Leland Takes Title as St. Phil Streak Ends
November 21, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
BATTLE CREEK – A championship trophy wrapped in her arms Saturday, minutes after one of the most memorable wins in recent MHSAA Volleyball Tournament history, Leland senior Maddie Trumbull said she would remember those post-match moments for the rest of her life.
And she’ll surely recall from time to time what it took over the last two years for her Comets to end the longest volleyball championship streak in MHSAA history.
A year after falling in the Final that would give Battle Creek St. Philip its record ninth-straight Class D title, Leland ended the Tigers’ dominance one win short of a decade with a 3-0 sweep – 25-20, 25-23, 25-23 – at Battle Creek's Kellogg Arena.
It probably wasn’t the mix expected to take down mighty St. Philip, whose championship streak also was tied for 10th longest in national girls volleyball history. Surrounding Trumbull on the Kellogg Arena floor were a mix of seniors and juniors, but also a sophomore and two freshmen.
But from the first point Saturday morning, the Comets got a feeling they could be champions by the afternoon for the first time since 2006 – the last season before the Tigers’ streak began.
“Being in the final four and losing in the state final last year gave us motivation right off the bat,” said Trumbull, who also was a top hitter for teams that made it to Battle Creek in 2014 and 2013. “We started thinking last year, let’s make it to the state finals (again). Let’s beat them. Let’s beat their streak. We’ve been working since day one; that was our goal, and we met our goal.”
The championship was the fifth for Leland (49-7-4) to go with six runner-up finishes. The sweep was the Comets’ six of this tournament; total, they won 24 sets and gave up only two over the last three weeks.
But the success wasn’t without some adjustments – even between Thursday’s Semifinal win over Crystal Falls Forest Park and Saturday morning’s start.
Leland, which came into the postseason ranked No. 3, didn’t pass well enough against the Trojans to employ all of its offensive options. But they cleaned up the passing for St. Philip, and four players had at least five kills, let by Trumbull’s 14 and six more apiece by freshman Allie Martin and senior ViAnna Hennig.
Freshman setter Ella Siddall found her groove leading the attack, and also had four of the team’s eight aces.
Martin and Siddall were team managers for the Comets for two seasons before joining the varsity as players this fall. Both impressed longtime coach Laurie Glass again Saturday – Siddall for making the necessary adjustments to set a great match, and Martin for continuing to play "fearlessly."
“They had been in the gym. We felt there were lots of good things to come,” said Glass, who completed her 21st season leading the program. “Did I think we could win a state championship with two freshmen? I sure was hoping we would.”
The Tigers did all they could to rally at various points throughout the Final, be it during Vicky Groat’s timeouts during Leland runs or senior Abby McKinzie’s rallying of her teammates throughout.
The four-year St. Phil standout finished with 14 kills and 17 digs, but the Tigers never could get completely out in front. Siddall ended the two-point second-set win with an ace. Trumbull decided the two-point third-set win with a kill.
St. Philip, No. 2 entering the tournament, finished 46-17-2 after defeating top-ranked Plymouth Christian in its Semifinal. The Tigers won the title in 2014 after also entering the playoffs ranked lower than No. 1 – and Groat said the inevitable end of the streak was always in the back of her mind, going back to St. Phil’s first repeat attempt nearly a decade a go.
“You never know. You can’t take it for granted. And every team is different,” Groat said “I’m thinking back the other day to the first team that started this; they’re married and have kids. They’re all different girls. They’re all different individuals, and they all just come together as a team.
“The streak is going to end some time. ... There's no shame in losing for the championship. I think of all the teams, I’ve had the most fun with this group of girls. And I feel bad for that, that I'm going to miss that group. Abby feels bad like she let me down. Nobody let me down. If anything, I let you guys down because I didn’t win it for you. I would never feel that they let me down, ever.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Leland players hoist the school’s first volleyball championship trophy since 2006. (Middle) St. Philip’s Morgan Luoma dives during a dig attempt; she finished with a team-high 20 digs.
Future in Hand, Hudson Ace Aiming High
August 30, 2019
By Doug Donnelly
Special for Second Half
HUDSON – Callie Bauer likes to make pros and cons lists.
When the Hudson High School athlete began making a list of whether she should commit to Western Kentucky University on a volleyball scholarship offer, she couldn’t find any cons.
“There are literally no cons for Western,” she said. “It checks off all the boxes. There’s no place I’d rather be going. … It was the only place that gave me intense butterflies.”
Bauer is only a junior, so Western Kentucky will have to wait on her volleyball skills. For now, they are on display in southeast Michigan and the Lenawee County Athletic Association. And, those skills keep getting better. As a sophomore, she was a unanimous all-LCAA first-team selection, selected as the Lenawee County Player of the Year and made the Michigan Interscholastic Volleyball Coaches Association’s Division 3 first-team all-state squad.
