Aggies Dig Success Under New Coach
October 5, 2012
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The first time first-year Beal City volleyball coach Kelly David met with her new team, which actually is her old one too, the room was silent.
David is 20 years old, and starred for the Aggies only three seasons ago. Two of her seniors were freshman call-ups to varsity at the end of her final high school season, and one is her younger sister Monica. Those factors alone made this a rare situation.
“I think they were nervous,” Kelly David said. “They didn’t know what to expect from me.”
So far, it’s been more of the same for one of Michigan’s small-school volleyball powers, which has made the MHSAA Quarterfinals six of the last 11 seasons and the Semifinals twice during that time.
Beal City is 26-5-1 and ranked No. 3 in Class D. Four of those losses were to Class C teams: No. 2 St. Louis, No. 6 Morley Stanwood, No. 9 Pewamo-Westphalia and honorable mention Concord. The Aggies get a Second Half High 5 this week after avenging two of those losses by beating P-W and St. Louis en route to winning the Sharks’ Invitational on Saturday.
David is quick to explain that she’s merely picking up where previous coaches, including predecessor Randy Gallagher and his predecessor Kelly Knuth, left off. Beal City was a great landing spot for a first-time varsity coach.
But under David, the Aggies haven't missed a beat.
Beal City won its District last season despite moving into Class C, beating St. Louis in that final before losing to Morley-Stanwood in the Regional. But the Aggies graduated all-state second-team outside hitter Heather Griffis and then lost their coach of the last six seasons.
They're back on a roll. Until falling to St. Louis in pool play Saturday, Beal City hadn't lost since falling to Concord three weeks ago. The Aggies also own a win over rival Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart – the team that eliminated them from the postseason in 2010, and another over Class A Mount Pleasant.
Beal City came back to beat St. Louis 25-19, 25-19 in the championship match Saturday, perhaps its most impressive win so far.
“We got used to the fast-paced game, and that helped us out,” David said of avenging the day’s earlier loss. “We gained confidence through it. Learning has a lot to do with believing in yourself and knowing you can win.”
David was a standout setter in high school after moving up to varsity at the end of her freshman season and served as a captain as both a junior and senior. Setters run a volleyball team on the court, and during that time her coaching interest began to take root.
She played two seasons at St. Clair Community College before transferring as a student only to Central Michigan University, where she’s studying to become an elementary school teacher. David coached a seventh grade team and also club ball while at St. Clair, and when Gallagher didn’t return, she applied to take over.
The talent she inherited eased the transition. Senior setter Jade Kennedy was one of those freshmen who moved up when David was a senior, and she took over as setter the next season and made all-region in 2011. She’s surrounded by a number of players who have made contributions; among them, Monica David and junior Addie Schumacher give the Aggies two talented blockers in the middle, and junior outside hitter Melanie Schafer has been dynamic particularly on defense.
Better blocking was a main thing Kelly David noticed when she moved on to the college level, and that’s been a point of emphasis in her first season as coach. So has increasing her players’ knowledge of the game, how to position themselves and place the ball and use their athleticism to the best of their abilities.
The St. Louis win produced a surge in confidence that should carry through into the playoffs later this month. Despite its high ranking, Beal City probably wasn’t the favorite entering the day.
“The whole team was pulling for each other. Everyone wanted to win, and no one was tired,” David said. “We had confidence, and once we got that far, we pretty much refused to lose.”
PHOTO: Beal City's Nicole Gross sends the ball over the net during a win over Shepherd earlier this season. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com).
Block Party: 2025 Girls Volleyball Week 9 Report
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
October 22, 2025
A volleyball season full of weekend excitement will again enjoy one of its most attention-grabbing highlights Sunday.
More than two months of matches will boil down to the selection of first and second seeds for every District bracket, with MHSAA Tournament play set to begin a week later on Nov. 3.
Seeds are determined by Michigan Power Ratings (MPR), and as noted previously you can follow how teams stack up statewide, in their respective divisions and even in their respective Districts on the MPR page. The formula for determining the rest of the District is posted here.
Records, results and schedules below are those posted for teams on MHSAA.com, and rankings reflect polls posted by the Michigan Interscholastic Volleyball Coaches Association.
Week in Review
The countdown of last week’s five most intriguing results:
1. Kingsley d. Traverse City St. Francis (25-22, 25-15) The Division 3 No. 3-ranked Stags (44-4-1) went 5-0 at the McBain Tournament, defeating honorable mentions McBain and Beal City as well but topping the day with this sweep of the No. 8 Gladiators (24-14-0).
2. Hudsonville d. Grand Haven (25-20, 27-29, 20-25, 25-18, 15-11) The Division 1 No. 9 Eagles (27-8-1) prevailed after falling behind 2-1, avenging a pair of previous losses to the No. 8 Buccaneers (33-9-0) from Sept. 25 and Oct. 4.
3. Crystal Falls Forest Park d. Kingsford (25-15, 25-14, 25-21) The Division 4 No. 5 Trojans (35-1-0) continued to justify their status among the Upper Peninsula’s best regardless of division, with this win over the Division 2 honorable mention Flivvers (19-2-0) – during a 3-0 day at the Clash of the Divisions – one of their most impressive this fall.
4. Grand Haven d. Grand Rapids Catholic Central (25-17, 25-19) Three days before the Hudsonville loss, Grand Haven went 4-0 at the Mattawan Invitational with this win over the Division 4 No. 5 Cougars (30-10-1) arguably the best although the Bucs also downed Division 1 honorable mention Byron Center.
5. Hancock d. Lake Linden-Hubbell (25-12, 22-25, 25-14, 27-25) The Division 4 No. 8 Bulldogs (23-3-2) followed up a big sweep of Ishpeming with this win over Lake Linden-Hubbell (22-5-0) to further firm up their place among the best in the Upper Peninsula and Division 4 as a whole as well.
