Country Day Adds 1st Volleyball Title to All-Time Championship Collection
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
November 23, 2024
BATTLE CREEK – There are so few chances anymore to become the first athletic program at Detroit Country Day to accomplish something.
But Saturday, Olivia Grenadier and her teammates finished off a career of firsts with the big one, sweeping Tecumseh at Kellogg Arena to claim the school’s first Volleyball Finals title.
“My freshman year it was the first Regional championship, so that was really fun,” Grenadier said. “This year it was the first time we beat (Pontiac Notre Dame Prep), first time state championship, so it was just amazing going out like that. Very cool.”
This weekend was the first ever trip to the Semifinals for Country Day, which finished the season 36-1. It won 25-18, 25-21, 25-17 in the Division 2 Final and dropped just three sets during its postseason run, needing a fourth to get by rival Notre Dame Prep in the District final and five to get by two-time reigning champ North Branch in the Quarterfinal.
“I think we were prepared – they were ready,” Country Day coach Kim Lockhart said. “Both of our games this weekend were the last games (of the night), so we kind of were watching other teams play, keeping our minds in the right place. We knew we had to just come out tonight and do what we’ve been doing all season and just take care of the ball.”
The Yellowjackets attack, led by Grenadier and junior Elise Heimstra, and orchestrated by freshman setter Payton Woodruff, proved too much for Tecumseh on Saturday.
Woodruff finished with 47 assists on the night, with Grenadier and Heimstra each getting 21 kills.
“Offensively, we watched a little bit of film on them earlier, and as the game went on, we knew Elise, she had middle back,” Grenadier said. “Payton puts us in such good spots to where we can honestly hit anywhere. She’s a great setter who puts us in great spots.”
It wasn’t just the volume of kills from Country Day hitters that gave Tecumseh trouble, it was also the efficiency. Both Grenadier and Heimstra finished with a .486 attack percentage.
“The girls, they came to play, and for Olivia being the last match of her career here in high school, I feel like she made a statement,” Lockhart said. “This was her comeback season, especially coming from that injury (which ended her junior season early), and what a comeback it was. I’m so proud of her. And Elise, just fearless, and confident and consistent with our setter Payton just running the show like usual. She was just locked in, and I couldn’t be more proud.”
Morgan Anderson led the Country Day back line with 12 digs, while Grenadier had 11.
Tecumseh coach Morgan Skelton couldn’t help but be impressed with what she saw from her team’s opponent.
“I think if we play them 10 times, we’d be lucky to pull out a win,” Skelton said. “They’re very, very tough. It’s not anything against my girls at all, but (the Yellowjackets) have way more experience, and it shows. I think today, for the girls, there were nerves earlier, but today the moment was just because of the finality of it all. It’s ending, we made it to the end, so I think that’s where the emotion came from. That team was great, and I’m not disappointed by how we played at all.”
Junior Emma Eldred led Tecumseh with 12 kills, while junior Maddy Vanblack had seven kills and nine digs. Junior setter Lily Gnodtke finished with 21 assists.
For Tecumseh, this Finals appearance was the first since a 2011 runner-up finish, as it, too, was looking for its first championship. Tecumseh finished the season 48-2-1.
“I don’t know if I could have dreamt this at the beginning of the season,” Skelton said. “I knew we were going to be good, but to me, all season long I was like, ‘OK, now we’re 20-1’ or this and that, so I knew we were going to be good, but I didn’t know how good we were going to be. So, as the numbers start going down, teams start dropping like flies and we’re still in it – we had so much fun this season.”
PHOTOS (Top) Detroit Country Day players raise their championship trophy Saturday night at Kellogg Arena. (Middle) The Yellowjackets’ Payton Woodruff (15) and a pair of Tecumseh blockers contend for the ball. (Below) Country Day’s Grace Lu launches a serve. (Photos by Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
Veteran Eagles Soar to 1st Semi since '79
November 18, 2015
By Dean Holzwarth
Special for Second Half
GRAND RAPIDS – The Grand Rapids Christian volleyball team has enjoyed one of its best seasons in school history.
One main reason for the Eagles’ unbridled success: Experience.
Grand Rapids Christian entered this fall with a wealth of it, including one four-year varsity player and a core of three-year varsity players.
“We have six seniors on this team and they have a lot of experience,” Eagles fifth-year coach Tiffanie Gates said. “They have played together for a long time, in club and high school.”
