Valley Lutheran Full of Returning Players Patiently Aiming for Return to Finals Weekend
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
August 20, 2026
Kate Belt and her Saginaw Valley Lutheran volleyball teammates are locked in on what’s in front of them.
That means blocking out the urge to look ahead to their ultimate goal of a Finals title, even though they’re ranked No. 1 in Division 3 and returning nearly an entire roster from last year’s Semifinal team.
“We talked about it a little bit, but we aren’t really big on talking about it early in the season, because our next goal is our first round of Districts,” said Belt, an all-state senior setter. “We’re going to try to take it one game at a time. We want to always be prepared for the next game, keep the focus and keep the goal 100 percent on what’s next.”
It’s the attitude a team needs to have heading into a promising season to make sure it doesn’t get tripped up while overlooking an opponent. But just because it’s necessary, doesn’t mean it’s easy.
“It’s hard not to think early on, ‘Oh, we could go win a state championship,” Belt said. “So, it’s pretty hard. But I think Coach does a really good job of keeping us on the right track and in the right mindset to take care of that.”
Belt is one of eight seniors returning from a Valley Lutheran team that advanced to the Division 3 Semifinals a year ago with a roster filled exclusively with sophomores and juniors.
They lost in three sets there against Kalamazoo Christian, but 10 players saw action in all three games of the match, gaining valuable experience.
“We thought we had a real good chance against Kalamazoo Christian, but we didn’t play our very best in last year’s Final Four,” Valley Lutheran coach Jon Frank said. “The coaches and I kind of thought that (Kalamazoo Christian) has been there four years in a row, and it’s an intangible but it’s worth something to be acclimated to the scenario. We have three new players, but it’s still the same core group. We had 10 players last year, and all 10 of them played every single set in the postseason. That’s a coach’s dream.”
Valley Lutheran did suffer one major loss from last year’s roster, as junior Braelin Rodammer, a third-team all-state selection a year ago, is injured and will miss this fall.
At 5-foot-10, she was the tallest presence on the front line for the Chargers, but Belt still has plenty of weapons around her.
Reagan Webb had more than 400 kills as a junior outside hitter in 2025, while Grace Parker had more than 300 as a sophomore middle. Both are back, as is Hannah Hemme, who Belt personally called out as having a massive offseason.
“She’s just become an offensive weapon for us in practice,” Belt said. “Even her defensive play has been amazing. Her serve-receive and blocking has been really good. That work ethic is something that we want to embody.”
Frank said Valley Lutheran has always been a scrappy team, anyway, adding that they’ve never had “that 6-foot girl that can just pound it.”
Seniors Hayden Sherman (660 digs in 2025) and Elsie Hultberg (363 digs) are at the base of that defense.
“We’re so strong defensively, that’s always been our thing,” Frank said. “We serve hard, pass well and we frustrate teams. We dig ‘em, we dig ‘em, and we block ‘em. I really love this team. We’re strong all around. We just don’t have that big banger.”
That all-around strength is helped by the fact this group of seniors has always been together, even for a year on the junior varsity, despite its incredible talent.
When they were freshmen, Frank had a strong roster full of seniors, allowing him to keep his talented youngsters fully together for a year before they would hit the varsity squad.
“I think it was really good for us to get to know each other on a very low-pressure team where we didn’t have to stress about the postseason,” Belt said. “I was happy he didn’t bring anyone up to varsity, because if you have to sit the bench the whole season, that sucks. All of us love playing. We’re all very competitive people.”
As sophomores, six of the eight current seniors made a surprising run to the Quarterfinal, then came together for last year’s Semifinal run.
Now they’re focused on taking the next step in front of them, to hopefully take that final step forward as a program.
“I think last season kind of gave us confidence, because we know how far we can go now,” Belt said. “Going into this season, we know nothing is going to be handed to us. Coach always says that we could lose in Districts if we don’t play well. He’s really good at keeping us humble. But also, he’s super supportive of how far we want to go.”
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) Saginaw Valley Lutheran’s Grace Parker (7) sends a kill attempt into the Kalamazoo Christian front line during last season’s Division 3 Semifinals. (Middle) The Chargers, including Kate Belt (22), celebrate a point.
