O-G Overhaul Continues to Deliver as Bulldogs Clinch League Title Repeat
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
October 23, 2025
Barb Hellebuyck was honored to return to her alma mater and take on the challenge of rebuilding the Owendale-Gagetown volleyball program.
Having played for the legendary Judy Campbell, Hellebuyck knew what success at Owen-Gage looked like. With her granddaughter entering the program, she had an idea of the type of talent there was on hand to aid in the process.
She was not quite as aware of just how deep the rebuild would have to go, however.
“I remember, and I don’t know what team it was, they came to play a game at our gym and picked up the raggedy balls we had – the look on that girl’s face,” Hellebuyck said. “I went, ‘Oh heck no. We have got to do some upgrading here.’ These girls deserve to look good, to feel good, then that will help them play better when their confidence goes up. It started with new balls, then we got new carts, new uniforms, we have two new net systems now. Everything has been building for these girls, and they should have all that stuff.”
With its new equipment on hand, and its coach now in her fifth season, the Owen-Gage volleyball team is not only rebuilt but flourishing.
On Tuesday night, the Bulldogs clinched their second-straight Big Thumb Conference Red title, also their third in four years. Prior to winning the 2022 title, it had been 17 years since Owen-Gage had won a league championship.
That 2005 title was the last of 11 straight for a once-dominant program, constructed by Campbell as she built a 500-139-25 record over 20 seasons during the team’s infancy. From 1977 through 2008, Owen-Gage won 27 league titles, 21 District titles and five Regional titles. The school had nearly run out of room on the banner hanging in the gym.
Now, it finally has some numbers to justify getting a second one.
“It’s been very eventful – our team has really developed over the years,” said Owen-Gage senior Aubrey Hellebuyck, who joined the varsity team as an eighth grader in 2021. “We’ve really changed the program and turned it all around. We went from being last in the conference to being a championship contender. It’s really awesome to be a part of that.”
Aubrey Hellebuyck is one of three seniors on Owen-Gage’s eight-player roster this season, joined by Ayriona Maikrzek and McKenzie Baker.
They also happen to be the only three girls in the school’s four-student senior class. Owen-Gage is among the state’s smallest 30 schools in terms of MHSAA classification, with an enrollment of 41. The towns of Owendale and Gagetown have a combined population of less than 600 as of the 2020 census.
Because of its size, Owen-Gage can have eighth graders play varsity sports, as Hellebuyck did. They also have students as young as seventh grade playing on the JV team.
For some, that could be intimidating. But at Owen-Gage it’s been embraced.
“Having no experience, it was very hard,” Owen-Gage junior Jessica Bowers said. “We were going against teams that would have freshmen and sophomores, while I’m just a seventh grader who had never played before. But it made me develop faster because I had to lock in and focus when I’d be going up against people that were a lot bigger.”
A smaller school population also forces players to learn to become more well-rounded. Not only because of the small number of substitutes, but because there’s no guarantee the population will provide a player that fits a specific position.
“They are all phenomenal players in my mind, because we have a lot of them that play all the way around,” Barb Hellebuyck said. “They have to be good at the net, they have to be good in the back row. They’re really phenomenal players. They’re not always the tallest ones, but I have several players that do multiple things. We just have to.”
Again, it’s something Owen-Gage players have embraced.
“I’m a middle, and normally at other schools the middles never play all around,” Bowers said. “When I first started, all I focused on was hitting. Gradually I had to force myself to learn to dig a ball because no one could play back row for me. Eventually I got really good at it. On a bigger school team, I don’t think I would have to do that.”
With that buy-in, it’s no surprise that Owen-Gage has returned to its winning ways. This year’s team is 19-4-1 overall, having won 13 straight matches. It has not lost since Sept. 9.
The Bulldogs have two regular-season matches remaining before the District tournament, which begins Nov. 3. With a league title wrapped up, that’s the next goal, to end another 17-year drought and claim the school’s first District championship since 2008. In their way is Division 4 No. 2 Ubly.
“There’s a chance we could do that,” Aubrey Hellebuyck said. “It would be a huge upset, and it would be insane. We’re working toward that.”
That possible title would be made even more special by the fact it would be won in the Bulldogs’ home gym, as they are hosting. That’s another source of pride, just five years removed from side-eyed looks over the state of the program’s equipment.
“Barb puts a lot of work into that,” said Aubrey Hellebuyck, who added that she’ll go back to calling her “Grandma” after the season. “She’s a great coach, but she actually does a lot of fundraising just so our program has a lot of opportunity. We had one net, and it was horrible. Now we have two brand-new nets that are great. Our old ball cart, it was not a ball cart, I don’t even know what it was. But it’s not embarrassing to bring out our ball carts anymore for home games.”
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) Owendale-Gagetown players celebrate during a match this season. (Middle) Jessica Bowers elevates to get to a ball. (Below) Aubrey Hellebuyck (5) enjoys a moment with her team. (Photos by Kaitlin Gunsell/Kaitlin’s Klicks.)
