Lowell Prepared for 1st Trip to Final Week
November 18, 2019
By Dean Holzwarth
Special for Second Half
LOWELL – The Lowell volleyball team has earned a trip to the season’s final week for the first time.
A beefed-up regular-season schedule helped pave the way toward school history – last week’s program-first Regional title and a spot in Tuesday’s Division 1 Quarterfinal at Jenison against No. 3 Mattawan.
Second-year Lowell coach Jordan Drake said strengthening the schedule was a focal point after bowing out in the District Final against eventual Division 1 runner-up Rockford last season.
“That was something I looked at with my coaching staff after losing to Rockford last season,” Drake said. “What can we change in order to not be in this situation again next year? I talked with my athletic director, and I said to put us in the hardest tournaments that we could.”
The No. 2-ranked Red Arrows haven’t shied away from playing against, and beating, the top teams in the state en route to a stellar 53-3 record. Lowell has wins over seven more of the top 10 in the final Division 1 coaches poll, plus the top two ranked teams in Division 2 and No. 1 team in Division 3. The Red Arrows early this season handed Division 1 No. 1 Farmington Hills Mercy its only loss (although, it should be noted, Mercy was playing without senior hitter Jess Mruzik, who was in Egypt with the U.S. U-18 national team and was back when Mercy won a rematch with Lowell last month).
“I knew we had a good team last year, but we just weren’t battle-tested,” said Drake, whose team also won the first conference title in school history last season.
“Playing Mercy, Grand Rapids Christian, Lake Orion, Hudsonville, Lakewood and Schoolcraft that are championship-contending teams, those are the conversations that you want to be in and the matches you want to be in throughout the whole season so when you get to this point you feel like you’ve been there before. I think it’s been a huge difference-maker for our kids.”
Senior middle hitter Meghan Meyer, who’s recorded 438 kills and 74 blocks, said the improved quality of their schedule has paid dividends.
“Coach put us in tournaments where we could be exposed to those good teams more so we would be experienced and ready for when it came to moments like this,” she said. “That really showed us what we’re capable of doing.”
Lowell defeated No. 4 Hudsonville 3-1 in the Regional Final. It was a gratifying win that accomplished a season-long goal, while also avenging two of the Red Arrows' losses this fall.
“The girls were ecstatic, and winning Regionals was obviously one of the goals we had set out for ourselves this season,” Drake said. “It’s right where we want to be, and we’re taking this thing one game at a time and we’re looking forward to a great competition with Mattawan. It’s going to be another tough battle like the road we’ve had. It’s been just a grind.”
Junior outside hitter Jenna Reitsma, who leads the team with 795 kills to go along with 379 digs and 82 aces, was thrilled to pull off another program first.
“We were all just really excited, and we worked really hard to get here,” Reitsma said. “We wanted to get past that milestone, especially since our school hadn’t done it before, so it was exciting to make history and work hard together to get that win.”
The Red Arrows returned eight players this fall from a year ago. However, experience alone wasn’t going to be enough to help the team meet heightened expectations.
The intangibles also needed to be developed.
“I definitely thought we could reach this level, but it was a matter of them wanting to put the work in,” Drake said. “There was a lot of things we still had to get better at from last year, and that included taking game by game and growing from our losses against tough teams.”
Still, the five-set loss to Rockford that ended their 2018 season provided perfect motivation.
“I know when we were playing different teams we kept that loss in the back of our minds,” Meyer said. “We used that as willpower to push through. It was hard losing to them, and we remembered that. We pushed ourselves harder.”
Other key contributors for the Red Arrows include junior setter Sophie Powell (1,446 assists) and junior libero Emma Hall (476 digs).
“We have never been this far in Lowell history, but we’re just going to work our hardest,” Meyer said. “It’s going to be a good game, and I believe we’re ready.”
