Kozuch Family Adding to Memorable Moments as 'Dream' Run Together Nears End
By
Scott DeCamp
Special for MHSAA.com
November 4, 2026
A photo from several years ago shows a young Madeline Kozuch with a coaching whistle in her mouth, sitting atop the shoulders of her mother. Naturally, they were on a volleyball court.
Fast forward to present time: Kozuch is a standout senior outside hitter for a strong Morley Stanwood team, which her mom coaches.
Robin Kozuch, who was inducted into the Michigan Interscholastic Volleyball Coaches Association (MIVCA) Hall of Fame this year and has led Morley Stanwood to two MHSAA Finals championships, is in her 28th and final season as head coach for the Mohawks.
Morley Stanwood (26-11-0) takes on Lakeview (15-21-1) in an MHSAA Division 3 District Semifinal tonight in Kent City. Mom and daughter know their time together on a volleyball court is winding down, but they hope to keep this journey going as long as possible.
“The more (the end) gets closer, the more sad I’m getting,” Madeline Kozuch said. “She texted me the other day, she’s like, ‘I can’t believe it’s our final year together.’”
“It’s definitely real,” Robin Kozuch said about the bittersweet emotions. “Every step of the way this year – A: Because I’ll be an empty-nester because Piper’s in college; (and B:) I think about, ‘Where will I be this time next year?’ I don’t know how I’m going to deal with that. It’s still different. I’ve been (coaching) since before they were born, so it’s hard.”
Piper Kozuch, a 2025 Morley Stanwood alumna, is a sophomore setter for the Madonna University volleyball team. She and younger sister Madeline will be opponents on the court as the latter is headed to play volleyball for Aquinas College, which is in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference with Madonna.
The Kozuchs are a volleyball family. Robin’s husband, Matt, coached the sport alongside his wife for 25 years, including during Morley Stanwood’s Class C title years of 2007 and 2011. Now he’s in his third season as an assistant coach for the unbeaten and Division II top-ranked Ferris State University squad (25-0).
The Kozuchs are rock stars in a volleyball setting. On a related note, Matt Kozuch once was the front man for a rock band. He was lead singer for the band “Dirty Americans,” a Detroit-based group whose work included playing festivals overseas alongside the likes of Metallica, Green Day and Motorhead, plus opening for Alice Cooper once upon a time.
“I got into (volleyball) to help Robin with a dream, and it turned into something I loved. It became a huge passion of mine,” said Matt Kozuch, whose last name is pronounced “Ko-jus,” like the “jus” in au jus.
Robin Kozuch, a Millington native who was inducted into her alma mater’s athletics hall of fame as part of the inaugural class, was a 5-foot-11 outside hitter at the Division I collegiate level. Kozuch spent her freshman year with Michigan State University’s Final Four team in 1995 before she transferred to Central Michigan University. She’s a twin and has four sisters, three of whom went on to play college athletics.
As a coach at Morley Stanwood, Kozuch has amassed an overall record of 902-289-36. She reached her 900th win when her team captured the Central State Activities Association title Oct. 20.
Kozuch has coached or worked with eight nieces or daughters who have gone on to play volleyball in college. She serves as a regional rep for MIVCA, and throughout her tenure at Morley Stanwood she’s been all over the state running camps and assisting with clinics to help grow the sport.
Kozuch plans to continue helping out with the Morley Stanwood volleyball program. She has been grooming her niece, Alexis (Huntey) Cummings, to become the Mohawks’ next head volleyball coach. Cummings (Huntey) was a standout player on the Mohawks’ Class C championship volleyball and girls basketball teams during the 2011-12 school year.
While Robin Kozuch has two daughters, she views her players in much the same way. One player, Morley Stanwood senior libero Saige Ososki, said that Kozuch has been much more than a coach to her.
“Not just from volleyball, but even just being, like, a person,” Ososki said. “She’s so amazing and she’s like a second mom to me. I really look up to her.”
