2-Time Champ as Player, Haut Putting Further Imprint on SMCC as Coach
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
August 16, 2022
MONROE – After leading the Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central volleyball team into the Division 3 championship match last season, coach Cassie Haut had to apply for the Kestrels coaching job.
That’s because when SMCC reached the Finals in 2021, Haut was officially the co-head coach with Karen O’Brien.
“Oh, yeah, I had to go through the interview process and everything,” Haut said. “I met with the athletic director and other school officials. I was excited when I got the job.”
Haut certainly earned it.
SMCC officially billed Haut and O’Brien as co-head coaches when the 2021 season began. Haut was in charge of the team’s day-to-day activities and O’Brien – who led SMCC to Division 3 Finals titles in 2019 and 2020 – would help out as often as possible after being diagnosed with ovarian cancer for the fourth time.
O’Brien ended up being around the program often, including during the Kestrels’ postseason run.
When the season ended, however, O’Brien stepped aside, paving the way for a new coach to lead the ultra-successful SMCC program that has reached 10 Finals since 2003, and won seven of them.
Haut doesn’t feel added pressure as the next SMCC coach to maintain that level of success.
“I love it,” she said. “I’m honored to be able to be part of this legacy.”
Haut played basketball, softball and volleyball at SMCC and was part of two championship volleyball teams – in Class C in 2012 and 2014 – under head coach Diane Tuller. The 2015 SMCC grad also had an outstanding career at Eastern Michigan University, earning all-freshman team honors for the Mid-American Conference and twice being named first team all-MAC. In 2018 she was named the MAC Tournament MVP.
Soon after Haut’s college graduation, O’Brien – who was an SMCC assistant during Haut’s high school senior year – called her and asked if she wanted to be part of the program now as a coach.
“It was something that I always thought of doing,” Haut said. “After graduating, I remember thinking ‘What’s next?’ Coaching was something I felt I wanted to do. It helps keeps me part of the game that I love.”
SMCC graduated several seniors from the 2020 championship squad and had to do some rebuilding in 2021. O’Brien was there to put together some of the pieces, then helped mentor Haut as she guided the team through much of its 36-12 run. During the MHSAA Tournament run, O’Brien would funnel postgame questions to Haut, preferring to stay out of the limelight.
It was still, however, a dual coaching role until Haut took over the job.
“I was building up practice plans and ideas for the season just in case I was hired,” Haut said. “I had some things in my mind that I wanted to do. It’s nothing too crazy, but I just added my own touches.
Last year, for example, it was O’Brien who organized summer practices and helped build the regular-season schedule.
“I missed out on those parts of it, so it was something I was looking forward to this year,” Haut said. “It was exciting. We’re still in the same great tournaments that SMCC loves to go to.”
Haut is meshing the experiences she had as a player and coach to form her own coaching style and program.
“All of the coaches I’ve played for and coached with have a slightly different idea of the game,” she said. “The game has evolved in different ways. As I have gone through high school and college as a player, I felt like I learned more depth to the game every year. Then, since I’ve been coaching, I feel like it’s gone to another level.”
Before this season started, Haut had her players write down their goals.
“I want to learn everything I can about the girls,” she said. “It’s not just about volleyball, but life. My college coach really believed that. I’m excited to be part of these girls’ lives.”
Haut comes from an athletic family and has been around sports all her life.
Her father Chris played baseball at the University of Toledo. Her sister Mikayla was a four-time all-state volleyball player and Miss Volleyball finalist, and is coming off a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Rookie of the Year award at Fairfield University in Connecticut. Sister Maddie earned all-conference honors and helped Ave Maria University win its conference title a year ago. Brother CJ was an outstanding basketball player for the Air Force Academy.
SMCC is primed for more success this year. Haut welcomes back a solid senior group that has already showed off its leadership skills. The Kestrels will be among favorites as they seek to make a fourth-straight trip to Battle Creek.
“From the time we got into the gym, they have been leaders,” Haut said.
Two freshmen played key roles a year ago, McKenna Payne and Jessica Costlow. Payne rang up 465 kills, 360 digs and 86 aces during her ninth-grade season while Costlow had 414 kills, 275 digs and 59 blocks.
Last year, SMCC lost in the Division 3 Final to Reese. After taking a 2-0 lead in the match, the Kestrels dropped the final three games 25-15, 25-21, 16-14.
“I like a lot of what I saw in the scrimmage. It was good to get some different lineups together, and we have a deep bench,” Haut said. “I see a ton of potential with this team.”
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) Cassie Haut, middle, talks with her Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central team last season as co-varsity coach with Karen O’Brien, right. (Middle) Haut signals to her teammates while starring at Eastern Michigan. (Top photo by Tom Hawley. Middle photo courtesy of the EMU athletic department.)
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.