Dean Holzwarth covered primarily high school sports for the Grand Rapids Press and MLive for 16 years and more recently served as sports editor of the Ionia Sentinel and as a sports photojournalist for WZZM. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Allegan, Kent and Ottawa counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Lowell hitters await the serve during the St. Johns Invitational on Oct. 5, where the Red Arrows went 6-0. (Middle) Meghan Meyer (5) loads up for a kill attempt. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Block Party: 2025 Girls Volleyball Week 7 Report
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
October 8, 2025
With just more than three weeks left until the start of MHSAA District play, several teams are surging with the potential to peak when it matters most this season.
This week’s state polls voted on by the Michigan Interscholastic Volleyball Coaches Association (MIVCA) saw four teams enter their respective top 10s across the four divisions and a new No. 1 in Division 3 as Roscommon took back the top spot it yielded with the Sept. 9 rankings.
Expect more maneuvers to come as teams finish off league championship and tournament schedules and the last of this season’s Saturday showcases.
As always, records, results and schedules below are those posted for teams on MHSAA.com. Rankings reflect the latest polls posted by MIVCA, with last week’s referenced in “Week in Review” and this week’s referenced thereafter.
Week in Review
The countdown of last week’s five most intriguing results:
1. Lowell d. Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern (25-15, 16-25, 15-9) The Red Arrows (23-7-2) – an honorable mention in Division 1 last week – finished 4-1-1 at the Jenison Tournament, losing early to Hudsonville and tying the host in two sets before finishing with three-set wins over Grand Rapids Christian and then No. 8 FHN (24-7-1).
2. Fowler d. Pewamo-Westphalia (21-25, 25-21, 25-22, 25-21) The Division 4 No. 6 Eagles (18-5-1) took a major step in the Central Michigan Athletic Conference with this win over the Division 3 No. 5 Pirates (23-7-3).
3. Pewamo-Westphalia d. Plymouth Christian Academy (25-27, 25-18, 15-11) P-W headed to the Mt. Morris Tournament after suffering losses on successive days earlier in the week, but finished 5-0 on Saturday topped by this victory over No. 3 PCA (29-6-1).
4. Saginaw Swan Valley d. Frankenmuth (25-23, 28-26, 25-23) Coming off a five-set loss to Bay City John Glenn a week earlier, Swan Valley (18-9-1) stunned the Division 2 No. 10 Eagles (9-8-4) with this Tri-Valley Conference Red sweep by the leanest of margins.
5. Lake Odessa Lakewood d. Parma Western (25-23, 25-27, 25-22) Coming off six losses over its last seven matches, Lakewood (17-13-0) won a close one over Division 2 honorable mention Western (23-6-1) and also swept P-W at a home tri.
Watch List
With an eye toward November, here are two teams in each division making sparks:
DIVISION 1
Hudsonville (20-6-1) The Eagles have jumped from the list of honorable mentions, moving up to No. 10 in the state rankings this week coming off a 4-1-1 run at the Jenison Tournament that included wins over then-No. 5 Jenison, now-No. 7 Lowell and Division 2 No. 3 Holland Christian. Hudsonville has played most of the best from the west side of the state, with the Lowell win avenging an early loss and a tie with Forest Hills Northern on Saturday also following an August defeat.
Utica Eisenhower (20-2-1) After reaching the Division 1 Quarterfinals last season – and winning the first set in that match before falling to Bloomfield Hills Marian – Eisenhower is building up to another potentially serious run. The Eagles have loaded the schedule, posting especially impressive wins over Lowell, Division 1 honorable mention Brighton and Division 2 No. 5 North Branch, and with losses to only Marian and Farmington Hills Mercy.
DIVISION 2
Edwardsburg (24-7-0) The Eddies have won 12 of their last 13 matches and moved up to No. 10 in the Division 2 rankings from honorable mention a week ago, coming off wins over Pontiac Notre Dame Prep, West Bloomfield and Birch Run over the weekend. Their only loss during that time was a 2-1 defeat against Division 1 honorable mention Byron Center in the championship match of BC’s tournament two weeks ago. It’s been an excellent rebound off last season’s sub-.500 finish.
