Imlay City Embracing Tough Schedule, Missing Injured Standout, with End Game in Mind
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
September 13, 2023
Rachel Van Dyk wanted to make things as tough as possible for her Imlay City volleyball team.
When the third-year coach created the Spartans’ schedule for this season, it wasn’t with the goal of picking up wins in August or September, but preparing them for November.
So, it was packed with tournaments featuring Division 1 opponents and some of the state’s top teams such as Clarkston, Farmington Hills Mercy, South Lyon East, Saginaw Valley Lutheran, and even an extra date with 2022 Division 2 champion and conference rival North Branch.
“That’s the idea,” said Van Dyk, who played collegiately at Michigan State. “In looking for tournaments, I look for what’s going to give us the toughest possible schedule. We’re looking at, ‘How are we going to improve the most?’ It’s not by playing teams we can beat easily. We might get creamed sometimes, we might get humbled sometimes, but we’re going to learn from it. I’m a proponent of doing what’s going to make us the best team possible, regardless of whether our record looks good to other people.”
That record sat at 6-7-2 heading into this week, and while it’s modest, it still looked good enough against the Spartans’ tough schedule for the Michigan Interscholastic Volleyball Coaches Association to rank them No. 10 in Division 2.
But more important than outside recognition is that Van Dyk’s players get it as well.
“I think we all understand that it’s just getting us ready to play North Branch, who we’ll see in Districts,” senior libero Lexa Forti said. “I think everything is just leading up to that game in Districts and everything. We kind of brush off the losses, I guess, even though obviously, we want to win.”
It’s the second year Van Dyk has been able to build the Spartans with the postseason in mind, although this year the schedule certainly is beefed up.
Still, a year ago it was Imlay City that pushed North Branch – where Van Dyk served as an assistant prior to coming to Imlay City – as far as anyone else, losing in five sets in the District tournament.
So the players know that what they’re doing can work, making it easier to focus on improving during the early months of the season rather than putting up an impressive record.
“I feel like our goals might be bigger than other teams’,” junior outside hitter Chloe Bruman said. “I feel like we’re pretty hard on ourselves. I think we know what we’re capable of, as well.”
One thing Van Dyk did not plan for, however – which is also making things very tough on the Spartans – is an injury to Emma Keeping.
The star sophomore played just the first two matches of the season before suffering a back injury. Van Dyk said the Spartans are likely to be without their right-side hitter and setter until early to mid-October.
Again, that makes winning tougher, especially against a strong nonconference schedule and an already difficult Blue Water Area Conference slate – the Spartans dropped a five-setter against Croswell-Lexington on Tuesday.
But Van Dyk and her players are seeing the positives in the absence of their biggest offensive threat.
“It’s required kids to step into roles that they didn’t expect to take,” Van Dyk said. “Those are some big shoes to fill, but we’ve found ways to try to see it in a positive light. Diamonds are made under pressure. The more challenges we can face, the more prepared we are for the challenge we’re going to face in North Branch in the District.”
One of the players most affected by Keeping’s absence is classmate Makayla Bruman, who shares setting duties in the Spartans rotation. Not only has she been forced to do more setting, but she’s had to find other options with Keeping gone.
One of those whom the Spartans have leaned on more is her sister, Chloe Bruman, who Van Dyk said has really stepped up and embraced her new role. Junior Yannet Zepeda is another outside hitter Van Dyk mentioned who has seen her role expand.
On top of all that, Forti is learning a new position, as she was just recently cleared following a torn ACL during basketball season. Formerly a six-rotation outside hitter for the Spartans, Forti is now playing libero.
The Spartans are hopeful that getting through this time without Keeping will lead to a much more diverse attack once she comes back.
“I think it’s going to help us out tremendously,” Chloe Bruman said. “Obviously, we rely on her. Our whole team knows that; our coaches know that. I think it’s going to be more of a relief for her to come back. She’s such a leader on the court, and not just because she’s good. I think it will definitely be more difficult for other teams, because our offensive is going to be more widespread.”
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) Imlay City huddles up during this past weekend’s Birch Run Invitational. (Middle) The Spartans go for a kill during a scrimmage last month. (Photos courtesy of the Imlay City volleyball program.)
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.)