Everest Collegiate Begins Championship Era as Another Ends for Leland Legend
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
November 18, 2023
BATTLE CREEK – With the biggest serves of her volleyball career in front of her Saturday, Sarah Bradley did what she always does – took a deep breath and came through for Clarkston Everest Collegiate.
The junior served out the final three points of the Division 4 championship match, including a match-point ace to give the Moutaineers a five-set victory and their first Finals title.
“I believe very much in taking a deep breath when I’m serving and zoning everything out,” Bradley said. “In my head, I’m like, ‘All for you, God. All for you.’ Then I take a deep breath and I serve. Every single time. So I was very confident, and I went out there and did it.”
Bradley’s final ace put an exclamation point on an improbable comeback, as Everest trailed 2 sets to none, and 10-3 in the fifth before winning 24-26, 18-25, 25-22, 25-19, 15-13.
It also capped off a historic season for the 10th-ranked Moutaineers, who hadn’t won a Regional title prior to this season, let alone compete in Kellogg Arena. They more than made their mark in their first trip, with a pair of 0-2 comebacks, including a Semifinal win Friday over top-ranked Adrian Lenawee Christian.
“I’m blown away by these girls,” first-year Everest coach Danielle Walker said. “To come back two days in a row from two sets down. It’s just amazing.”
Playing five sets twice certainly wasn’t the plan for the Moutaineers, but they didn’t shrink in the moment despite having never been on this stage.
“We knew we had done it before, we knew it’s been done in the state Finals before, and we trust in ourselves,” said junior Madelyn Krappmann. “We trust in our ability as a team and in each other. We know our strengths, we know our weaknesses and we know how to adapt to the other team’s strengths and weaknesses. We really just dug in, took a deep breath and said, ‘All right, we did it yesterday, we can do it today.’ And that’s what we did.”
It looked early in the fifth set that the rally in sets 3 and 4 may have been for naught. Leland jumped out to a quick 5-1 lead and had stretched it to 10-3 before Everest was able to find its way back in.
The Comets took a 13-11 lead when Kelsey Allen and Abby Hicks teamed up for a block of Bradley. She came back immediately with a kill, however, and then served out the match.
“Honestly, it got me even more motivated,” Bradley said. “They blocked me, but I just kept going. I believe in myself, and I trust myself to get over it. Me and (junior setter Erica Walker) talked about what we were going to do different. It just all fit together. I got out there with all the confidence I can, because that’s how I know I can play my best.”
Bradley finished with a match-high 31 kills, tied for sixth all-time in a Finals match. Walker finished with 57 assists, tied for second all-time. The 64 team kills for the Mountaineers (32-4-2) are tied for fourth all-time.
“My little thing is, I want to succeed so my hitters can succeed,” said Walker, who didn’t start playing volleyball for Everest until this season, and was also a Finals qualifier in cross country. “I want them to have the spotlight, and in order to do that, I have to have good sets. I play with three of the best hitters that I’ve ever seen. To be able to set them up and see them succeed makes me so happy.”
While this weekend served as an introduction to the rest of the state for Everest – the Mountaineers are set to bring back all six starters in 2024 and graduate one senior – it was goodbye from a legend on the other side.
Leland coach Laurie Glass, who has amassed more than 1,100 wins and three Finals titles in her 29 years leading the Comets, announced after the match that it was her last, and that assistant Travis Baker would be taking over.
“I’ve known all along that I wanted to see this group through and be there with them in this moment,” she said. “I’m proud to be from Leland. I’m proud to have coached at Leland, and I couldn’t have gone out in a better way. I wanted the season to be about them, 100 percent. I didn’t want to have big farewells and have a farewell tour of Laurie Glass’ coaching career. I wanted them to have their season. It’s time. It’s time to move on and pass the torch to Travis Baker, who really is the reason this season has gone as well as it has.”
The Comets finished Glass’ final season 41-17-2, and did so fielding a team of just seven players, five of whom were seniors.
While they didn’t know Glass was stepping down until after the match, they very nearly sent her out with a fourth title. Getting to raise a runner-up trophy wasn’t a bad way to go out, though.
“There’s a lot of teams out there that would give their eye teeth to have this moment, even if they were crying,” Glass said. “There were only two teams left in the state, and we were one of them. I don’t think that’s a horrible thing.”
Fiona Moord led Leland with 17 kills, while Shelby Plamondon and Allen both had 12. Olive Ryder had 10 kills and 21 digs, Hicks had 45 assists and Mallory Lowe had 18 digs.
Krappman had 20 kills for Everest, while Addison Pearce added 11. Krappman and Bradley both had 18 digs, while Samantha Pietras had 15.
PHOTOS (Top) Clarkton Everest Collegiate’s Sarah Bradley takes a big swing on a kill attempt during Saturday’s Division 4 Final at Kellogg Arena. (Middle) The Mountaineers’ Madelyn Krappmann sends a kill attempt toward a pair of Leland blockers. (Below) Everest sets up its offense. (Photos by Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
O-G Overhaul Continues to Deliver as Bulldogs Clinch League Title Repeat
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
October 23, 2025
Barb Hellebuyck was honored to return to her alma mater and take on the challenge of rebuilding the Owendale-Gagetown volleyball program.
