Long Wait Ends For Lakewood
November 17, 2012
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
BATTLE CREEK – The Lake Odessa Lakewood volleyball team won the award Saturday at Kellogg Arena for most emotion shown after an MHSAA championship win.
Senior Emily Kutch was in tears as coach Kellie Rowland charged onto the court and grabbed her and senior Olivia Davis. Rowland and her assistants – husband Clair and former head coach Jeff Duits – then met for another hug as a few decades of almost-there dissolved into distant memory.
Those three – and a number of these players – have been at this championship chase for a while. But the Vikings finally got their title with a 25-20, 25-18, 25-17 victory over perennial power North Branch.
Rowland has brought Lakewood to the season’s final week seven more times during a 15-year career that has stretched over two tenures and includes 787 wins. But with four four-year varsity players on the court, she and a large group of fans and alumni finally got to celebrate ending with a victory for the first time.
“We worked so hard for this. Everybody’s been saying this was the year, this is the team to win it all. And we did,” Kutch said. “Just winning in three (sets), and dominating like that. All of us seniors; there are seven of us and we’ve been together forever. And I think that carried the emotion too.”
Lakewood finished 52-4 to cap its first trip back to Battle Creek since the final winter season, in 2007. The Vikings had played in one other championship game, in 1995, when they lost to Stevensville Lakeshore.
Lakewood thought for a moment that it had earned the first point of Saturday’s match, but a close call went North Branch’s way. The Broncos actually got off to a 2-0 start in that first set – but Lakewood would outlast them to take it, 25-20.
Both Kutch and Broncos coach Jim Fish agreed that first game was key. Lakewood seemed to build momentum in winning the second 25-18, and then closed out the title with a 25-17 win capped by a final kill by Kutch that touched just before the back line on the Broncos' side.
Kutch and Davis, two of those four-year seniors, had 18 and 14 kills, respectively. At 6-foot and 6-1 they had a slight height advantage on their opponents, and took advantage.
“Oh my gosh, I didn’t want it to go into a fourth game. The heart can only take so much, and I’m not very young,” Rowland said. “They just really executed and did what they needed to do to beat them.
“We have the size, we have the speed and we have the quickness. And Brooke Wieland, out setter, really felt it in warm-ups. Our hitters were like, ‘Just keep setting baby, because it’s right where we need it.’”
Wieland and libero Beth Tingley also were four-year varsity seniors. Weiland had 31 assists and 11 digs in the Final, and Tingley had 11 digs as she helped key a defensive adjustment meant to combat North Branch’s strong outside attack.
The Broncos (68-8-1) got 11 kills from senior Micaela Deshetsky and 13 digs from senior libero Rachel Fish, who were both contributors when the team finished Class B runner-up in 2010. This was its third trip to Battle Creek in four seasons – North Branch won the title in 2009.
“I couldn’t be here my freshman year because I was sick, but when we lost my sophomore year there was a bitter taste, so we were ready to be back,” said Fish, a daughter of the coach. “All our emotions, everyone’s heart was really in it. We wanted it bad. But they were really good. Lakewood played really well against us.”
And neither was able to dodge the other contenders. The Vikings were ranked No. 1 coming into the tournament and North Branch was No. 2. Lakewood then beat the Nos. 3, 6 and 7 teams to make it to the end, while the Broncos eliminated Nos. 4 and 5 plus two honorable mentions to get to this point.
“We had a rough road to be able to get here, and I’m extremely proud of what they’ve done,” Jim Fish said. “There is not a negative involved in this. It was very positive, a great run, what high school athletics is all about.
“It’s what we talked about. There’s always going to be a winner and always going to be a loser. Our team wants to win just as badly as you do. As long as you understand that and keep it in perspective, you’re a winner. And that’s what these kids are.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Lakewood players Emily Kutch (2), Beth Tingley (10), Jordan Kietzman (17) and Brooke Wieland (6) celebrate a point during Saturday's Class B Final. (Middle) North Branch's Ally Ruhlman (2) sets up a teammate.
