Lakewood Leader Joins 1,000-Win Club
September 27, 2017
By Dean Holzwarth
Special for Second Half
LAKE ODESSA – Kellie Rowland doesn’t sugarcoat anything when it comes to the hundreds of players she has coached and mentored over 23 seasons.
The longtime Lakewood High School volleyball coach lets players know exactly what she thinks, and it’s a style that has served her well in helping produce one of the most successful programs in the state.
“I’m a highly energetic person, and I’m very black and white,” Rowland said. “I tell it just the way it is, and the girls appreciate that. They would much rather know than trying to guess how I’m feeling.”
Rowland recently joined an elite class of coaches after recording her 1,000th victory on Sept. 9 at the East Kentwood Invitational with a 2-0 win over Grand Rapids Catholic Central.
She is one of only 12 coaches statewide to reach the 1,000 win plateau. Jodi Manore of Temperance-Bedford tops the list and had 1,927 victories entering this season.
Several of Rowland’s former players were in attendance to witness the coaching milestone.
“One thousand wins is a lot of wins, but more than that it’s been the relationships,” Rowland said. “All the girls that came back that evening, and seeing them again as adults and parents and professionals, meant more to me than any single victory.”
Rowland entered the season with a 981-149 record in her 22 seasons at the helm; she led the Vikings from 1991-2002 and then took the program back over in 2009. Her youngest son, Cameron, clued her in to how close she was.
“I don’t keep track,” she said. “I always have to look up my wins and losses because I truly believe in one season at a time and one match at a time. My youngest son reminded me of how many I needed or I would not have known that.”
Lakewood athletic director Mike Quinn said Rowland’s dedication and commitment to her players has had a profound effect on the program.
“Her coaching goes beyond the wins she has accumulated,” he said. “She just has a rapport with all of the girls and she is such a student of the game that she is involved in. I believe she would be just as successful no matter what sport she coached. She just happened to fall into volleyball.
“Kellie is one of the most competitive people you’ll ever meet, but she prepares so well that winning becomes a by-product of everything else that they do. She cares so much about Lakewood volleyball and the impact that it has on our community.”
During her career, the Vikings have won countless league championships, in addition to 10 MHSAA Regional titles, three Finals runner-up finishes and a Class B championship in 2012.
They’ve reached the Finals in three of the past five seasons.
“I’ve been real fortunate,” Rowland said. “I’ve had just dedicated athletes. I can’t say that I’ve had Big Ten recruits, but they work so hard every day to achieve the ultimate goal of trying to win a state championship.”
Multiple past standouts have followed their Lakewood mentor into coach. Chelsea Lake finished her career in 2010 as a Miss Volleyball Award candidate playing middle for the Vikings, and took what she learned from Rowland into her playing career at Cornerstone University. She’s now an assistant coach for the
“I wouldn't be where I am today without her or have had the volleyball career I did if she wasn't my coach,” Lake said. “People who have never had her as a coach fear her and think she is too intense, but in reality she cares so much about her players and believes in them. That passion and love for them (is) why she pushes every single one of her players to be the best they can be. Why do something half-heartedly?
“She demands the most out of you, day in and day out, and by the end of practice you've given more than you ever thought you could,” Lake added, recalling changing shirts midway through every practice because the first was soaked with sweat. “She instills confidence in her players to the point you can walk into any gym and know you worked 10 times harder than anyone else in that gym and deserve to win.”
The buy-in starts early. Lake recalled as a junior starting alongside another junior and four freshmen, with a junior defensive specialist and a fifth freshman coming off the bench. Those freshmen went on to make up the nucleus of Lakewood’s Class B title-winning team in 2012.
“Kellie has built the Lakewood program from the ground up. She gets the young girls to buy into the program, and by the time they're freshmen they're better than most other schools' JV and varsity players,” Lake said. “Therefore, when they're seniors, they're college-type players.
“She knows how to develop kids and as long as Kellie is at the helm, that program will continue to grow, dominate, and flourish under her.”
Senior Lisa Hewitt said Rowland maintains high expectations for every team.
“She never expects anything less than perfection from us,” she said. “She always demands us to be our best 100 percent of the time. She is definitely deserving of her 1,000 wins.”
And Erica Potter, another of six seniors on this year’s squad, was happy to be a part of a special moment for Rowland.
“I think we were all very proud of her for reaching that great achievement, and she’s a great coach,” Potter said. “She’s always pushing us to be our best every day at practice, and she makes us work hard no matter what.”
This year’s team is vying for another trip to the MHSAA Finals after falling short in the Class B championship match a year ago against North Branch.
Lakewood entered this week ranked third in Class B, boasting an impressive 31-4 mark.
“They are playing well, but we still have a lot of work ahead of us,” Rowland said. “We have a new setter on the court after Gabi (Shellenbarger) graduated and we had her for four years. That setter spot is so crucial to a team, so we are still working through a lot of that.”
The seniors understand the path to the Finals is a process.
“We definitely talk about making it to the state finals because we’ve been there twice, and that’s certainly our goal, but we try to take it one match at a time,” Potter said. “We want to look at the big picture, but we can’t get too ahead of ourselves.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Lakewood coach Kellie Rowland celebrates with her team after last season’s Class B Semifinal win over Cadillac. (Middle) Rowland provides instruction during the first set of the 2012 championship match victory.