Watch List
With an eye toward November, here are two teams in each division making sparks:
DIVISION 1
Brighton (25-6-2) The Bulldogs are holding onto an honorable mention in the latest Division 1 rankings with a run of nine wins over their last 12 matches and their losses this season coming to an incredible group of No. 1 Rockford, No. 2 Farmington Hills Mercy, No. 3 Bloomfield Hills Marian, No. 7 Utica Eisenhower (twice) and honorable mention Jenison. Brighton clinched the Kensington Lakes Activities Association West title and will play Northville in the KLAA Gold Tournament championship match Saturday. The Bulldogs also are slated for a top seed in their District.
South Lyon East (30-7-1) The No. 10-ranked Cougars finished 4-0 at the final Motor City Power Series last weekend, highlighted by a 2-1 win over Division 2 No. 3 North Branch. All but one of their losses have come to a top-10 or honorable mention team in Division 1 as well, and they remain the only team to defeat top-ranked Rockford. East followed up that Sept. 20 win by defeating Division 2 No. 2 Detroit Country Day as well, and is tied for first in the Lakes Valley Conference with the league tournament coming up Saturday.
DIVISION 2
Flat Rock (22-6-0) A Sept. 22 win over Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central – the program’s first against the Huron League foe – put Flat Rock into the spotlight this fall, and it has received honorable mention again this week in the Division 2 poll. But the Rams have much more to boast, including a victory over Kingsley, and have also built up their experience in losses most recently to No. 6 Tecumseh and honorable mention Milan. Tune in for tonight’s for the rematch with the Kestrels.
Grand Rapids Catholic Central (30-10-1) After opening this season with three losses at the Traverse City West Invitational, the Cougars have strung together plenty of success including 13 victories over their last 15 matches. They did fall to Grand Haven over the weekend at Mattawan but defeated DeWitt, Portage Central and Division 3 No. 7 Kalamazoo Christian and moved up a spot to No. 4 in this week’s Division 2 rankings. They’ve already far surpassed last year’s 23-22-2 finish, with a likely top seed awaiting in their District as the only team in the bracket with a winning record.
DIVISION 3
Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep (17-3-2) The Fighting Irish are not ranked currently but may draw some notice with a 9-1-2 run that’s included a 25-23, 28-26, sweep of Division 4 No. 6 Battle Creek St. Philip and just a three-set loss to Division 2 Buchanan after Hackett won the first set. The Irish are lined up right now as the likely second seed in their District opposite No. 7 Kalamazoo Christian, which defeated Hackett in last year’s District Final and this season on Sept. 23. The only other loss this fall came to Delton Kellogg.
Pewamo-Westphalia (24-7-3) The 2022 Division 3 champion – and a quarterfinalist the last two seasons – No. 6 P-W is riding a seven-match winning streak as it gears up for another potential run. The best win over these last few weeks was a 2-1 comeback victory over No. 2 Plymouth Christian Academy at the Mt. Morris Tournament, and wins over No. 7 Kalamazoo Christian, No. 9 Saginaw Valley Lutheran and Division 2 No. 10 Battle Creek Harper Creek also stick out from this season’s overall work.
DIVISION 4
Midland Calvary Baptist (23-5-1) The Kings need two more wins to equal the total from last year’s Regional finalist team, and on Saturday went 4-1 at the Tawas Tournament with especially notable victories over Division 3 Johannesburg-Lewiston and Alcona and the loss to Division 2 Ogemaw Heights. All of Calvary Baptist’s defeats and the one tie came against Division 2 or 3 opponents, and as of today the Kings are slated to be the top seed in a District bracket that also includes No. 6 Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart.
Onekama (23-7-2) The Portagers are 9-2-2 over the last two-plus weeks and an honorable mention in this week’s rankings as the prepare to attempt next month to extend a five-year District title streak. They went 3-1-1 at the Farwell Paula Sullivan Tournament over the weekend, tying and then falling to Division 3 No. 10 Manton. But Onekama has solid wins over honorable mention Suttons Bay and Manton from earlier this season and plenty of other tough losses as well.
Can’t-Miss Contests
Be on the lookout for results of these matches and tournaments coming up:
Wednesday – Davison (24-4-0) at Mount Pleasant (25-6-1) – Both went undefeated in their divisions and earn their spots in this overall Saginaw Valley League championship match.
Wednesday – Carrollton (27-1-2) at Saginaw Valley Lutheran (35-8-3) – This is a winner-take-all matchup for the Tri-Valley Conference Blue regular-season championship.
Saturday – Lowell East vs. West Challenge – The 16-team field includes Division 1 top-ranked Rockford, No. 2 Farmington Hills Mercy, No. 3 Bloomfield Hills Marian, No. 4 Bloomfield Hills, No. 5 Lowell, No. 7 Utica Eisenhower and honorable mentions Jenison, Byron Center and Clarkston among several others.
Tuesday – Detroit Country Day quad – The Division 2 No. 2 Yellowjackets (13-7-0) will welcome Marian (34-4-0), Eisenhower (30-3-1) and Fenton (15-10-0).
Tuesday – Beal City (28-7-0) at Roscommon (42-2-0) – Division 3 top-ranked Roscommon can finish a perfect run through the Highland Conference, but honorable mention Beal City hopes to stand in the way.
PHOTOS (Top) Mount Pleasant's Tessa Ervin (2) digs the ball during a match against Saginaw Heritage. (Middle) East Grand Rapids' Heidi White (1) elevates to get to the ball against Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central. (Mount Pleasant/Heritage photo by High School Sports Scene. East Grand Rapids/Forest Hills Central photo by Michigan Sports Photo.)