Otsego (20-10-5) The Bulldogs also lost more than they won a year ago but have bounced back nicely even while taking on several of then best from the west side of the state as well. A 5-0-1 run through the Portage Northern Invitational on Sept. 20 served some notice – it included a win over Plymouth Christian Academy – and Otsego came off a 0-1-2 weekend at the Battle Creek Lakeview mini tournament (facing three Division 1 opponents) with a five-set win over Vicksburg last Thursday.
DIVISION 3
Calumet (13-9-1) The Copper Kings are again part of a strong set of Upper Peninsula contenders, coming off a run to the Regional Finals a year ago, and they’ve already shown this season what they can do downstate as well. Calumet opened with a win over current Division 3 honorable mention McBain at the Cadillac Invitational and went 3-2-1 at the Division 3-4 Showdown two weeks ago most notably defeating Division 4 No. 2 Ubly. Four of the team’s losses have come to Wisconsin opponents, and a fifth came to Division 4 No. 8 Hancock – with the rematch set for Oct. 28.
Manton (23-9-0) The Rangers are holding steady among honorable mentions in Division 3 as they’ve won nine straight matches with a 6-0 run at the Lake City Invitational over the weekend followed by a 3-1 comeback win Tuesday over No. 10 Beal City. With a little bit of help from the Aggies against top-ranked Roscommon, Manton might still have a chance at a title share in the Highland Conference – and then will almost surely see No. 4 Kingsley for the third time this fall, in District play. Two losses to the Stags are among five total defeats to opponents getting votes in state polls this week.
DIVISION 4
Adrian Lenawee Christian (16-6-2) The Cougars moved into the Division 4 top 10 three weeks ago and sit No. 5 this week after defeating Erie Mason coming off tough losses to Division 3 No. 7 Hanover-Horton and Ottawa Lake Whiteford. Lenawee Christian has a nice set of wins over Division 2 opponents including from a 4-2 run at the Eaton Rapids Tournament where the two defeats actually came to Division 4 No. 2 Ubly and No. 4 Battle Creek St. Philip. The Cougars will play next month for a potential fifth-straight District title and also have won their Regionals three of the last four seasons.
St. Joseph Michigan Lutheran (16-4-3) The Titans have played some of their toughest competition of the season over the last two weeks – losing twice to Division 2 Buchanan and once to Division 1 St. Joseph – but that’s sure to pay off once the postseason rolls around, and Michigan Lutheran also defeated Buchanan in the championship match at the Bridgman Invitational on Sept. 20. The only other loss came early to another solid Division 2 team in South Haven.
Can’t-Miss Contests
Be on the lookout for results of these matches and tournaments coming up:
Wednesday – Farmington Hills Mercy (15-2-0) vs. Bloomfield Hills Marian (29-2-0) at Oakland University – the Division 1 No. 3 Marlins and No. 4 Mustangs will meet for the second time this season, this time for the Catholic High School League Bishop Tournament championship.
Wednesday – Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central (18-2-1) at Milan (12-4-0) – Miland joined the Division 2 honorable mentions this week and defeated honorable mention Flat Rock on Monday on the way to facing the Division 3 No. 2 Kestrels (18-2-1) in Huron League play.
Thursday – Tecumseh quad – Battle Creek Lakeview (26-5-5) and Clinton (20-3-1) are among those scheduled to play at Division 2 No. 7 Tecumseh (30-1-0).
Saturday – Beast of the East at Trinity Health Sports Center in Livonia – The lineup is loaded with four top 10-ranked teams and three honorable mentions spread across six pools.
Saturday – Karen Abbott Memorial Invitational at Hanover-Horton – The Division 3 No. 7 Comets (21-1-1) host Division 2 honorable mention Parma Western (23-6-1) among others.
PHOTO East Grand Rapids (left) and Forest Hills Northern players meet at the net during a match Sept. 23. (Photo by MI Sports Photo.)