Shelby's Gauthier Ascends to Top of State, National Volleyball Record Lists
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
December 12, 2025
Navea Gauthier concluded her Shelby career in 2024 with 16 record book listings – and the much sought-after record for career kills both in Michigan and nationally.
She totaled 3,706 over four seasons, moving past legendary Alisha Glass from Leland on both lists. Gauthier also made the single-season kills list all four of her seasons, with her 1,034 as a junior in 2023 ranking third and her 987 as a sophomore ranking fifth. Her career total will be submitted to the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) as a national record as well.
Gauthier is continuing her career at Ohio State.
See below for several recently-added listings to the girls volleyball record book, and click the heading to see the record book in full. Several more applications have been received and are in the process of being confirmed.
Girls Volleyball
Fremont 2023 graduate Carle Bruggema earned 10 record book entries over her four seasons and finished on career lists with 2,781 assists and 368 aces, both over 464 games played. She also made the single-season aces list twice with 115 as a junior and 116 as a senior and is listed six times for either single-match aces or assists. She’s playing at Goshen College in Indiana.
More than a decade later, Mallory Lenhart has moved to the top of the list for single-season assists for the 1,874 she totaled as a senior in 2010 in leading Temperance Bedford to the Class A Semifinals. She went on to play at Lourdes University in Ohio.
Calumet’s Helen Beiring and Laina Kariniemi led their team through a five-set Regional Final win over Elk Rapids in 2022 – both making the record book in the process. Beiring, then a senior, had 40 kills, while Kariniemi, a junior, tied for seventh-most assists in one match with 65. Beiring is continuing at Northern Michigan.
Indian River Inland Lakes’ run to the Division 4 Quarterfinals in 2022 featured several noteworthy individual performances, led by senior Natalie Wandrie’s 616 kills to make the single-season list in that category. Then-senior Hannah Robinson, then-junior Erica Taglauer and then-sophomore Brooklyn LaBrecque also were added for single-match accomplishments. Wandrie is playing volleyball and softball at Lindsey Wilson College (Ky.), and Robinson competed in track & field at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Fla.)
Fenton’s Eva Long was added a second and third time to the single-match aces list, with 10 in a three-set match against Holly and then 12 in a three-set match against Flint Kearsley both in 2023 as a sophomore after making it originally with 12 aces during a match her freshman year. She recently completed her senior season and will continue at North Carolina State.
Jayden Marlatt capped her four-season Johannesburg-Lewiston varsity career in the fall of 2023 on the MHSAA all-time kills list with 1,614, including 34 in a match. She’s joined among recent additions by then-sophomore teammate Lexi Hogle, who had 52 assists in the same four-set league-clinching match against Fife Lake Forest Area on Oct. 17, 2023. Then-senior Brooklyn Latuszek was added twice for aces in one match, with 12 and 10, and 2023 graduate Serena Hogle was added with 48 assists in a 2022 match. Madison Peppin joined the list of players with at least 10 aces in a match when she totaled that number in a sweep of Gaylord St. Mary in 2024. She just finished her junior season. Marlatt plays softball at Ferris State, and Latuszek played at Alpena Community College.
A pair of Marlette four-year standouts were added, one for a high-achieving match in 2023 and the second for a career accomplishment. Senior Emma Heussner made the single-match assists list for 47 in a four-set win over Ubly that fall. Gabby Martinez, also a senior that season, reached the aces career list with 308 and plays at St. Clair County Community College.
Senior Ashley Strefling became the first Three Oaks River Valley player in the volleyball record book, finishing her four-year varsity career in 2023 with 2,680 assists. She posted a career-high 812 as a junior. She plays at Florida State College at Jacksonville.
Saginaw Swan Valley’s Marli Robinson added two more record book listings as a senior in 2023 to finish her career with three. She had 46 assists in a match for the second time and finished her three-season career with 2.,745 assists over 365 games and three seasons.
