Eagles End Phenomenal Fall as Repeat Champ
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
November 23, 2019
BATTLE CREEK – Tiffannie Gates couldn’t hold back the tears Saturday.
The Grand Rapids Christian volleyball coach had just watched her team win a second-straight Division 2 title, sweeping Lake Odessa Lakewood 25-21, 25-15, 25-16, which is emotional enough. She also had just finished her last game as coach of her daughter, Jordyn, who shined in her final game as an Eagle.
“It’s really bittersweet right now to think I’m done coaching her,” Tiffannie Gates said. “You couldn’t ask for a better ending. It’s been pretty neat.”
The Grand Rapids Christian program closed out an incredible run with another dominant showing at Kellogg Arena, sweeping the No. 2 team in the Final for the second straight year. The top-ranked Eagles actually swept both matches at Kellogg, also just like a year ago – defeating Kingsley in the Semifinal – and finished 46-3, dropping just 10 sets all season.
All while carrying around the target that comes with being the reigning champion.
“Every team came to play against us,” junior outside hitter Addison VanderWeide said. “No matter who they were, they came to play their best volleyball. We definitely felt that, but we were able to push through and stay on top.”
At the center of it was Jordyn, a Miss Volleyball finalist who will play at Arkansas next season. The 5-foot-10 senior setter came into the weekend with more than 1,000 assists on the season, and finished Saturday’s match with 39 assists, 13 digs and six kills.
For her, it was also a bittersweet moment.
“It was really emotional this morning, last time ever being coached by her,” Jordyn said. “She’s my biggest inspiration. Being able to play for her and having her coaching me and pushing me every single day. Even today she was still telling me things I needed to work on. It never stopped. She’s definitely my biggest inspiration, so it’s been awesome sharing this journey with her.”
Jordyn spread the ball around enough to keep Lakewood off balance Saturday night, as Ayva Kooistra and Evelyn Doezema each had six kills. But it was clear that VanderWeide was her main target, and she came through in a big way. VanderWeide had 28 kills on 55 attack attempts for a .436 attack percentage.
“I even knew before we even showed up that she was going to have the game of her life,” Jordyn said. “She was fired up and I knew to just dish the ball to Addi, she’s the girl on fire. Keep dishing it to her no matter what, she’s who we have to dish it to, and she was unstoppable tonight. I’m so proud of her.”
Lakewood (40-13) did come out strong, building a 13-9 lead in the first set. But Grand Rapids Christian responded to close out the set before controlling much of the rest of the match.
“Our strength this year has just been playing very evenly – not getting too high or too low,” Tiffannie Gates said. “I just said, ‘You know what, you’re fine. We’re just going to go out there and play defense and serve tough and pass well and focus on your game, one point at a time.’ That’s been our motto all season, one point at a time. Don’t project, ‘What if we don’t win? We’re supposed to win.’ So we’re really trying to focus on the one point at a time.”
Tiffannie Gates said the goal for the Eagles coming into the match was to try and slow down the O’Gorman sisters. While they did have some success, the plan worked for the most part. Aubrey O’Gorman led Lakewood with 11 kills on the night, while Maradith O’Gorman had 10 kills and 10 digs. Skylar Bump added 25 assists for the Vikings.
PHOTOS: (Top) Grand Rapids Christian’s Addison VanderWeide (14) launches a kill attempt during Saturday’s Division 2 Final. (Middle) Evelyn Doezema tips the ball over the block of Lakewood’s Jaizah Pyle.
Block Party: 2025 Girls Volleyball Week 7 Report
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
October 8, 2025
With just more than three weeks left until the start of MHSAA District play, several teams are surging with the potential to peak when it matters most this season.
This week’s state polls voted on by the Michigan Interscholastic Volleyball Coaches Association (MIVCA) saw four teams enter their respective top 10s across the four divisions and a new No. 1 in Division 3 as Roscommon took back the top spot it yielded with the Sept. 9 rankings.
Expect more maneuvers to come as teams finish off league championship and tournament schedules and the last of this season’s Saturday showcases.
As always, records, results and schedules below are those posted for teams on MHSAA.com. Rankings reflect the latest polls posted by MIVCA, with last week’s referenced in “Week in Review” and this week’s referenced thereafter.
Week in Review
The countdown of last week’s five most intriguing results:
1. Lowell d. Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern (25-15, 16-25, 15-9) The Red Arrows (23-7-2) – an honorable mention in Division 1 last week – finished 4-1-1 at the Jenison Tournament, losing early to Hudsonville and tying the host in two sets before finishing with three-set wins over Grand Rapids Christian and then No. 8 FHN (24-7-1).
2. Fowler d. Pewamo-Westphalia (21-25, 25-21, 25-22, 25-21) The Division 4 No. 6 Eagles (18-5-1) took a major step in the Central Michigan Athletic Conference with this win over the Division 3 No. 5 Pirates (23-7-3).
3. Pewamo-Westphalia d. Plymouth Christian Academy (25-27, 25-18, 15-11) P-W headed to the Mt. Morris Tournament after suffering losses on successive days earlier in the week, but finished 5-0 on Saturday topped by this victory over No. 3 PCA (29-6-1).
4. Saginaw Swan Valley d. Frankenmuth (25-23, 28-26, 25-23) Coming off a five-set loss to Bay City John Glenn a week earlier, Swan Valley (18-9-1) stunned the Division 2 No. 10 Eagles (9-8-4) with this Tri-Valley Conference Red sweep by the leanest of margins.