The veteran leadership has been beneficial in their historic run to the Class A Semifinals. Thursday’s match against top-ranked Novi will be No. 3 Grand Rapids Christian’s first at this late round of the MHSAA Tournament since 1979.
Grand Rapids Christian (49-4) defeated No. 2 Mattawan 3-1 (25-21, 18-25, 25-23, 25-21) in Tuesday night’s Class A Quarterfinal at Caledonia High School.
“This season has been a blast,” said senior outside hitter Sam McLean, who’s been on the varsity all four years and earned all-state second-team honors last season. “We’ve been playing so well together as a team, and we’ve been playing some of our best games lately. It’s fun because we’re super close, and we’re friends outside of the court. It’s been a real good time.”
The seniors, which also include returning all-state first-team outside hitter Dylynn Otte, plus Ellen Long, Jessa VanderWeide, Maria Bolt and Megan Noordewier, have provided a calming influence to the underclassmen.
When things have gotten tough, they’ve persevered and proceeded with a confident demeanor.
“Any outside factors that get in our way, like a huge crowd or a team that is good, our seniors have calmed our players down,” McLean said. “We emphasize to our younger players to focus on us, and when we’re down or struggling, our seniors have been huge in helping our team out.”
The biggest evidence of a senior-dominated team has been its ability to not give an inch. They’ve developed a killer instinct, refusing to let other teams gain momentum.
The Eagles didn’t drop a set through 10 conference matches en route to an Ottawa-Kent Conference White championship and have lost only one set during the MHSAA Tournament.
“In this sport, it is whoever finishes and sees matches through,” Gates said. “I attribute that to our senior leadership with not letting up and not riding that rollercoaster that you see sometimes in high school volleyball.”
In last week’s Regional Final against No. 9 Hudsonville, the Eagles were up 2-0, but on the verge of losing the third set down 21-18.
“They rallied and finished it in three,” Gates said. “We’ve had conversations about not expecting it to go that way from here on out and the further you go the harder it gets, so they are prepared for it not to be that way. They have definitely worked hard to finish strong every time.”
Grand Rapids Christian has drawn motivation from two straight years of early exits in District play. They have refused to allow history to repeat itself.
It has changed their mental approach to every match.
“It’s been our theme,” McLean said. “We even break it down to one point at a time and one set at a time. Last year I think we looked ahead too much, and that’s why we ended so early. This year we’ve barely looked at the state finals.
“We’ve only looked at the next game and what we have to do to win the next one and the next one. That’s all we’ve been focusing on, and it helps a ton.”
The seniors have dedicated themselves to making this season a memorable one.
“It’s a special year for all of us, and we want to go as far as we can,” McLean said. “A lot of the seniors won’t play in college, so this is their final games. I love our underclassmen because they want to do well for us. It’s really cool to see.”
Added Gates: “The core group have been playing club together since they were 11 or 12, so it’s been a dream for them since they were little. You see it coming to fruition now, and it’s pretty neat. They are definitely motivated and driven.”
On the court, Grand Rapids Christian doesn’t have a lot of weaknesses. A balanced group of big hitters and solid blocking at the net have paced their attack.
“We have good ball control and defense,” Gates said. “And we’re pretty deep offensively. It’s difficult for teams to camp out on one hitter. We can definitely mix it up. I don’t think there’s a hole in our game so far.”
The Eagles overcame a major hurdle when they swept perennial state powerhouse Grand Haven in the Regional Semifinal.
The Bucs knocked Grand Rapids Christian out in the Quarterfinals in 2012 and entered this postseason ranked No. 5.
“We split with them in the regular season in tournament play so we knew their game and practiced for it,” Gates said. “It’s a fun little rivalry with them because it’s always been back and forth. It was an exciting and emotional match for us.”
Dean Holzwarth covered primarily high school sports for the Grand Rapids Press and MLive for 16 years and more recently served as sports editor of the Ionia Sentinel and as a sports photojournalist for WZZM. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Allegan, Kent and Ottawa counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Grand Rapids Christian players and coaches pose last week with their Class A Regional championship trophy. (Middle) Jessa VanderWeide, one of six seniors, prepares to unload a serve during a match earlier this fall. (Photos courtesy of Grand Rapids Christian High School.)