Milana Ready to Shoulder Repeat Run
By
Tom Markowski
Special for Second Half
September 29, 2015
ROMEO – Gia Milana’s pace at this stage in her life is as fast-paced as the sport she plays.
Milana, a 6-1½ outside hitter at Romeo, is one of 10 finalists for the 2015 Miss Volleyball award presented by the Michigan Interscholastic Volleyball Coaches Association. There are those who contend she’s the favorite.
Ask Milana about the award and she’s a tad reserved, deflecting the attention given to an athlete who plays a team sport who’s under strong consideration for an individual honor.
“I try not to think about it,” she said. “Volleyball is a team thing for us. I really haven’t thought about it. I don’t think about it. I’d rather win and not think about an individual award.
“It would be the biggest honor. But I’m more focused on making my team better.”
Winning. That’s what Romeo did last season. The Bulldogs won the school’s first MHSAA title, downing Novi in five sets in the Class A Final, and this season they’re off to a 22-4 start and ranked No. 7.
This year’s team is different in many respects. For one, there are just four seniors. Not only did graduation put a premium on the amount of talent coming back, but it also left an opportunity for returning players to take over leadership roles that were so important in 2014.
“Last year at this time,” Milana said, “I feel last year’s team would crush us. We have the potential. Our transitional defense is horrible. To make another run we have to have the mentality that the ball won’t hit the floor.
“If we want to make another run we have to step up our game. One or two players can’t do it. Volleyball is a team-oriented sport.”
After spending six seasons as the junior varsity coach, Stacy Williams is in her 10th as varsity head coach. Williams played the sport at Sterling Heights High School and then Macomb Community College before she got into coaching. Williams credits former Romeo coach Bruce Udvari for nudging her into the profession. And she has nothing but gratitude to her former boss.
Williams also has nothing but praise for her star player.
“She’s a leader by example,” Williams said of Milana. “She’s 100 percent committed to every play. She has some pretty amazing attacks. The cool part of the team is, offensively, we have some real strong players. And then you have Gia. Teams will focus on Gia and it helps in a sense. People are looking at her, and it opens it up for others.”
Among the “others” are juniors Jodie Kelly and Payton Klein, and seniors Erica Labaere, and Nicole Nowack.
This season the libero position, often a strength for most teams, has been a bit of question mark for Williams. She’s used as many as five or six players. Recently, according to Milana, Nowack has shown steady play in that spot.
A back injury hampered Milana’s play at the start of last season. She missed the first 20 games and said it took a while for her to get back into the flow.
This season she hasn’t missed a beat. Through the first 25 games she had 315 kills. Even so, her role is different. Before high school and in her first three high school seasons, Milana was always the younger player facing girls older than her.
“I’m the core now,” she said. “It’s a different experience being the leader. It’s been quite a transition.
“We won states. We’re expected to win it again. We’re doing good in the transition. We know we have to work harder in practice.”
Finding her future
Milana committed to University of Maryland and plans to enroll in January. She chose Maryland because of its coach, Steve Aird, who is in his second season after serving as an assistant at Penn State.
Another reason Milana chose Maryland was its campus. College Park is a rural area, and for a girl from Romeo who spent her first 12 years on a farm, it has its attractions.
“I like the rural, pretty campuses,” she said. “I didn’t want to go to a college that was in the city, like Michigan.
“Maryland was horrible (when it was a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference). Now they’re in the Big Ten and … they’re better. I want to be a part of building a program.”
Maryland is 10-6 overall and 0-2 in the Big Ten.
Tom Markowski is a columnist and directs website coverage for the State Champs! Sports Network. He previously covered primarily high school sports for the The Detroit News from 1984-2014, focusing on the Detroit area and contributing to statewide coverage of football and basketball. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Gia Milana, 14, encourages her teammates during last season's Class A MHSAA Final against Novi. (Middle) Milana connects against Temperance Bedford during the Semifinal win.