Having played for the legendary Judy Campbell, Hellebuyck knew what success at Owen-Gage looked like. With her granddaughter entering the program, she had an idea of the type of talent there was on hand to aid in the process.
She was not quite as aware of just how deep the rebuild would have to go, however.
“I remember, and I don’t know what team it was, they came to play a game at our gym and picked up the raggedy balls we had – the look on that girl’s face,” Hellebuyck said. “I went, ‘Oh heck no. We have got to do some upgrading here.’ These girls deserve to look good, to feel good, then that will help them play better when their confidence goes up. It started with new balls, then we got new carts, new uniforms, we have two new net systems now. Everything has been building for these girls, and they should have all that stuff.”
With its new equipment on hand, and its coach now in her fifth season, the Owen-Gage volleyball team is not only rebuilt but flourishing.
On Tuesday night, the Bulldogs clinched their second-straight Big Thumb Conference Red title, also their third in four years. Prior to winning the 2022 title, it had been 17 years since Owen-Gage had won a league championship.
That 2005 title was the last of 11 straight for a once-dominant program, constructed by Campbell as she built a 500-139-25 record over 20 seasons during the team’s infancy. From 1977 through 2008, Owen-Gage won 27 league titles, 21 District titles and five Regional titles. The school had nearly run out of room on the banner hanging in the gym.
Now, it finally has some numbers to justify getting a second one.
“It’s been very eventful – our team has really developed over the years,” said Owen-Gage senior Aubrey Hellebuyck, who joined the varsity team as an eighth grader in 2021. “We’ve really changed the program and turned it all around. We went from being last in the conference to being a championship contender. It’s really awesome to be a part of that.”
Aubrey Hellebuyck is one of three seniors on Owen-Gage’s eight-player roster this season, joined by Ayriona Maikrzek and McKenzie Baker.
They also happen to be the only three girls in the school’s four-student senior class. Owen-Gage is among the state’s smallest 30 schools in terms of MHSAA classification, with an enrollment of 41. The towns of Owendale and Gagetown have a combined population of less than 600 as of the 2020 census.
Because of its size, Owen-Gage can have eighth graders play varsity sports, as Hellebuyck did. They also have students as young as seventh grade playing on the JV team.
For some, that could be intimidating. But at Owen-Gage it’s been embraced.
“Having no experience, it was very hard,” Owen-Gage junior Jessica Bowers said. “We were going against teams that would have freshmen and sophomores, while I’m just a seventh grader who had never played before. But it made me develop faster because I had to lock in and focus when I’d be going up against people that were a lot bigger.”
A smaller school population also forces players to learn to become more well-rounded. Not only because of the small number of substitutes, but because there’s no guarantee the population will provide a player that fits a specific position.
“They are all phenomenal players in my mind, because we have a lot of them that play all the way around,” Barb Hellebuyck said. “They have to be good at the net, they have to be good in the back row. They’re really phenomenal players. They’re not always the tallest ones, but I have several players that do multiple things. We just have to.”
Again, it’s something Owen-Gage players have embraced.
“I’m a middle, and normally at other schools the middles never play all around,” Bowers said. “When I first started, all I focused on was hitting. Gradually I had to force myself to learn to dig a ball because no one could play back row for me. Eventually I got really good at it. On a bigger school team, I don’t think I would have to do that.”
With that buy-in, it’s no surprise that Owen-Gage has returned to its winning ways. This year’s team is 19-4-1 overall, having won 13 straight matches. It has not lost since Sept. 9.
The Bulldogs have two regular-season matches remaining before the District tournament, which begins Nov. 3. With a league title wrapped up, that’s the next goal, to end another 17-year drought and claim the school’s first District championship since 2008. In their way is Division 4 No. 2 Ubly.
“There’s a chance we could do that,” Aubrey Hellebuyck said. “It would be a huge upset, and it would be insane. We’re working toward that.”
That possible title would be made even more special by the fact it would be won in the Bulldogs’ home gym, as they are hosting. That’s another source of pride, just five years removed from side-eyed looks over the state of the program’s equipment.
“Barb puts a lot of work into that,” said Aubrey Hellebuyck, who added that she’ll go back to calling her “Grandma” after the season. “She’s a great coach, but she actually does a lot of fundraising just so our program has a lot of opportunity. We had one net, and it was horrible. Now we have two brand-new nets that are great. Our old ball cart, it was not a ball cart, I don’t even know what it was. But it’s not embarrassing to bring out our ball carts anymore for home games.”
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) Owendale-Gagetown players celebrate during a match this season. (Middle) Jessica Bowers elevates to get to a ball. (Below) Aubrey Hellebuyck (5) enjoys a moment with her team. (Photos by Kaitlin Gunsell/Kaitlin’s Klicks.)