ball matters, that’s a big deal. We don’t have our individual names on the back of their warm-up shirts. Their name is not on there because that’s not important. It’s what we’re doing together, that’s what’s important. They believed it, and that’s why we’re sitting at this table being the champions.”
While they’d rather not wait another eight years, the Eagles know they could have sparked that same drive and belief in a group of girls watching Saturday.
“Making history and showing little kids that it’s possible, like it’s hard, but we did it and they can do it,” senior Myah Pohl said. “For the kids that we waved at, and they supported us – they can do it, too.”
Those kids witnessed an incredible team effort that led to a title, as the Eagles had 10 players record a dig, and five add at least seven kills to the attack.
At the heart of that were a trio of seniors, as Paige Thelen had 21 kills, Rachel Wirth had 21 digs and Neelah O’Rourke had 48 assists.
Fittingly, that trio combined for the final dig, assist and kill of the game, as Thelen pounded home an O’Rourke set, which came off a Wirth pass, for match point.
O’Rourke’s 48 assists are the most in a three-set Finals match since the move to divisions in 2018.
“She’s the only player I hugged – we got rushed around,” Feldpausch said with a laugh. “She just did a great job today. Our defense was giving her good balls to feed and our hitters did a great job against their big block. Neelah just kept her composure. She was amazing, she did great.”
Skylar Fowler was a big part of that attack as well, recording 10 kills, while Pohl had nine, Elizabeth Wirth had eight and Simon had seven. Selena Stump had 13 digs for the Eagles (36-8-2), with O’Rourke adding 12 and Thelen 11.
Most of the drama in the match came during the first set, as it took 30 points to settle it. While each point was tense, the final point featured a long back and forth that ended with a block from Simon and Stump.
“It’s tough to lose an opening set like that,” Mendon coach Kenneth Herbert said. “We’ve said it all season long, that we’re never out of a match. Even though we lost that first set, we felt from that moment we could still battle. And even to the last point, I felt that we were still battling. That’s all I can ask for out of these girls.”
Cienna Nightingale led the Mendon attack with 14 kills, adding 12 digs, while Gracie Shultz had nine kills and 19 digs. Karyssa Holtz had 24 assists for the Hornets (38-7-1), while Jadyn Samson had 20 digs.
“Good for them, they found our weaknesses and found ways to shut us down,” Schultz said. “We played as well as we could. I wouldn’t have done anything different. We gave everything on the court.”
PHOTOS (Top) Fowler’s Skylar Fowler (7) powers a kill past Mendon’s Gracie Schultz (7) and Sabrina Monroy (12) during Saturday’s Division 4 Final. (Middle) The Eagles’ Paige Thelen (13) connects as Karyssa Holtz (3) and Lashell Blair line up to block.