SOUTH HAVEN — When the call went out for volleyball players, a whopping 115 students showed up at South Haven High School.

That was 50 years ago, and the daunting task of whittling down those numbers fell to coach Dene Hadden.

From that group of hopefuls, he kept 13 on varsity and 13 on junior varsity.

The biggest problem was that neither the girls nor the coach had ever been involved in the varsity sport.

That sure has changed.

Fifty years ago, when the MHSAA debuted girls volleyball as a varsity sport, 462 schools fielded teams, with 12,012 athletes. Last season, 16,679 players took the court for MHSAA high schools, and this season 697 teams are slated to play.

Those first years were tough, Hadden said.

"We tried to use some athletic skills, jump height, jump distance, some other tests that I read about and heard about,” he said.

Things got easier for Hadden the second year after he attended a volleyball camp in Chicago.

“I spent seven days and nights of intensive volleyball training and learned so much about the game from key ‘grandfathers,’ you’d have to say now, about volleyball and came back much more confident in what I knew, how to teach skills and what skills to look for. It made a huge difference.”

That huge difference made an impact on the South Haven program. In 1977, the Rams made it to the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Class B championship match and, in 1985, won the title. They also reached the Finals in 1980 and 1991.

Fourth-year Rams coach Wendy Spencer said today’s players do not realize how much they owe to those pioneers.

“I think so many of these girls take for granted all the battles that women had to fight for to just be an athlete,” she said. “Isn’t that such a blessing that this next generation doesn’t have to realize the struggle? 

“We don’t take for granted how special it is. I think for (current athletes) to see on a board their (photo) next to someone who’s 50 years older than them can put it into perspective sometimes.”

The current athletes also got a taste of those trailblazing players two weeks ago during an alumni game celebrating 50 years of MHSAA volleyball.

Diane (Sherman) Skuza was one of the alumni. She joined the volleyball team her junior year in 1977.

“I was playing basketball and softball,” she said. “I tried out, had never played volleyball before. Dene saw something in me as an athlete.

“One of my strong points was my serving. He would often bring me in just to serve. My senior year I actually played quite a bit and was all-conference.”

The Rams won the Wolverine Conference her final two years (1977, 1978), finishing both seasons with identical 26-1 records.

At the alumni game, Skusa, who at 64 was the oldest player there, joined the other women in competing against current varsity players.

“When I played in the alumni game, they said, ‘OK, we’re gonna do whatever,’ and I didn’t know what they were talking about,” she laughed. “They said do you want to be a middle hitter or an outside hitter.

“We really didn’t do that. We had our positions. If you were on the left side, you hit from the left side. It’s a lot more involved now. But we had some really strong players, and Dene was a great coach.”

The alumni actually won the game, but they had a few ringers, according to Hadden.

“You have to remember the alumni had Hayley Kreiger, an All-American at Davenport a couple years ago playing that night,” he said. “We had some all-conference players, so there was some talent on the alumni side of the net.”

The alumni team also included former players from the 1985 championship team.

Hadden said that when organizers started planning the 50th anniversary celebration, “We wanted to recognize the 318 varsity letter winners who have contributed to the sport at South Haven.” 

Rams return experience

For this year’s team, Spencer will rely on three returning seniors, including four-year varsity player Charlotte Knox, who already owns three school records.

She is first in career digs (742) and aces (28). She also has the single-season record in kills (365 set last year).

Her single-season achievements also include ranking fifth with most blocks (62 in 2022), second in most digs (298 in 2023) and tied for fourth with most aces (98 in 2023).

She is third in career blocks with 126 heading into this season.

In her second year as captain, Knox is “a kid who shows up for her teammates before she shows up for herself,” Spencer said. “She can keep that high level of expectations without coming down on people.

“Charlotte has consistently had the best stats in our region in kills, digs and aces. As a junior, she is already in the top five of all of South Haven history for season and for career.

Other seniors on the team are Charlotte Grzybowski, Areanna Wabanimkee-Gluck, Nevaeh Cooper and Kaitlin Moore. Juniors are Ly’nique Cunningham and Trinity Sistrunk, while sophomores are Kiersten Chalupa, Julia Wiley and Piper Allen.

Spencer noted that most players today hone their skills on travel teams outside the school season.

“Club sports have taken a huge role in athlete’s development, but I think there’s something missing if kids don’t want to play high school athletics,” she said. “School sports are important; club sports are important if you have bigger goals.

“These (school teammates) are the people you will remember, the ones you will show up at 50-year reunions with, not your club team. We’re trying to keep that going, and Dene’s the reason for that.”

Hadden, who coached the Rams for 19 seasons, still keeps active.

“He announces all our home games, he still shows up at all our tryouts,” Spencer said. “He’s just someone who loves our district and loves volleyball so much.

“He really keeps our traditions alive. He’s the only coach who won a state championship and runner-up twice. The question is, how do we learn from that?”

The reigning Southwestern Athletic Conference champ started the season repeating as champ at the Coloma Tournament last Saturday with Knox recording 74 kills to reach 1,000 for her career.

The Rams continue Wednesday against Constantine with one goal in mind: “The team works every year at Battle Creek’s Kellogg Arena (during the MHSAA Tournament),” Spencer said. “This year we’d like to be playing there, not on the sidelines.”

Pam Shebest served as a sportswriter at the Kalamazoo Gazette from 1985-2009 after 11 years part-time with the Gazette while teaching French and English at White Pigeon High School. She can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Calhoun, Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties.

PHOTOS (Top) Senior Charlotte Knox reaches out toward a ball during South Haven’s alumni match earlier this month. (2) Dene Hadden, then and now, was the program’s first coach and remains an active supporter. (3) Alums Sarah Washegesic (right) and Megan Sollman share a laugh. (4) Knox is celebrated by her teammates after reaching 1,000 career kills Saturday. (Alumni game photos by Micah Jones. Knox 1,000-kill photo submitted by Wendy Spencer. Hadden photo courtesy of Hadden.)