Mendon Makes Good on Great Expectation
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
November 17, 2018
BATTLE CREEK – It took the Mendon volleyball team only one tournament to realize how good it was this season, and the Hornets certainly weren’t shy about making big proclamations.
“We started really early,” senior outside hitter Hayley Kramer said. “Our first tournament we were like, ‘We’re going to be state champions.’”
Mendon made good on that claim Saturday, sweeping Leland 25-16, 25-21, 25-14 to claim the Division 4 title at Kellogg Arena. It was the program’s fourth MHSAA Finals championship, and first since 2001.
“It’s been our goal the whole entire season,” senior middle blocker Mackenzie Urick said. “We have a goal sheet, and that’s the top. Our mindset, that’s where it was, to win state. One game at a time, just to get here.”
The drive to get to Battle Creek and walk out victorious began more than a year ago, as the Hornets (49-6-3) were stung by a District Final loss to eventual Class C champion Bronson. While nobody could fault Mendon for suffering from a tough draw, the players were having none of it and set out to make sure they didn’t have that feeling again.
“After losing in the District Finals … it hurt,” senior middle blocker Cierra Nightengale said. “So we practiced, practiced, practiced. (First-year coach Heather Bowers) wasn’t even officially hired yet and we were in the gym practicing because we just wanted to get the season started. We knew our potential, and we just did it.”
Mendon dominated throughout the postseason, dropping just one set during its seven-match run to the championship. It swept both of matches at Kellogg Arena, as it had defeated No. 4 Southfield Christian 25-18, 25-15, 25-13 in a Semifinal on Friday.
It was top-ranked Leland (47-11-1), however, that was able to create the first bit of space between the two teams Saturday, going up 7-4 in the first set. But a Mendon timeout changed everything. The Hornets – ranked No. 2 heading into the postseason – went on a 5-0 run after the timeout, and controlled play through the rest of the set before taking it 25-16.
Leland led for much of the second set, but Mendon kept within striking distance and struck late to pull away for a 25-21 win to put itself one set away from the title.
“I think we just go hard every single point,” Nightengale said. “We go little games of five, which I think is what a lot of coaches teach, little games of five until you get to 25. The second game, they were up 19-16 or whatever, and we were like, ‘OK, time to push more.’ And we came out with the win.”
The third set was controlled by Mendon from early on, and as it went on, the Hornets’ confidence seemed to grow. Fittingly, it ended with an ace from sophomore outside hitter Anna Smith, who dominated throughout the match. Smith finished with 18 kills on 32 attacks. She was in on five of the last six points of the match, combining with Nightengale on a pair of blocks, adding two kills and the final ace.
“Back in the day when we played against (Battle Creek St. Philip), they had Allyson Doyle (who later played at Western Michigan), I feel the same way about this kid,” Leland coach Laurie Glass said of Smith. “She jumps really well, she’s up there long enough to see what she wants to see, and she’s got a whip for an arm. She’s going to be a great player – she's going to continue to be; she already is a great player.”
Kramer added 11 kills and five aces, while senior Aubrey Crotser had 22 assists. Senior Amaijha Bailey led the Hornets with 12 digs.
Leland was led by senior Allie Martin, who finished with 13 kills and five digs. Senior Ella Siddall had 30 assists and nine digs, while senior Hanna Elwell added seven kills.
For those Leland seniors, it ended a career that started with a Division 4 championship won during their freshman year in 2015.
“I think it says a lot about what we did this season,” Siddall said. “I think we just did our jobs all throughout, and every game it was steady. I think maybe today was a little different, but I’d say this season overall we did really good.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Mendon hoists its first MHSAA championship trophy won in volleyball since 2001 on Saturday at Kellogg Arena. (Middle) Leland’s Hanna Elwell winds up as Anna Smith (8) and Cierra Nightingale (5) get ready to block.