As Ososki recalled, she and Madeline Kozuch hit it off as friends during third grade. Their relationship continues as they spend a lot of time together as teammates in three sports.
At Morley Stanwood, particularly in girls athletics, many student-athletes play multiple sports.
Kozuch, a well-rounded individual who carries a 3.89 GPA that’s still rising, excels in volleyball, basketball, and softball. During the 2025-26 school year, Morley Stanwood was a conference and District champion in all three of those sports. The Mohawks’ girls basketball team captured a Regional title and softball squad was a Regional finalist.
“All of our girls sports are really strong and everyone plays the same (sports),” Madeline Kozuch said. “Every volleyball player plays basketball and softball. We’re all super close and very competitive and we always go super far, so I just feel like it’s more family.”
Not surprisingly, volleyball has a special place in Madeline Kozuch’s heart, and she’s thrived. Last season, she earned all-conference, all-region, first-team all-state, was named Big Rapids Pioneer Dream Team Player of the Year and made the MLive Muskegon Chronicle Dream Team.
This season, the 5-foot-8 Kozuch has recorded 564 kills, a .331 hitting percentage, a .449 kill percentage, 78 aces, 381 digs, and passes at a 2.1 clip. In her career, she has compiled 1,178 kills; 1,200 digs, and 78 aces.
Kozuch has played volleyball at a high level for quite some time, including with her Inside Out travel team that competes nationally.
Dominant as she is on the court, Madeline Kozuch has a soft side as well.
“She’s honestly a really caring person – almost sometimes to a fault,” Robin Kozuch said. “She’s very empathetic. I think sometimes she’s a little too nice about hurting people’s feelings. She’s gotten better this year about stepping up and demanding things from her teammates, taking more of a vocal role and pushing her teammates. … Piper had no problem with that.”
That’s not to say Madeline Kozuch lacks competitiveness. Far from it.
It’s in the Kozuch and Ill (Robin’s maiden name) families’ blood.
“I think everybody would say Robin (is most competitive), but I know deep down I hate losing,” Matt Kozuch said with a chuckle. “I think maybe after she thinks about it, she might say it’s me, too. But I think it’s pretty close to even, Robin and me both. We just don’t want to lose, man.”
Robin and Madeline Kozuch both acknowledged that the mother-daughter dynamic can create some pressure to perform and bring about naysayers, but they keep their noses to the grindstone and continue to deliver.
While Robin Kozuch plans to keep pitching in with Morley Stanwood’s program when she can, her family’s focus will shift to her daughters’ collegiate travels. It’s been quite the journey as it stands.
“It’s been sad watching it wind down,” Matt Kozuch said about Robin and Madeline’s careers at Morley Stanwood coming to an end. “It’s been an epic career for Robin and Matty, too.”
Added Ososki about her coach and teammate: “I just think those two do so much for our school and our program. They are amazing at what they do and, I mean, we probably wouldn’t do any of this without them. I’m just so thankful for them.”
Scott DeCamp has worked more than 25 years in sports media, including 21 at MLive Media Group as a reporter and editor. He is founder and owner of DeCamp Creative Solutions. Email him at [email protected] with story ideas for Lake, Mason, Mecosta, Muskegon, Newaygo, Oceana, and Oceola counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Morley Stanwood’s Madeline Kozuch celebrates a moment during a match this season against Big Rapids, with her teammates joining in as well. (2) Kozuch sits atop her mom Robin’s shoulders with the coach’s whistle. (3) Morley Stanwood coach Robin Kozuch enjoys a moment with her Morley Stanwood players, including Madeline (10). (4) Madeline Kozuch poses for a photo with her parents and the softball team’s District championship trophy won this spring. (5) Kozuch (10) smashes a kill attempt against Big Rapids. (Action photos by Scott DeCamp. Childhood and softball photos provided by the Kozuch family.)
Imlay City Embracing Tough Schedule, Missing Injured Standout, with End Game in Mind
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
September 13, 2023
Rachel Van Dyk wanted to make things as tough as possible for her Imlay City volleyball team.