Performance: Lake Orion's Paige Briggs
November 21, 2018
Paige Briggs
Lake Orion senior – Volleyball
The Dragons outside hitter was one of the state’s top players this fall, and led her team to an unprecedented accomplishment. Briggs put together back-to-back unforgettable performances during last weekend’s Division 1 Semifinals and Final to lead Lake Orion to its first MHSAA championship in volleyball and earn the Michigan Army National Guard “Performance of the Week.”
In Saturday’s Final against Rockford, a 25-18, 25-23, 23-25, 25-16 victory, Briggs had 30 kills on 53 attacks – good for a .491 hitting percentage. She also added nine digs, as she was all over the court for the Dragons, who were making their first appearance in a title match since 2011. Amazingly, that performance may have been second-best on the weekend for Briggs, as she had 43 kills on 84 attacks in Lake Orion’s five-set Semifinal win over top-ranked Farmington Hills Mercy. The 43 kills tied for fifth-most in one match in MHSAA history. Lake Orion entered the postseason ranked No. 2 in Division 1 by the state coaches association and finished 68-5.
After missing four months including half of last season with a broken vertebrae, Briggs came back this fall to become a finalist for the Miss Volleyball Award, and she finished fifth among 10 finalists. On the season, she tallied a record book-qualifying 767 kills, averaging 4.7 per set, with a .408 hitting percentage. Briggs is still deciding what she will study after high school, but she’ll attend Western Kentucky University on a volleyball scholarship.
Lake Orion coach Tony Scavarda said: “I’ve watched a lot of high school volleyball, and I haven’t seen too many kids just take over games at this level of a tournament the way she has (Friday and Saturday) against that type of competition – such high-level teams. She’s been great all year, but she took her game to a whole new level in the Finals here. It was incredible.”
Performance Point: “As a team, we could clean things up, but we played flawless,” Briggs said after Lake Orion’s title-winning performance. “We played together as a team. You could feel it, almost. As a player, I loved the way I played, but you always want to do better, I guess.”
Taking control: “I ask for the ball all the time – I love hitting,” Briggs noted, explaining the team’s strategy of shifting to set her whenever possible during the final. “Those were some good stats, but I have to give it to my team, though. They helped me through this.”
Bouncing back, no pun intended: “Leaning back hurt – I was happy to get back.”
Peaking at the right time: “We all pulled together. We really wanted this. Going into Districts, we were watching film and doing the most we could possibly do to win this, because we all wanted it. We had multiple team talks, and they were really beneficial. It laser-focused everyone, and we got on the same page. It was really great.”
Next step: “I’m so excited for college. (Western Kentucky) is doing great, and I just can’t wait to be a part of it, and kind of try it on my own.”
- Paul Costanzo, Second Half contributor
Every week during the 2018-19 school year, Second Half and the Michigan Army National Guard recognizes a “Performance of the Week" from among the MHSAA's 750 member high schools.
The Michigan Army National Guard provides trained and ready forces in support of the National Military Strategy, and responds as needed to state, local, and regional emergencies to ensure peace, order, and public safety. The Guard adds value to our communities through continuous interaction. National Guard soldiers are part of the local community. Guardsmen typically train one weekend per month and two weeks in the summer. This training maintains readiness when needed, be it either to defend our nation's freedom or protect lives and property of Michigan citizens during a local natural disaster.
Past 2018-19 honorees
November 15: Hunter Nowak, Morrice football - Read
November 8: Jon Dougherty, Detroit Country Day soccer - Read
November 1: Jordan Stump, Camden-Frontier volleyball - Read
October 25: Danielle Staskowski, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep golf - Read
October 18: Adam Bruce, Gladstone cross country - Read
October 11: Ericka VanderLende, Rockford cross country - Read
October 4: Kobe Clark, Schoolcraft football - Read
September 27: Jonathan Kliewer, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern soccer - Read
September 20: Kiera Lasky, Bronson volleyball - Read
September 13: Judy Rector, Hanover-Horton cross country - Read
PHOTOS: (Top) Lake Orion's Paige Briggs serves during Saturday's Division 1 Final against Rockford. (Middle) Briggs prepares to hit during a Semifinal win over Farmington Hills Mercy.