Leland Reloads, Returns to Final Week
November 13, 2016
By Dennis Chase
Special for Second Half
LELAND – It’s championship week in the MHSAA volleyball tournament – and defending Class D champion Leland is hoping it’s another November to remember.
Leland captured its sixth consecutive Regional on Thursday with a hard-fought 25-15, 25-23, 25-22 triumph over Fife Lake Forest Area. The Comets now face Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart in a Quarterfinal on Tuesday at Buckley. A win would advance Leland to the Final Four at Kellogg Arena in Battle Creek for the fourth year in a row, and it would also be the 1,000th career victory for coach Laurie Glass.
The Comets are enjoying success with a rebuilt lineup in 2016. Leland lost three senior starters off last November’s title team, including all-staters Maddie Trumbull and Eva Grobbel, who led the squad in kills and blocks. Then, during the summer, the Comets lost returning letterwinner Rachel Bechtel to a knee injury.
Glass adjusted, aided by a strong sophomore class that’s put Leland (41-10-4) in the title hunt again. Five sophomores played considerable minutes Thursday, including two, Allie Martin and Ella Siddall, who were starters a year ago.
With all that youth, Glass wondered prior to the season about chemistry, and how the underclassmen would “mesh” with the six seniors. Turns out, she had nothing to worry about.
“This team has been all in since day one,” she said.
The Regional title was proof. It took a team effort to beat Forest Area.
“I think the strength of this team is the bond, the relationships we have with each other,” Siddall said afterwards. “We’ve worked so hard together – from June until now – to get better. That’s been our goal, and I think we’ve accomplished it. I couldn’t be prouder of this team.”
Glass, who’s won MHSAA Finals championships as a player and coach at Leland, was feeling a deep sense of pride as she watched her players receive their medals Thursday night.
“It never gets old,” she said. “I’m just so thankful that this group, which has worked super hard, had a chance to feel what it’s like to get that medal. They earned it, they deserved it. They put in the time and energy, mentally and physically, to get it done. I don’t think you could want more as a coach then to watch the kids reap the benefits of their hard work.”
The win over Forest Area did not come easy. Martin, based on her experience last season, expected as much.
“The farther you get in the playoffs, the more you have to battle because the better the teams get,” she said. “They’re (Forest Area) a very good team. They were digging everything. It was fun to play competition like that.”
Glass told her Comets, ranked No. 3 in the coaches’ poll, that they should always enjoy playing a quality foe.
“I said, ‘Isn’t it much more fun to play a game that’s on the line then to play in a blowout that doesn’t feel great when you’re done?’” she said. “When it’s tight we should be going, ‘Oh my gosh, this is the best thing ever.’ I thought we played like that tonight. We embraced it.
“I thought it was going to be exactly what it was,” she added. “I thought they were going to dig a ton of balls. I thought they were going to bring it at us hard. I thought we were going to have to serve pretty well to keep them out of their offense. And I thought we were going to have to dig.”
And that’s what happened in a match that featured several lengthy volleys.
“They showed intensity, they showed perseverance,” senior libero Julie Bardenhagen said. “We just had to stick to what we do best on our side (of the net).”
Martin, Siddall, Bardenhagen and junior Rowan Wilson gained valuable experience a year ago, and they’ve been leading the charge this season. Statistically, Martin leads in kills (534) and aces (114) and is second in digs (479). Siddall is tops in assists (1,100), Bardenhagen in digs (514). Wilson is second in kills (373) and third in digs (475).
But there’s so much more, too. On Thursday, senior Kira Metcalf (six kills), and sophomores Margie Stowe (12 digs, two aces), Maddy Grosvenor (five kills, one ace) and Hanna Elwell (nine kills) displayed their capabilities.
Glass is now a win away from joining an exclusive group of coaches. Only 10 other Michigan high school volleyball coaches have achieved 1,000 or more career wins.
Glass said when she looks back it’s the players, not the wins, that stand out.
“I remember the girls,” she said, “and the things they went through, the challenges they overcame, the mental things they had to surpass in order to be their better self. I’ve watched the transformation of these girls from the middle school right on through our program – under guidance of great people below me. It’s been a great experience. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else, doing anything else.”
Dennis Chase worked 32 years as a sportswriter at the Traverse City Record-Eagle, including as sports editor from 2000-14. 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) Leland setter Ella Siddall prepares to pass to a teammate approaching the net. (Middle) Libero Julie Bardenhagen receives during a match this season. (Photos by Sarah Grosvenor.)