TC Central Upholding Program Standards with Eye on MHSAA Tournament Goal
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
November 8, 2024
Traverse City Central’s volleyball team is living the dream.
More aptly put, the Trojans are living the vision — that of third-year coach Emily Wilbert.
Central is 36-1-1 entering Saturday’s Division 1 District Final against Mount Pleasant and coming off a 25-22, 25-15, 25-13 win over crosstown rival Traverse City West. That was the Trojans’ fourth win over West this season and kept them on track to achieve perhaps their biggest goal – to advance in the playoffs farther than any volleyball team in the school’s history.
They are moving along living their vision clearly spelled out by Wilbert in a preseason letter to her team.
“I wrote a letter and read it to the 12 varsity players that made the 2024 varsity team the night we finished cuts,” Wilbert recalled. “In my letter I talked about standards. I talked to them about three things that were non-negotiable and that are all within their control – working hard, having a good attitude and supporting your teammates.”
Central wears a warm-up T-shirt every game with the words “WORK, ATTITUDE, SUPPORT.” The shirt was designed by captains Elyse Heffner and Marley Richmond, the only seniors on the squad, which is also coming off a third-straight Big North Conference championship. A third-straight District title is now in immediate site.
“We are starting to reap the benefits of our culture and our process,” Wilbert said this week as the Trojans entered postseason play. “We are committed to excellence in all we do. We are disciplined to the process and committed to the team – if we do these things, the results we want will follow.”
The Trojans will play one game at a time, but the result they really want is to win a Regional title for the first time. If they do that, they could get a chance to meet one of the teams that knocked them out of the playoffs the last two years – Rockford, which won its District again this year. Grand Haven, which knocked the Trojans out last year, already has been eliminated this week.
“We’ve made it to the Regional Final once before and our coach has told us our school, our volleyball team, has never won a Regional Final,” said Heffner, a dominating outside hitter for the Trojans. “We can’t look ahead. We have to focus on the games in front of us. We still have Districts.”
Heffner led the Trojans over West with 15 kills, 11 digs, one ace and one block. Richmond, the team’s setter, had 31 assists, 10 digs and two kills.
Central’s lone loss this year was to Rockford in an early-season tournament. While trying not to look ahead, a postseason win over the Rams would be special.
“I think it would be cool to get a chance to play Rockford again,” admitted Richmond. “Our previous times playing them, we haven’t been fully ourselves.”
The only other time Central was not victorious this year was in pool play of a tournament against Grand Rapids Catholic Central. Both teams took a game for a two-set draw, but Central advanced out of the pool play. The two teams met again later this season in another tournament pool play match, and the Trojans won both games.
Coming off an undefeated conference season, the Trojans are concentrating again on Mount Pleasant. They defeated Mount Pleasant 25-17, 25-20, at their home quad late last month. The District Final will be played back at Central. The Oilers defeated Cadillac in their semifinal at Cadillac. Central’s semifinal was at West.
The Trojans have won all of their matches at home this year. They’re excited to get back on the home court, where their coach also played for the Trojans. Wilbert enjoys coaching in the Trojans’ gym as much as she enjoyed playing there; it’s her favorite place to play.
“I love being a TCC Trojan alumni,” Wilbert proclaimed. “It feels special to have been part of this program, played four years on varsity and now to be coaching the varsity team.”
Wilbert started coaching JV volleyball at Central in 2010. When you add in the time watching her sister also play for Central, she’s been “connected to the program for over 25 years.”
During those 25 she also coached some JV at West and took a break to have twins, daughter Avery and son Grady, now age 6. She has hopes Avery will someday play volleyball for the Trojans.
Wilbert measures Central’s success by more than victories, although she’s quick to point out she’s a competitive person who likes to win.
“Coaching gives me the chance to unlock a young person’s potential to maximize their growth, teach them the skills and give them the tools to be successful as a student-athlete and beyond,” Wilbert said. “I encourage them and believe in them so they can believe in themselves and create memorable moments and memories they will cherish for a lifetime.”
Heffner and Richmond have provided strong leadership for the Trojans both on and off the court. Coming into District play, Heffner led the team in serving aces (70) and kills (456). She was also second in digs with 253. Richmond was tops during the regular season in assists with 889 and second in aces at 50.
Erica Heffner, a sophomore, came into the postseason with 252 kills and 230 digs. Junior Sydney Richmond was leading the teams in digs at 265. The Trojans were also getting strong serving from freshman Macaire Kudary.
Win or lose in the days ahead, the Trojans will hold their heads high and recall a fun season.
“We’ve had an incredible season,” Wilbert said. “It’s got to be fun. When your work hard and put in the time, the results sort of come.”
Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Traverse City Central players, including Elyse Heffner (6), Adelae Nelesen (10) and Bella Hernalsteen (11) huddle before the start of a match this season. (Middle) Central’s Macaire Kudary (12) attempts to put a ball over a Cadillac block. (Below) The Trojans’ Marley Richmond (2) attempts a one-handed block against Gaylord. (Photos by Ryan Hernalsteen Photography.)