NLC Champ Mackinaw City Eyes Bright Future
November 6, 2020
By Tom Spencer
Special for Second Half
Mackinaw City’s Marlie Postula provided nearly perfect serving this fall.
The rest of her Comets volleyball team was indeed perfect in Northern Lakes Conference play. And, you might say they are “set” for the next couple of years. She’s the team’s sole setter, and she’s only a sophomore.
“Marlie is probably the most solid player on the team,” said her coach Rachel Grooters as the Comets entered postseason play this week. “She leads in serve percentage ... believe it or not attack percentage, hitting percentage, passing percentage.
“She’s my leader in all those stats.”
Postula was one of three sophomores on the court nearly every moment this fall for Mackinaw City. Two more sophomores got some varsity experience while playing mostly on the junior varsity team that was perfect in league play as well. None of the sophomores experienced a loss in junior varsity league play as freshmen.
“I know I have a young team,” Grooters said. “I know I have juniors and seniors, but sophomores are pretty much the backbone of my team.”
Grooters had big expectations this year thanks to her five sophomores’ previous winning ways.
“We definitely went into it with the attitude that we were going to get conference,” the veteran coach said. “We wanted that number on the banner.
“We wanted the trophy,” she continued. “And having an undefeated season is icing on the cake.”
Along the way to its perfect NLC season, the Comets were led by the serving of Postula. She was successful in 207 straight serves at one point. She finished regular-season play missing just four serves.
The Comets’ season ended in District Semifinal play Wednesday with a four-set loss to Pickford. They finished the season with a 14-0 league and 21-12 overall record.
With junior outside hitter and captain Raeann Hingston, junior inside hitter Ella House, sophomore outside/inside hitter Larissa Huffman and sophomore middle hitter Madison Smith also expected back next fall, Grooters is already excited about what’s next. She is losing only two seniors – outside/inside hitter Jenna Wiertalla and captain middle hitter Carissa Sroka. Junior inside hitter Olivia Lidy should also be back next fall.
“You know, in a small school like us, you kind of get who comes out,” noted Grooters. “This is who is here. They are all athletes.
“They all want to play,” Grooters continued. “They all want to be here. And, they love competition.”
Mackinaw City was spotless in league play despite a tiny grade 9-12 enrollment of 40 students. Some of the schools in the conference are nearly twice the Comets’ size, one is more than double their size, and a few are similar in enrollment.
Conference championships have been hard to come by for the Comets. They only have three to claim. Grooters was a player on the first Mackinaw City league champ in 2000. A second title was won in 2015. The Comets were unblemished in that run too, but it was only a 10-match league season.
While the Comets’ play is far from the loudest of league teams, they are there to win, Grooters proudly indicated.
“It is funny. I think they’re quiet,” she said. “A lot of teams make more noise. Our girls take it serious. And, they want to win. They’re not going to just stand there and let somebody take the lead.”
Grooters can’t help but think the perfect season was almost taken away by COVID-19. She’s proud of all the schools’ efforts to make the season happen, including keeping the face protection on.
“I was so excited to coach them this year, but I was so nervous with the COVID stuff,” she said. “They wanted to play badly. They were worried they wouldn’t be able to.
“They want to be out on that court,” she continued. “Once we know we could practice and compete a little bit, it all fell into place.”
Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Mackinaw City’s Ella House prepares to serve during a match against Alanson this fall. (Middle) Marlie Postula sets for her hitters; she led the team in serving, hitting and passing percentages this fall. (Photos by Izzy House.)
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.