Block Party: 2025 Girls Volleyball Week 10 Report
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
October 29, 2025
League championships have been all but decided, Districts are assigned and brackets drawn, and we’re only a few days from the start of this season’s MHSAA Girls Volleyball Tournament.
That means we’ll be coming back shortly, as our “Block Party” schedule moves up the next edition to Monday so we can preview some of the most intriguing District brackets across the state and all four divisions.
Until then, below are a few more regular-season observations as teams continued with their final tune-ups:
Week in Review
The countdown of last week’s five most intriguing results:
1. Rockford d. Farmington Hills Mercy (24-18, 23-25, 15-6) The East vs. West Challenge at Lowell was another opportunity for the Division 1 top-ranked Rams (40-1-1) to show their superiority among the state’s elite – which they did, not only defeating then-No. 2 Mercy (18-4-2) but also new No. 2 Bloomfield Hills and No. 7 Utica Eisenhower among others.
2. South Lyon East d. Farmington Hills Mercy (25-19, 18-25, 25-13) Outside of Rockford, there may be no team hotter than Division 1 No. 5 South Lyon East (37-7-1), which has won 11 straight and followed this with a sweep through the Lakes Valley Conference Tournament.
3. Bloomfield Hills Marian d. Detroit Country Day (25-16, 25-16) The Division 1 No. 4 Mustangs (43-5-0) have won 20 of their last 23 matches, and went 3-0 at the Country Day quad Monday including this sweep of the Division 2 top-ranked Yellowjackets (16-8-0).
4. Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern d. Tecumseh (25-21, 25-21) The Division 1 No. 6 Huskies (33-8-1) handed just the second defeat this season to Division 2 No. 6 Tecumseh (51-2-0).
5. Plymouth Christian Academy d. Ubly (25-20, 25-21) A 5-0 run through the Mt. Morris Tournament by Division 3 No. 2 PCA (37-8-1) including this win over the Division 4 No. 3 Bearcats (25-10-4), plus sweeps of Charlevoix and much larger Holt, Essexville Garber and Cadillac.
Watch List
With an eye toward November, here are two teams in each division making sparks:
DIVISION 1
East Grand Rapids (29-10-0) The Pioneers are among honorable mentions in Division 1 again this week, and despite a pair of losses to Division 2 No. 3 Grand Rapids Christian over the last eight days bounced back to defeat No. 4 Grand Rapids Catholic Central and Division 4 No. 2 Fowler heading into these final few days of the regular season. EGR already has bested last year’s record of 26-16-5 and will enter its District next week as the second seed to Forest Hills Northern. Eight of the team’s losses have come against top-10 teams in Divisions 1 and 2.
Zeeland East (29-4-0) Although the Chix did lose out on a league title Monday falling in five sets to Division 2 No. 5 Holland Christian, that was the team’s first defeat since facing Holland Christian on Sept. 23 – and the only other losses this season came to Division 1 No. 10 Grand Haven. Zeeland East also is among honorable mentions this week and seeded second in a District behind another honorable mention in Byron Center. The Chix do have an early-season win over Holland Christian and have defeated Division 2 honorable mention Marshall and Division 3 No. 6 Kalamazoo Christian among others.
DIVISION 2
Detroit Country Day (16-8-0) The reigning Division 2 champion has been ranked No. 1 this season for all but two weeks, and moved back into the top spot this week after a four-set win over Bloomfield Hills on Oct. 21 – which avenged a loss from the season-opening quad Aug. 26. All eight losses have come against Division 1 opponents, with six to teams ranked or receiving honorable mention currently. Country Day is seeded first in its District, which empties into a Regional that could include No. 2 North Branch or No. 7 Imlay City.
Holland Christian (23-8-0) As noted above, the Maroons have clinched a share of a league championship, in the Ottawa-Kent Conference Black and with Spring Lake to finish the schedule. The closing run to secure the title came after a four-match losing streak that included three defeats to ranked Division 1 teams at the Jenison Invitational, and seven of the team’s losses total have come to ranked or honorable mention opponents. The Zeeland East win noted above also gave Holland Christian one more this season than last, and the Maroons will head into District play a top seed.