Despite Challenge of New League, Adrian Madison Continuing on Title Track
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
October 24, 2023
ADRIAN – Shopping. Dinner. Ice Cream.
That might be the secret formula that has the Adrian Madison volleyball program on the brink of winning its eighth consecutive league championship.
“The first week of the season, we went to Houghton Lake,” said Madison senior and four-year starter Jillian Kendrick. “We stayed there three or four days in a house. As a team, we went shopping and were together all the time. That was a really good time for us. We bonded.
“Now, we all kind of hang out outside of practice. We just find little ways, here and there, go to dinner or get ice cream. We find ways to stay together.”
That trip to Houghton Lake, which included a volleyball tournament, was the springboard to another great season for Heather Lanning’s Trojans. Madison is 36-8-3 overall heading into the Lenawee County Athletic Association jamboree Tuesday. The Trojans are 11-0 in conference play and can wrap up the league title with two victories.
League titles have become the norm for Madison. The Trojans won the last seven Tri-County Conference championships – with Lanning, who took over in 2021, the program’s third coach during the run – going undefeated in league play several of those years. This fall, however, Madison moved to the LCAA, a larger conference in southeast Michigan.
“It’s a very tough volleyball league,” Lanning said. “A lot of our competition has been tough. We play Clinton, Onsted, and Dundee Tuesday, which are three of the toughest teams. They’ve taken a set from us every time we’ve played them. Clinton beat us in a tournament.
“We knew this year was going to be difficult, but we have buckled down the last few weeks. Our No. 1 goal was to win the LCAA. We are close to that.”
Lanning said the difference in the leagues is the consistent intensity.
“The intensity is high,” she said. “I thought we were going to be good with so many returning players, but I did not necessarily expect us to be 11-0. This is what we’ve been striving for.”
Lanning is a Britton graduate in Lenawee County who got the coaching bug from her dad, former Britton football coach and athletic director Randy Salisbury. She started her coaching career as a middle school coach at Britton and moved up. She became the Madison junior varsity coach while the varsity was in the middle of the streak of winning TCC titles. When the previous varsity coach, Kelsey Cortright, stepped down due to a job shift, Lanning was named the head coach.
The league championships have continued.
“She’s great,” Kendrick said. “I like a coach that is about volleyball and helps you improve in volleyball but also makes it fun. We can have a serious practice but laugh and enjoy our time. She is focused on team bonding a lot and being one as a team.”
Lanning said she’s not afraid to have a little fun at practice.
“I like to laugh,” she said. “I like to have fun. If they are not having fun, it’s not worth it to me. I want to make sure the girls are having fun.”
The Trojans can be disciplined, too.
“We have a lot of dedicated players,” Lanning said. “We work hard in the offseason and all summer long. They know what the expectations are and the goals. We start young and we have a lot of girls who play club, who just love the sport of volleyball. Most of my players on the varsity team don’t just pick up a ball once a year during the season. They play year-round.”
Madison has eight returning seniors, including Kendrick, who recently recorded assist No. 3,000 in her career.
“A lot of people get 2,000 assists in a career, but 3,000 is a pretty big deal,” Lanning said.
Kendrick is a leader on and off the court, Lanning said.
“She’s been captain on the court for two years,” she said. “She brings the team together. She boosts confidence in the team and helps the younger girls along. She has a heart of gold.”
In addition to bringing back eight seniors, Lanning also brought up freshman Lilly Pharion and sophomore Kianna McKinney to the team.
“Jillian spends time with them,” Lanning said. “All of the girls do.”
Kendrick said she wants the younger players to be comfortable on the team.
“I know when I was a freshman, I was shy and scared,” she said. “It was intimidating. I try and put more thought into making them feel welcome and more confident.”
Seniors like Veronica Flores, Courtney Gauna, Tatum Wilson, and Caylan Sower have made huge impacts on the team this year as well.
“Tatum is in the top four in kills in the county. Veronica and Caylan dominate in the back. Kianna is a defensive specialist who reads the floor well. We have weapons,” Lanning said. “I knew going into the season we had something special, but it's still tough to keep it going. We didn’t know exactly what to expect from the LCAA.”
Kendrick said the team just keeps staying together and improving.
“We definitely knew the competition was going to be good, and it would be a challenge,” she said. “We just go into every game wanting to win and maintain that mindset. We like the challenge.”
Doug Donnelly has served as a sports and news reporter and city editor over 25 years, writing for the Daily Chief-Union in Upper Sandusky, Ohio from 1992-1995, the Monroe Evening News from 1995-2012 and the Adrian Daily Telegram since 2013. He's also written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Adrian Madison’s Jillian Kendrick (4) lines up to pass during a match this season. (Middle) Coach Heather Lanning took over the program in 2021 and has continued the varsity’s league title run. (Below) Kendrick celebrates her 3,000th career assist. (Top and middle photos by Deloris Clark-Osborne; below photo courtesy of the Madison athletic department.)