Monroe St. Mary's Proves 'This is the Year' by Clinching 8th Finals Title
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
November 23, 2024
BATTLE CREEK – McKenna Payne had a feeling she and her Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central teammates could be making a third trip to Kellogg Arena for this season’s Division 3 Volleyball Final Four.
She also felt it could end on a much brighter note than each of the last two trips.
The Kestrels proved that feeling to be prescient Saturday, sweeping Traverse City St. Francis 25-21, 25-20, 25-15 to claim the Division 3 title.
“All through this year, we were saying this is the year,” Payne said. “We were here our freshmen year, lost in the Finals. We didn’t make it past quarters my sophomore year, and we didn’t make it past semis last year. So, this year, I’m so proud of everyone. I’m so proud of me, Maddie (Dettling) and Jessie (Costlow) and the whole team. We all did it together.”
It was the eighth volleyball championship for the Kestrels in eight trips to the championship match, and first since title since 2020.
“I felt like this year we focused a lot on being together and working together in everything,” said Costlow, who was also on that 2021 team that finished Division 3 runner-up. “You can’t have offense without your defense, and you can’t have defense without blocking. So, we really had to work off of each other and just keep pushing the whole time.”
Costlow led the SMCC attack with 15 kills while pitching in 12 digs on defense. Alexa Turner had 20 assist for the Kestrels, while Payne stuffed the stat sheet with 13 digs, eight kills and eight assists.
SMCC was dominant for much of the season, finishing 39-4-1, but was especially so during the postseason, sweeping all but one opponent – Cass City in Friday’s Semifinal – on its way to the title.
“I think it was just working hard at practice,” Dettling said. “Every day, we were just being disciplined and watching film and being smart. Everything just came together.”
Those film sessions included watching the Gladiators’ Semifinal win against Kalamazoo Christian, even though the Kestrels were there to see it in person.
While that proved fruitful, Traverse City St. Francis did take a bit of a different approach Saturday.
“After watching their match yesterday, we were surprised that they utilized their middle as much as they did today,” SMCC coach Kim Windham said. “We anticipated they would go more to their outsides. I think (TCSF junior outside hitter Quinn Yenshaw) was set 70 times yesterday, so we expected them to be more of an outside game, and they were definitely more middle. I think the opportunity for us to play against (Cass City senior Shelby Ignash) yesterday helped us prepare for today’s match, for sure.”
Gladiators sophomore Lola Brown was the focus of that attack through the middle, and did finish with eight kills on 21 attempts, while Yenshaw had 12 on 36 attempts, as junior setter Reese Jones (who finished with 14 assists) spread the ball around.
But it wasn’t enough to overcome a Kestrels team that was hitting on all cylinders, and finished with .219 kill percentage on its 114 attacks.
“St. Mary’s is just an amazing team,” St. Francis coach Kathleen Nance said. “They have amazing ball control, they’ve got great hitters, and we just weren’t able to have an answer for that today.”
Avery Nance finished with 14 digs on the day for the Gladiators, who were making their second-straight trip to the Finals after finishing runner-up a year ago as well.
“We’re second in the state; there’s nothing to be ashamed of,” Kathleen Nance said. “St. Mary’s played better than we did today, and they earned the first-place spot, and we were second. We were the last two standing – what’s to be ashamed about? Nobody wants to lose, especially for those that this is their last time to ever play; no one wants that. But I’m proud of everything we accomplished this year. Because there were a lot of people who thought we couldn’t, and they proved them wrong.”
PHOTOS (Top) Monroe St. Mary’s McKenna Payne (11) and Olivia Beaudrie (2) wall off the top of the net as Traverse City St. Francis’ Landry Fouch (7) connects during Saturday’s Division 3 Final. (Middle) St. Francis’ Reese Jones (2) tips the ball over the net. (Below) Jessica Costlow serves for the Kestrels. (Photos by Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
Mercy Stands Tall at Net, Makes Big Blocks Pay Off in Championship Win
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
November 22, 2025
BATTLE CREEK – Farmington Hills Mercy looked to be on its way to a sweep Saturday in the Division 1 Volleyball Final at Kellogg Arena.
