Forest Park Embarks on Tournament Run with Momentum, Valuable Experience
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
November 5, 2026
HARRIS — Crystal Falls Forest Park brought plenty of momentum going into this week’s Division 4 District volleyball tournament.
The Trojans completed their regular season at 34-4-1 after posting a 3-0 (25-14, 25-10, 25-14) triumph over Bark River-Harris Broncos a week ago. That victory secured for Forest Park a fifth-consecutive Skyline Central Conference title and ran its league winning streak to 43 matches.
The No. 9-ranked Trojans (35-4-1) swept Powers North Central in Wednesday’s District Semifinal and will face District host Felch North Dickinson (19-13-4) for the title at 5 p.m. tonight.
“I think we have a lot of depth,” Trojans coach Bobbie Jo Anderson said that evening. “We have strong hitters across the board. We have a lot of momentum going into the (Division 4) District. We played a lot of good teams. We’ve been competitive and successful against the larger schools. We did everything we could.”
Forest Park is seeking to take another familiar step after finishing 42-2 and reaching the Division 4 Semifinals a year ago. The Trojans have reached the Semifinals in Battle Creek three of the last four seasons.
Sophomore middle hitter Josie Anderson – also among the team’s leading hitters last fall as a freshman – created plenty of issues for the Broncos in last week’s regular-season finale.
“We’ve been working for it,” Anderson said. “We’re starting to pull it together. Winning the conference undefeated gives us a lot of momentum going into the District.”
In addition to earning the SCC title, senior Vienna Price says Forest Park’s victories over rival West Iron County were among highlights this fall.
The Trojans won in four sets at West Iron and swept the Wykons in three at home.
“They’re a pretty good team,” Price added. “Those were big wins for us, but winning the conference was definitely the biggest highlight. We’re super excited about going into the tournaments. We want to play well. We don’t want our season to end.”
Forest Park won the Escanaba Elks Invitational for the third straight time (Oct. 3) and its own invitational (Sept. 19). The Trojans were runners-up in the ‘Rock’ Invite at Gladstone, dropping a 16-25, 28-26, 15-9 decision to No. 5 Hancock in the title match.
Should both teams continue to advance, they would meet in a Regional Final.
“That would be a hard match,” Price said. “We’ve been looking at them all season.”
BR-H coach Brooke Bartley also was impressed with what she saw from the Trojans.
“They are very well-coached,” she said. “They have a great feeder program. The junior high program definitely helps them for varsity. They play a very up-tempo offense.”
The Trojans, who run a 6-2 offense, opened their season at Mount Pleasant where they finished 3-1-1 and placed third at the Heat on the Hardwood at Morey Courts. That run included a win over honorable mention Onekama, loss to No. 3 Traverse City Christian and tie with No. 2 Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart.
“I think that set the tone for the season,” Josie Anderson said. “We’ve been working hard and getting better, which has boosted our confidence. Our schedule has helped us.”
The Trojans also hosted the Class of the Divisions tournament Oct. 17 where they dropped a three-set decision to Division 2 Kingsford and defeated Division 3 honorable mention Calumet and Division 1 Marquette in two sets apiece.
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) Forest Park’s Vienna Price (4) sets for her teammates during the Trojans’ Oct. 20 win against West Iron County. (Middle) Harper Anderson elevates for a serve. (Photos by Kathy Holm.)
2011 Finals: Instant Classics
December 16, 2011
BATTLE CREEK -- Alexis Huntey will now be in the conversation when sister Ashley reminisces about her MHSAA Class C Volleyball title in 2007.
The 6-2 senior outside hitter led Morley-Stanwood to the school's second championship Saturday, and the first since her older sister helped the Mohawks to their only other title four years ago against Ubly.
She’s one of the heroes of Saturday’s MHSAA Finals at Kellogg Arena. We’ve got highlights from all four games, and some of the stories behind them.
(Click of full stats from the Finals and Semifinals.)
Class C
When Morley-Stanwood won its 2007 title, Alexis Huntey watched from the bench as a team manager.
Now, younger sis might even have the better story of the two.
The Mohawks (58-4-2) claimed the 2011 championship by downing 2010 champion Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central 3-2 in one of the most thrilling Finals in MHSAA history.