Several Croswell-Lexington standouts from the last decade reached the record book, including setter Annalise Weeder who was added for six single-match assists totals, 1,203 during her junior season and 3,356 over her four-year varsity career from 2020-23. Standout hitter Brooke Smith was added 37 kills in a 2014 match, 747 kills total that season and 1,582 over her three seasons from 2012-14. Makayla Shell was added for 159 blocks as a senior and 455 over her career. Additionally, Morgan Moore and Danielle Ripenbark were added for single-match accomplishments and Rachel Soper for 1,254 assists in 2014. Smith went on to play at Grand Valley State, Shell at Wayne State and Moore at St. Clair County Community College.
Kara Vyletel has reached the record book for a big-hitting season as a senior at Ann Arbor Huron in 2014. Vyletel had 805 kills over 145 games, which at the time would’ve ranked 15th since the start of the rally scoring era. She went on to play at Hillsdale College.
Setter Mady Pahl and hitter Molly Gerow played significant roles in making Beaverton a force during their four-year varsity careers from 2017-2020. Both were added to the records for multiple accomplishments, Pahl most notable for 2,817 career assists and Gerow for 2,106 career kills, including a high of 675 as a sophomore. Pahl played softball at Hope College.
A pair of Big Rapids Crossroads Academy servers earned the first listings for their school and this sport in 2024. Junior Dani Nostrant had 16 aces during the second game of a match against Walkerville, tying for the fourth-most aces in one set and with her 18 for the match ranking 10th all-time. She also had 13 in a four-set match against Holton that season. Senior Kristy Warczinsky also was added to the single-match aces list with 12 against Walkerville that fall.
Three Rivers’ Southland sisters both made their ways into the record book over the 2023 and 2024 seasons. Jenna Southland, a hitter who graduated in 2024, was added three times including for 671 kills as a senior and 1,490 over three varsity seasons. Miley Southland, a setter, was added four times and is on the career list with 2,952 assists not counting what she added this fall as a senior. Jenna Southland is playing at Hillsdale College.
Braylyn Hernandez starred in multiple sports for Burr Oak and reached the volleyball record book with 342 career aces through her final season in 2024. She actually began her varsity career in the sport in eighth grade, although her aces from that season are not counted in the total for record book purposes. She’s playing volleyball, basketball and softball at Glen Oaks Community College.
Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern setter Lexie Stotenbur already ranked on the career assists list with 2,727 through three seasons and entering this fall. She’s also in the record book for 1,320 assists as a sophomore in 2023 and 49 in a five-set win over Grand Rapids Christian that season.
Rudyard’s Lily Kwiatkowski earned a listing with 34 kills during a five-set match against St. Ignace on Nov. 12, 2024. She just completed her senior season.
Zeeland East’s Lizzie Risdon also made the single-match kills list, as a sophomore, with 34 during a five-set win over Hamilton on Oct. 3, 2024. She’s committed to Ohio University.
A pair of Caledonia standouts were added – Jessica Maier for 54 assists in a 2023 match against Grandville, plus 1,245 assists as a junior that fall and 2,601 over her three-year varsity career, and Aubrey Reynolds for 17 aces in a 2024 match last season against Muskegon. Maier is playing at Roosevelt University in Chicago, and Reynolds is a junior.
Lansing Catholic’s Leighton Marlan reached the record book with 111 aces as a sophomore in 2024, becoming the Cougars’ first athlete to make a list in this sport.
Grayling’s Cali D’Amour had already made the MHSAA records in softball and is playing that sport at Davenport. She added a volleyball listing as well as a senior in 2024 with 31 kills in a match against Harbor Springs.
Nearly two decades later, Yale setter Cydney Biessel has been added for 4,076 career assists, which rank 11th. She finished her four-year high school career in 2008 and went on to play at Wayne State.
A pair of Niles setters made the single-match assists list in successive seasons. Then-senior Kaydence Jacobs did so with 52 assists in a 2024 match against South Bend Adams (Ind.), and freshman Mena Hover set the school record and made the list with 54 this fall against Sturgis. Jacobs plays now for Lake Michigan College.
PHOTO Shelby's Navea Gauthier goes up for a kill attempt during a 2022 match. (Photo by Farmer's Fotos.)