Atlanta Embracing Pressure of Undefeated Season with League Title On Line
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
October 23, 2025
Losing a volleyball match was something of a welcome possibility a few weeks back for fifth-year Atlanta coach Amy Mullerd.
Now, Mullerd has no place for that thought – and her players are right there with her.
“I kind of was hoping maybe if we took a loss, it would be okay,” Mullerd admitted of much earlier-season thoughts. “Now, you know, if we take a loss, it’s trouble one way or the other, but … I think that they are enjoying the pressure of being undefeated.”
The last time the Huskies lost a set was in last year’s Division 4 Quarterfinal match against Hancock. Atlanta got there by breezing to a District championship and 3-0 wins over Harbor Springs Harbor Light Christian and St. Ignace to claim a Regional title.
Today, the Huskies are 28-0 on the season and undefeated in North Star League play. They’re playing league rival Hillman this evening with a third-straight league title and undefeated season on the line. Hillman is also undefeated in conference play, and likely will play Atlanta again this weekend in the league’s annual tournament, which does not impact the NSL championship race.
Hillman is also likely to be a District opponent in November as the Huskies also host Onaway, Posen, and Rogers City.
Atlanta is not looking past Hillman or the District. But while the Huskies are committed to one game at a time, they do have their sights on an even deeper postseason run this year.
Winning out is on their mind, pressure or not, as the school community is getting behind their possible historic run.
“I like to make sure they focus on one game at a time, because you have to be able to adapt to whatever team you play,” said Mullerd, who previously coached volleyball for 20 years before breaking and then returning to the sidelines at Atlanta. “We're just doing it one game at a time, but they have set their goals and they've seemed to reach most all of them so far. So we'll see.”
The Huskies are facing tonight’s match as just another moment of feeling pressure to remain undefeated.
“There's pressure, but it's not really Hillman that we have pressure against,” pointed out Olivia McSwain, a senior setter, who has topped 3,000 career assists this season to set the school record. “It's the fact that we are undefeated.”
Alliyah Hagemeister, a senior who breaks her own school kills record with every successful swing, downplayed the pressure to win tonight.
“I don't think there's any pressure, but it's just a big day as that's our conference,” she said. “It's make-or-break for a conference win, so it's just a really exciting day.”
Kacie Moldenhauer, one of four sophomores on Atlanta’s nine-player roster, is excited to see how much the team’s hard work will pay off tonight and the rest of the season.
“It’s a big game for us as a team, as in there's a lot of pressure for being undefeated,” she said. “And we have been working very hard to get to this point, and like past years building up to this point, and we also go against our rivals. We're just really excited for this game and ready to give it a roll for the pressure that we have.”
Another of the Huskies’ sophomores, Jyl Larson, has never experienced a loss to Hillman and she’s not ready to do so.
“I think that we just need to be ready for whatever, and just play our best,” acknowledged Larson, who leads the team in digs.
The Huskies also have two freshmen in their lineup, and no juniors. They regularly play three seniors after losing only one major contributor from last season to graduation.
Atlanta players all believe they are the favorites to once again capture the District crown.
“Making it through Districts and Regionals (last season) was definitely a surprise to a bunch of people around us because I don't think they thought we could do it,” Hagemeister said. “To get to where we were last year was a huge accomplishment, and I think this year, we'll definitely go further.”
Mullerd inherited an Atlanta team five years ago that found competing at a varsity level nearly impossible. They were playing mostly junior varsity squads and seldom picking up victories.
That’s not been the case since she took over, although she gives credit to the players for buying into doing the work.
The Huskies won 18 matches in Mullerd’s first season. These days, all kinds of trophies are accumulating because of the team’s strong work ethic.
“All credit goes to the girls buying in that, you know, things just aren't easy. I just gave them the tools,” Mullerd said. “And if you want to have a winning game, you’ve got to put in the work. You have to come to practice, and you have to put the work in. Anything worthwhile is not easy.”
And she loves the team’s winning mindset.
“They bought in and it's just an amazing turn, being a team that won nothing to a team that now never expects to lose,” she said. “We're feeling pretty strong – we feel really good about our chances, but you never know any given night what could happen. So we're ready for anything.”
Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Atlanta players celebrate during a match this season. (Middle) Alliyah Hagemeister elevates for a kill attempt. (Below) The Huskies enjoy a moment with their mascot. (Photos by Jenna McSwain.)