5. Lake Odessa Lakewood d. Parma Western (25-23, 25-27, 25-22) Coming off six losses over its last seven matches, Lakewood (17-13-0) won a close one over Division 2 honorable mention Western (23-6-1) and also swept P-W at a home tri.
Watch List
With an eye toward November, here are two teams in each division making sparks:
DIVISION 1
Hudsonville (20-6-1) The Eagles have jumped from the list of honorable mentions, moving up to No. 10 in the state rankings this week coming off a 4-1-1 run at the Jenison Tournament that included wins over then-No. 5 Jenison, now-No. 7 Lowell and Division 2 No. 3 Holland Christian. Hudsonville has played most of the best from the west side of the state, with the Lowell win avenging an early loss and a tie with Forest Hills Northern on Saturday also following an August defeat.
Utica Eisenhower (20-2-1) After reaching the Division 1 Quarterfinals last season – and winning the first set in that match before falling to Bloomfield Hills Marian – Eisenhower is building up to another potentially serious run. The Eagles have loaded the schedule, posting especially impressive wins over Lowell, Division 1 honorable mention Brighton and Division 2 No. 5 North Branch, and with losses to only Marian and Farmington Hills Mercy.
DIVISION 2
Edwardsburg (24-7-0) The Eddies have won 12 of their last 13 matches and moved up to No. 10 in the Division 2 rankings from honorable mention a week ago, coming off wins over Pontiac Notre Dame Prep, West Bloomfield and Birch Run over the weekend. Their only loss during that time was a 2-1 defeat against Division 1 honorable mention Byron Center in the championship match of BC’s tournament two weeks ago. It’s been an excellent rebound off last season’s sub-.500 finish.
Otsego (20-10-5) The Bulldogs also lost more than they won a year ago but have bounced back nicely even while taking on several of then best from the west side of the state as well. A 5-0-1 run through the Portage Northern Invitational on Sept. 20 served some notice – it included a win over Plymouth Christian Academy – and Otsego came off a 0-1-2 weekend at the Battle Creek Lakeview mini tournament (facing three Division 1 opponents) with a five-set win over Vicksburg last Thursday.
DIVISION 3
Calumet (13-9-1) The Copper Kings are again part of a strong set of Upper Peninsula contenders, coming off a run to the Regional Finals a year ago, and they’ve already shown this season what they can do downstate as well. Calumet opened with a win over current Division 3 honorable mention McBain at the Cadillac Invitational and went 3-2-1 at the Division 3-4 Showdown two weeks ago most notably defeating Division 4 No. 2 Ubly. Four of the team’s losses have come to Wisconsin opponents, and a fifth came to Division 4 No. 8 Hancock – with the rematch set for Oct. 28.
Manton (23-9-0) The Rangers are holding steady among honorable mentions in Division 3 as they’ve won nine straight matches with a 6-0 run at the Lake City Invitational over the weekend followed by a 3-1 comeback win Tuesday over No. 10 Beal City. With a little bit of help from the Aggies against top-ranked Roscommon, Manton might still have a chance at a title share in the Highland Conference – and then will almost surely see No. 4 Kingsley for the third time this fall, in District play. Two losses to the Stags are among five total defeats to opponents getting votes in state polls this week.
DIVISION 4
Adrian Lenawee Christian (16-6-2) The Cougars moved into the Division 4 top 10 three weeks ago and sit No. 5 this week after defeating Erie Mason coming off tough losses to Division 3 No. 7 Hanover-Horton and Ottawa Lake Whiteford. Lenawee Christian has a nice set of wins over Division 2 opponents including from a 4-2 run at the Eaton Rapids Tournament where the two defeats actually came to Division 4 No. 2 Ubly and No. 4 Battle Creek St. Philip. The Cougars will play next month for a potential fifth-straight District title and also have won their Regionals three of the last four seasons.
St. Joseph Michigan Lutheran (16-4-3) The Titans have played some of their toughest competition of the season over the last two weeks – losing twice to Division 2 Buchanan and once to Division 1 St. Joseph – but that’s sure to pay off once the postseason rolls around, and Michigan Lutheran also defeated Buchanan in the championship match at the Bridgman Invitational on Sept. 20. The only other loss came early to another solid Division 2 team in South Haven.
Can’t-Miss Contests
Be on the lookout for results of these matches and tournaments coming up:
Wednesday – Farmington Hills Mercy (15-2-0) vs. Bloomfield Hills Marian (29-2-0) at Oakland University – the Division 1 No. 3 Marlins and No. 4 Mustangs will meet for the second time this season, this time for the Catholic High School League Bishop Tournament championship.
Wednesday – Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central (18-2-1) at Milan (12-4-0) – Miland joined the Division 2 honorable mentions this week and defeated honorable mention Flat Rock on Monday on the way to facing the Division 3 No. 2 Kestrels (18-2-1) in Huron League play.
Thursday – Tecumseh quad – Battle Creek Lakeview (26-5-5) and Clinton (20-3-1) are among those scheduled to play at Division 2 No. 7 Tecumseh (30-1-0).
Saturday – Beast of the East at Trinity Health Sports Center in Livonia – The lineup is loaded with four top 10-ranked teams and three honorable mentions spread across six pools.
Saturday – Karen Abbott Memorial Invitational at Hanover-Horton – The Division 3 No. 7 Comets (21-1-1) host Division 2 honorable mention Parma Western (23-6-1) among others.
PHOTO East Grand Rapids (left) and Forest Hills Northern players meet at the net during a match Sept. 23. (Photo by MI Sports Photo.)