So when Bloomfield Hills erased a nine-point deficit in the third set, extending the match and delaying the Silly String celebration, the Marlins were on the wrong side of a massive momentum swing.
They were also incredibly calm.
“I feel like our message was not to worry,” Mercy senior Ella Andrews said. “We were down in the Semifinals two sets and came back and reverse swept them, so I feel like our message was just to stay calm. We can trust ourselves. We’ve been working for this all season, we just have to rely on each other and feel confident in ourselves to get back and score those points to win the set.”
Mercy got back to its game in the fourth set, and put itself back on top of the state with a 25-18, 25-20, 23-25, 25-20 victory against Bloomfield Hills.
The win gives the Marlins their third Finals title and second in three years. And, for the second time since 2023, they doused their coach Loretta Vogel with water and Silly String.
“I’m going in there to talk to everybody in the locker room, and I just get drenched,” Vogel said. “It’s definitely becoming a custom here.”
Mercy entered the fourth Final in program history with a simple, yet difficult gameplan: Slow Bloomfield Hills star Kayla Nwabueze. The Harvard-bound outside hitter did manage a match-high 24 kills, but the Marlins’ long, talented front line made it as difficult on her as possible.
“Our plan was to shut down Kayla,” said Vogel, who puts Nwabueze among the best hitters she’s seen in her 49 years coaching. “Put big blocks up, make them change to something else. That worked for us. I thought the girls really got up there and put four hands in front of her. There was one time we triple-blocked. So, I think changing something up like that, giving her a different view, had an impact on her. For any hitter, that would have an impact.”
Nwabueze got some backup from sophomore Allison Stakoe, who had 20 kills and played a massive role in the third set comeback.
But Nwabueze admitted it was tough to try and navigate the Mercy blockers.
“I would say it was really frustrating,” she said. “I knew they were going to come out and try to stop me, so I just had the mentality of don’t let that happen. I feel like I got into a rut a couple times. That’s what they tried to do, to stop the player that caused the most damage, and it was smart on their part. I really tried hard to try to get past that block. It was a really big block, though.”
McKenzie and Ella Andrews led the way on that block, with Ella finishing the match with two solo blocks and five assists, and McKenzie tallying six block assists. They had a ton of help, too. Kaelyn Easton had five block assists, Saniya Tucker had four, and both Cree Hollier and Kate Kalczynski had two.
Mercy’s attack was just as varied.
Kalczynski led the way with 16 kills, including the final one on match point, while Ella Andrews had 13, Hollier had 12 and McKenzie Andrews had seven.
That distribution was thanks to their freshman setter Easton, who had 43 assists in the Final and more than 100 over the final two matches.
“Definitely just seeing open spots where the blockers were,” Easton said. “I know in this game, the middles were open a lot, were scoring a lot, especially in the last set, and the coaches were just like, ‘Get them the ball. Just get them the ball and make them score.’ Also, the outsides, they opened up the middles a lot, so really, really appreciative to all of them. I could just not do it without the passes. The passes were really, really good this weekend.”
Maya Zarow led Mercy (42-5-3) with 24 digs, while Kalczynski had 12 and Easton 11.
Bloomfield Hills (43-8-1) setter Brynn Wilcox finished the day with 42 assists. Alyssa Moir led the defense with 20 digs, while Stakoe added 14, Nwabueze had 13 and Julia Colosimo had 10.
This weekend marked the first time the Black Hawks had advanced to the Semifinals.
“I’m just really proud of our team,” Wilcox said. “Even though we may have faced some ups and downs throughout the season, we kind of leaned on each other. It’s probably one of the greatest – I’ve had the most fun of my life.”
PHOTOS (Top) Farmington Hills Mercy players raise their championship trophy Saturday afternoon at Kellogg Arena. (Middle) Mercy’s Cree Hollier (22) attempts a kill as Bloomfield Hills’ Suri Ewing (13) and Charlotte Elowsky elevate to try and block it.