For the Tigers last season, Bauer had 712 kills and hit .396 on 1,353 attempts. She also had 446 digs and 415 assists. For Hudson, she’s known as a powerful outside hitter. In college, the 5-foot-11 Bauer expects to transition to setter.
“It’s sort of funny that around here people know her for hitting, but she’s going to college as a setter,” said her mother, Tricia Bauer. “Who knows? Maybe when she gets to Western Kentucky, they’ll see her as a hitter.”
Her mother, who played on Hanover-Horton’s Class C championship team in 1989, was Callie’s first volleyball coach. Callie started at the YMCA in Adrian as an 8-year-old.
“My mom definitely spurred it in me,” she said. “I think I just had a knack for it.”
As she improved in volleyball, so did her playing opportunities. She joined a Toledo, Ohio, club program for the offseason and eventually began playing with Impact Volleyball Club out of Fort Wayne, Ind. It takes nearly two hours to get to Fort Wayne for practice three nights a week, but it’s been a great experience, Bauer said.
“It’s pretty far to drive,” she said. “But, it’s the coaches, honestly. It’s a small club, just two teams. Everyone drives that far to be a part of it. I’m not the only one. The girls there are so good.”
Most of the drives from Hudson to Fort Wayne are with her mother. Last season Bauer also played basketball in the winter, which made for some hectic nights. After school, she’d go to basketball practice, then jump in the car and head to Fort Wayne for volleyball. On most of those nights, she’d get home after 11:30 p.m., shower and start all over the next day.
Club volleyball also has produced a lot of family time for the Bauers. This past club season, the family tagged along on trips to Chicago, Louisville, Indianapolis, St. Louis and Florida.
“It’s a great time to be together,” said her father, Jim Bauer. “We just get all packed in the car and drive. It’s a lot of good family time. You look forward to it.”
Jim Bauer played basketball at Hillsdale College before jumping right into coaching. Between his years at Pittsford and Morenci, he accumulated more than 200 wins. His 2014-15 Morenci team made it to the Breslin Center and played for the Class D championship. He stepped away from coaching basketball a couple of years ago to be sure he didn’t miss out on watching Callie play.
Being brought up in a house with two coaches has been a good experience, Callie said.
“When I first started, they would get on me more,” she said. “Now they are just supporters. I get my competitiveness from them. But, I’m hard enough on myself. I’m my own worst critic. They don’t need to be hard on me.”
It’s hard to find too much fault in Bauer’s game. This month she was named to an elite preseason All-American volleyball list.
“I was super happy about it and proud of it, but I kind of put it in the back of my mind,” she said.
Her dad said seeing her name on that list was special.
“I don’t think she realizes the magnitude of being on an ‘All-American’ list,” he said. “When I was a player, I couldn’t dream of making an All-American list. It’s amazing, really.”
Bauer isn’t worried about burning out of volleyball even though she plays year-round. When she feels herself getting to that point, she knows what to do.
“This past summer I had one of those experiences,” she said. “I was at a volleyball camp, where you eat and sleep volleyball the whole seven days. It was a lot. … When I get to that point, I take a step back and I don’t go into the gym for a week. I’ll go biking or painting or just do something else. I spend a lot of time doing volleyball, so I have to be careful.
“People ask me what I like to do in my free time, and I say, ‘free time?’”
Being committed to Western Kentucky – the second-winningest Division I program in the nation over the last 10 years – has taken some stress off Bauer’s shoulders.
“Now that I’m committed, club volleyball is less stressful for me. When you go to the tournaments, you see the college coaches on the sidelines and you think, ‘Oh boy, I hope they like me.’ Now that I have that secured and everything, I just play.
“I have a lot of work to do before I get there. I’m not going to step back. I’m probably going to get into the gym more now that I am committed. It’s a whole different mentality. It’s not so much just doing it for my high school team or club team or anything. I have something I can look to on the horizon. Two years from now I’m going to be playing against college teams. I’ve got to get ready. It’s another layer of motivation.”
Hudson is coming off a 38-win season but is younger this fall. As a two-year starter already, Bauer will be looked to by Tigers coach Shelly Hoard to be more of a leader.
“She’s continued to improve her game,” Hoard said. “She is definitely bringing a lot more leadership this year. She’s a great team member. Her whole understanding of the game, people’s roles and people’s capabilities and the opponent is better.
“She’s the real deal.”
Doug Donnelly has served as a sports and news reporter and city editor over 25 years, writing for the Daily Chief-Union in Upper Sandusky, Ohio from 1992-1995, the Monroe Evening News from 1995-2012 and the Adrian Daily Telegram since 2013. He's also written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Hudson’s Callie Bauer, one of the state’s top juniors, fires a serve. (Middle) Bauer sets for a teammate during a match against Dundee. (Top photo by Matt Sisoler; middle courtesy of the Bauer family.)