DIVISION 3
Byron (28-3-1) The Eagles have won nine straight matches including all four Saturday at the Marine City Cardinal Mooney Invitational, and they already have five more victories than last season – when Byron reached the Regional Finals. They’ve played several matches against Division 1 and 2 opponents this fall, with two of their defeats coming from teams in those divisions, and they also have notable victories over Alma and New Boston Huron among larger-enrollment foes. Byron also will be a top seed in its District.
Morley Stanwood (27-12-0) With eight wins over its last 10 matches, Morley Stanwood has joined the list of honorable mention teams in Division 3 the last two weeks. The schedule has included showdowns with several ranked opponents, with losses to No. 1 Roscommon, No. 2 Plymouth Christian Academy, No. 3 Kingsley and twice to No. 10 Beal City. That schedule has paid off as Morley Stanwood will enter its District as a top seed but with Central State Activities Association rival Kent City the second seed and after Kent City won two of three meetings this fall including in Saturday’s league tournament.
DIVISION 4
Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart (23-8-6) The 2022 Division 4 champion also made the Quarterfinals in 2023 and the Semifinals a year ago, and has prepped for another potential extended run facing a slate of larger schools and several that also are ranked. Sacred Heart is No. 4 in Division 4, and half of its losses this season are to Division 3 No. 10 Beal City, with the rest to Division 1 honorable mention Traverse City Central and three other Division 1 or two schools. Meanwhile, the Irish also have wins over Division 4 No. 2 Fowler and honorable mention Grand Rapids Sacred Heart.
Wakefield-Marenisco (19-7-0) The Cardinals opened this season with a 3-4 showing at the Copper Mountain Conference tournament, but have since avenged two of those losses and another early-season defeat in downing Ewen-Trout Creek last week. W-M has won eight straight matches since falling to No. 5 Crystal Falls Forest Park at the Trojans’ invitational on Sept. 20, and three losses this season have come against Lake Linden-Hubbell (23-5-0). The Cardinals are seeded second in their District to Forest Park and Thursday against Ironwood can equal their 20 victories of a year ago.
Can’t-Miss Contests
Be on the lookout for results of these matches and tournaments coming up:
Thursday – ABCD quad at Traverse City Central – This annual event will see the Division 1 honorable mention Trojans (26-7-0) host Division 3 No. 3 Kingsley (47-4-1) and No. 8 Traverse City St. Francis (24-14-0), and Division 4 Leland (12-25-1).
Thursday – Essexville Garber quad – The Dukes (38-11-3) will welcome Midland Dow (19-12-5), Yale (23-21-1) and Saginaw Valley Lutheran (43-10-3).
Thursday – Buckley quad – The Bears (27-5-1) will host an impressive Division 4 crew of No. 10 Onekama (30-8-3), Bellaire (19-7-4) and Traverse City Christian (24-12-2).
Saturday – Temperance Bedford Spooktacular – The field for this year’s regular-season finale includes Division 4 No. 7 Adrian Lenawee Christian, Division 2 No. 10 Flat Rock and Division 3 No. 4 Hanover Horton among others.
Saturday – Grand Blanc Tournament – The Bobcats will close the regular season with Division 2 No. 2 North Branch and Division 1 Oxford among those in the field.
PHOTOS (Top) Saginaw Valley Lutheran’s Grace Parker (7) elevates to get to the ball as Birch Run’s Teagan Abraham (2) sets up to block Tuesday. (Middle) Saginaw Swan Valley’s Hadley Wagner connects on a kill attempt while Clio’s Alaina Gliniecki (3) and Kelcy Sperling (14) get ready at the net, also Tuesday at Birch Run. (Photos by Terry Lyons.)