When the third-year coach created the Spartans’ schedule for this season, it wasn’t with the goal of picking up wins in August or September, but preparing them for November.
So, it was packed with tournaments featuring Division 1 opponents and some of the state’s top teams such as Clarkston, Farmington Hills Mercy, South Lyon East, Saginaw Valley Lutheran, and even an extra date with 2022 Division 2 champion and conference rival North Branch.
“That’s the idea,” said Van Dyk, who played collegiately at Michigan State. “In looking for tournaments, I look for what’s going to give us the toughest possible schedule. We’re looking at, ‘How are we going to improve the most?’ It’s not by playing teams we can beat easily. We might get creamed sometimes, we might get humbled sometimes, but we’re going to learn from it. I’m a proponent of doing what’s going to make us the best team possible, regardless of whether our record looks good to other people.”
That record sat at 6-7-2 heading into this week, and while it’s modest, it still looked good enough against the Spartans’ tough schedule for the Michigan Interscholastic Volleyball Coaches Association to rank them No. 10 in Division 2.
But more important than outside recognition is that Van Dyk’s players get it as well.
“I think we all understand that it’s just getting us ready to play North Branch, who we’ll see in Districts,” senior libero Lexa Forti said. “I think everything is just leading up to that game in Districts and everything. We kind of brush off the losses, I guess, even though obviously, we want to win.”
It’s the second year Van Dyk has been able to build the Spartans with the postseason in mind, although this year the schedule certainly is beefed up.
Still, a year ago it was Imlay City that pushed North Branch – where Van Dyk served as an assistant prior to coming to Imlay City – as far as anyone else, losing in five sets in the District tournament.
So the players know that what they’re doing can work, making it easier to focus on improving during the early months of the season rather than putting up an impressive record.
“I feel like our goals might be bigger than other teams’,” junior outside hitter Chloe Bruman said. “I feel like we’re pretty hard on ourselves. I think we know what we’re capable of, as well.”
One thing Van Dyk did not plan for, however – which is also making things very tough on the Spartans – is an injury to Emma Keeping.
The star sophomore played just the first two matches of the season before suffering a back injury. Van Dyk said the Spartans are likely to be without their right-side hitter and setter until early to mid-October.
Again, that makes winning tougher, especially against a strong nonconference schedule and an already difficult Blue Water Area Conference slate – the Spartans dropped a five-setter against Croswell-Lexington on Tuesday.
But Van Dyk and her players are seeing the positives in the absence of their biggest offensive threat.
“It’s required kids to step into roles that they didn’t expect to take,” Van Dyk said. “Those are some big shoes to fill, but we’ve found ways to try to see it in a positive light. Diamonds are made under pressure. The more challenges we can face, the more prepared we are for the challenge we’re going to face in North Branch in the District.”
One of the players most affected by Keeping’s absence is classmate Makayla Bruman, who shares setting duties in the Spartans rotation. Not only has she been forced to do more setting, but she’s had to find other options with Keeping gone.
One of those whom the Spartans have leaned on more is her sister, Chloe Bruman, who Van Dyk said has really stepped up and embraced her new role. Junior Yannet Zepeda is another outside hitter Van Dyk mentioned who has seen her role expand.
On top of all that, Forti is learning a new position, as she was just recently cleared following a torn ACL during basketball season. Formerly a six-rotation outside hitter for the Spartans, Forti is now playing libero.
The Spartans are hopeful that getting through this time without Keeping will lead to a much more diverse attack once she comes back.
“I think it’s going to help us out tremendously,” Chloe Bruman said. “Obviously, we rely on her. Our whole team knows that; our coaches know that. I think it’s going to be more of a relief for her to come back. She’s such a leader on the court, and not just because she’s good. I think it will definitely be more difficult for other teams, because our offensive is going to be more widespread.”
Paul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Imlay City huddles up during this past weekend’s Birch Run Invitational. (Middle) The Spartans go for a kill during a scrimmage last month. (Photos courtesy of the Imlay City volleyball program.)