The see-saw affair saw 32 ties and 13 lead changes from beginning to its nail-biting end, and featured 124 kills. With Morley-Stanwood leading 2-1 in sets (25-22, 26-28, 25-22), the Mohawks were just two points away from victory in set No. 4, leading the Kestrels 23-22. However, Kestrels battled to a 26-24 win to force a decisive fifth set.
Monroe St. Mary (48-4) came out firing in the final set, bolting to an 8-4 lead before the Mohawks rattled off five consecutive points to surge ahead. Fitting to this matchup, the game was tied three more times before Morley-Stanwood went ahead for good on a kill by Kayla Rosman to make it 12-11.
Then, after a Huntey kill put the Mohawks on the brink, the celebration began when a Kestrel attempt sailed wide of the end line to give Morley a 15-13 win and the trophy.
Huntey's 30 kills rank tied for third on the MHSAA Finals list, and she might need ice for her shoulder after 84 attempts.
Monroe SMCC's 63 team kills rank fourth on the all-time MHSAA Finals ledger, while Morley-Stanwood's 61 are tied for sixth. The teams combined for 387 attack attempts and the setters combined for 121 assists.
The defenses played a key role in the roller-coaster affair, as the Kestrels turned in 93 digs, while the Mohawks had 84.
Class A
In the first-ever MHSAA Volleyball Finals appearance for both schools, Rockford rolled over Lake Orion in three sets, 25-21, 25-23, 25-10 to claim the school's first crown.
The Rams (60-8) used an efficient attack to dispose of the Dragons (54-13-3), hitting .289 while limiting Lake Orion to a .115 attack percentage.
Senior setter Halle Peterson had plenty of options offensively, spreading the opportunities around the Rams’ front line. Four players recorded double-digit kills for Rockford, paced by senior hitter Jessica Majerle's 14. Murphy Heyer added 11 kills and led the team with 15 digs, while Andrea Kacsits and Avery Punches chipped in with 10 kills apiece.
Lake Orion senior Shannon Murdock led the Dragons with 13 kills.
Class B
Like both Class A finalists, Tecumseh was in its first MHSAA Final on Saturday. But reigning champion Fruitport played on its strength and playoff experience to claim a second-straight title and the third in program history.
The Trojans (50-8) defeated Tecumseh 25-13, 25-20, 25-19. The Indians finished 55-4-1.
Fruitport also won Class B in 2005 and has finished MHSAA runner-up four times. The Trojans surivived a five-game Semifinal against East Grand Rapids to earn Saturday's opportunity.
Breanna Geile had 15 kills and Brandie Jones 14 for Fruitport, with setter Lauren Hazekamp totaling 33 assists. Kelsey Berrington had 32 kills for Tecumseh, and Carly Tillotson had 29 assists.
Class D
The Tigers of Battle Creek St. Philip continued to make themselves at home in their backyard at Kellogg, winning the Class D title for a sixth straight year.
This year's victim was the same school against which St. Philip began its recent streak, Wyoming Tri-unity Christian. The Tigers pounded out a 3-0 win over the Defenders, 25-16, 25-13 and 25-11 in rolling to the school's 17th title overall.
For coach Vicky Groat, it meant moving one win closer to the school record for MHSAA crowns. She now has led seven Tigers teams to championships, two behind her mother, Sheila Guerra, for whom Vicky played as a student at St. Philip. The Tigers' only title not won with Groat or Guerra at the helm was a 1979 win under the tutelage of Becky Emrich.
On Saturday, it was an attack of underclassmen leading the way for St. Philip (59-4-2). Junior Amanda McKinzie registered 16 kills, and sophomore Sierra Hubbard-Neil added 12 to lead the attack. Hubbard-Neil converted 12 of 23 attempts with only one error, hitting .478.
Directing the Tigers attack was junior setter Andrea Lesiow, distributing 30 assists.
Tri-unity (39-14-2) had no answer for the Tigers, who also played tremendous defense with nine blocks and 42 digs. The Defenders were led by junior Alyssa Petrick's 17 kills.
PHOTOS
(Above) Big hitter: Morley-Stanwood senior Alexis Huntey winds up for one of her 30 kills in the Class C Final.
(Below) No. 1: Rockford, in its first MHSAA Final, claimed its first championship in the Class A title game.