Laker Following Mother's Path as Wayland Multi-Sport Standout
By
Steve Vedder
Special for MHSAA.com
March 5, 2024
When Wayland junior Harmony Laker opted to embrace athletics many years ago, she never worried about following some pretty impressive footsteps nor matching the hefty accomplishments of someone very close to her, a mentor who had herself been a standout three-sport athlete in high school.
In fact, Laker has wound up starring in the same three sports in which her mother, 2000 Wayland grad Kara Potter, also excelled in high school – basketball, volleyball and softball.
Kara was all-conference in all three sports and earned all-state recognition in volleyball and basketball. Harmony has been all-league since her freshman season in the same three, and all-region in volleyball and basketball.
Just a chip off the old block? Maybe, says Harmony.
But if there is anything mother and daughter have in common it's a love of sports.
"They introduced me to sports, and I've always strived to be like my parents," Harmony Laker said. "I was always drawn toward basketball, volleyball and softball. That's where my heart has always been, on a court or a field.
"I always wanted to play three sports; that's been my goal since middle school. Like my mother, I've always taken them seriously."
Like her mother, Laker hasn't just lettered in three sports – she's been outstanding. As a junior, she's already shattered the 1,000-point career basketball mark, reaching the milestone when she scored 38 points against Grand Rapids South Christian in late January. She's averaging 19 points, seven rebounds, four steals and three assists per game.
In volleyball, Laker had 864 kills, 513 digs, 80 blocks and 64 aces while serving 90 percent this season.
In softball, Laker has a 29-4 record as a pitcher over her first two seasons while batting .449 with six doubles and three homers as a sophomore. She's twice made all-conference in that sport, leading Wayland to two conference titles.
Kara Laker – also Wayland’s volleyball coach – said she and Harmony's father, Lance, a former varsity basketball coach at Middleville Thornapple Kellogg, never tried to edge their daughter toward athletics.
But when Harmony took up a variety of sports, the parents had one standing rule: Commit to the sport you're playing at the time. Worry about the other sports when it's time.
"Sports has always been a big part of our lives," Kara said. "We've never pushed our kids, but we've told them if you're going to be successful, you have to put in the time. My parents wanted us to do what we could (in sports). It was always in our prayers that our kids would truly love all sports. We're a competitive family, and we've always been drawn to sports."
The Laker family navigates a busy sports schedule. Liberty Laker plays volleyball at Grace Christian University, eighth grader Charity plays the same three sports as her mother and sister, and third grader Christian plays football, baseball and basketball.
"We divide and conquer," Kara said of her and her husband following the robust schedules of four children.
Harmony's first memories of sports involve supplying water to her father's basketball players. From there, she progressed to copying the three sports in which her mother excelled.
Kara won Wayland's coveted Multer Award as the school's top multi-sport athlete. Harmony hasn't won the award yet, but seems a shoo-in before she graduates in 2025.
Kara said it's tougher for athletes now to play three sports as AAU and travel sports often collide with high school athletics. But in terms of playing three, she said that decision has always been left to the kids.
"It's harder these days, but we were three-sport athletes who wanted to be good in all three," said Kara, who admits she's had discussions with Harmony about narrowing her participation list.
"It's actually a discussion we're having at this moment," she said. "A lot of it comes down to coaches and having them all work together so Harmony can play."
In order of preference, Harmony lists her favorite sports as basketball, volleyball and softball. But when it comes to cutting out a sport, Harmony hedges. If she plays all three as a senior – and that's currently the plan – she'll leave Wayland with 12 varsity letters, a rarity in today's high school sports world.
Harmony said the advice offered by her parents is the same that trickled down from their parents (her grandparents). Play as many sports as you choose, but also be well-rounded off the courts and fields.
Harmony is a member of the National Honor Society, leads the Wayland chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, is a member of the student council and has gone on numerous mission trips through her church.
But when it comes to athletics, Harmony is quick to revert to what she was taught early.
"I just want to work at my craft. You're only as good as the time you put in," she said. "My mom and dad have always said it's the heart that makes sports great. There are so many moments which are trials in sports and games, but ultimately that is what's going to make you better.
"Playing with pressure is a privilege. If a game is close and you have to execute, that's a privilege. God has put you out there for a reason, and you take the moments as they come."
PHOTOS (Top) Wayland’s Harmony Laker lines up for a free throw while playing her favorite sport, basketball. (2) Harmony, right, is successfully following in the multi-sport footsteps of her mother, Kara Laker. (3) Harmony Laker (12) soars to get a hand on a ball during volleyball season. (4) Laker makes her move toward the plate as a pitcher during the spring. (Action photos by Shannon N Jessica Photography.) mother/daughter photo courtesy of the Laker family.)