Quarterfinals Begin Championship Week for Volleyball's 32 Contenders
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
November 14, 2023
The final week of the 2023 girls volleyball season begins this evening with 16 MHSAA Quarterfinals across the state.
Winners in Divisions 2 and 3 will advance to Semifinals on Thursday at Battle Creek’s Kellogg Arena, with winners in Divisions 1 and 4 playing Semifinals on Friday. All four championship matches will be played Saturday at Kellogg.
All 16 matches, with start times and locations, are listed below. Tickets cost $10 and can be purchased on GoFan. All 16 matches will be broadcast as well on MHSAA.tv and viewable with subscription; those individual broadcasts are linked below. Brackets and more are posted to the Volleyball page.
DIVISION 1
Grand Haven vs. Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern at Hudsonville, 6 p.m. – WATCH
Portage Northern vs. Northville at Ypsilanti Lincoln, 7 p.m. – WATCH
Macomb L’Anse Creuse North vs. Clarkston at St. Clair County Community College, 7:30 p.m. – WATCH
Farmington Hills Mercy vs. Bloomfield Hills Marian at Dearborn, 7 p.m. – WATCH
DIVISION 2
Milan vs. Dearborn Divine Child at Chelsea, 7 p.m. – WATCH
Ludington vs. Grand Rapids West Catholic at Fremont, 7 p.m. – WATCH
North Branch vs. Frankenmuth at St. Clair County Community College, 5:30 p.m. – WATCH
Grand Rapids Christian vs. Edwardsburg at Charlotte, 6 p.m. – WATCH
DIVISION 3
Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central vs. Plymouth Christian Academy at Ypsilanti Lincoln, 5:30 p.m. – WATCH
Pewamo-Westphalia vs. Kalamazoo Christian at Kalamazoo Loy Norrix, 7 p.m. – WATCH
Cass City vs. Saginaw Valley Lutheran at New Lothrop, 6 p.m. – WATCH
Calumet vs. Traverse City St. Francis at Sault Ste. Marie, 6 p.m. – WATCH
DIVISION 4
St. Joseph Our Lady of the Lake Catholic vs. Adrian Lenawee Christian at Portage Central, 6:30 p.m. – WATCH
Clarkston Everest Collegiate vs. Marlette at Fenton, 7 p.m. – WATCH
Leland vs. Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart at Ferris State University, 6 p.m. – WATCH
Crystal Falls Forest Park vs. Newberry at Manistique, 7 p.m. – WATCH
PHOTO Clarkston libero Kiley Gallagher awaits an approaching hit during her team's Regional Semifinal win over Hartland last week. (Photo by Terry Lyons.)
Kingsford's Kreider Prepared for Next Level After Finishing Stellar Flivvers Career
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
June 19, 2025
KINGSFORD — After completing a successful high school volleyball career, Maddy Kreider is ready to take the next step.
The Kingsford senior is taking her talents to Michigan Tech, where she’s expected to continue primarily as a setter.
“That will be a big step for sure, but it’ll be exciting being with the girls,” she said. “The girls are taller in college. It will definitely be an adjustment, physically and mentally. We’ll be traveling longer distances, and it’ll be a matter of improving the mental part of my game.”
Kreider was selected the Upper Peninsula’s Defensive Player of the Year her final two seasons after the U.P. Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association began voting for all-U.P. volleyball.
“That’s quite an accomplishment,” she said. “It’s a real honor playing with girls I grew up with. We had a great season.”
The 5-foot-8 setter was a four-year starter and two-year team captain at Kingsford, leading the Flivvers to three Division 2 District titles and back-to-back undefeated Great Northern Conference championships. She twice was named GNC Player of the Year.
She was also selected all-state first team in the fall and all-state second team in 2023, and all-region throughout her prep career. Her serving percentage also topped .900 throughout her four seasons on varsity.
Last fall, the Flivvers reached the Regional Semifinal at Manistique where they dropped a 3-2 decision to Kingsley.
“I thought we’d get through,” Kreider said. “We came out lights out in the first two sets, then it was close in the last three.”
Also among the team’s highlights this past fall was a victory at Calumet, approximately 2½ weeks after dropping a 3-1 decision to the Copper Kings on Kingsford’s home floor.
“We wanted to play them,” Kreider said. “They’re a great bunch of girls to play against. They’ve been the measuring stick up here for many years. Winning on their floor was super exciting. We knew we had to play well just to be competitive. That was a great confidence builder for our group. We were definitely on a high going into the District.”
The Flivvers opened their postseason with a 3-1 triumph over Houghton, then defeated Escanaba in straight sets in the District Final.
Kreider will join Calumet senior Maddie Torola at MTU this fall. Torola, who recorded a season-high 19 kills in the four-set victory at Kingsford, helped the Copper Kings finish 29-5 and reach the Division 3 Regional Final at Sault Ste. Marie where they dropped a 3-2 decision to Traverse City St. Francis.
“It was fun playing against her in high school,” Kreider said. “It will be even more fun playing as teammates. It’ll be exciting to be playing on the same team.”
Both will be playing under new head coach Cindy Pindral at Tech. Both of Kreider’s parents played for the Huskies, her mother (and Kingsford varsity coach) Jaclynn volleyball from 1998-2002 and her father Jason basketball from 1997-2000.
Maddy Kreider recently earned an additional honor when she was selected Female Athlete of the Year for Kingsford’s Class of 2025. She recently completed a solid track & field season for the Flivvers.
At the U.P. Division 1 Finals, Kreider placed fourth in the 100-meter dash (13.2) and anchored the Flivvers to a third-place finish in the 800 relay (1:51.57) and fourth in the 400 (53.03) on their home track.
Kreider was named one of 32 MHSAA/Farm Bureau Insurance Scholar-Athlete Award winners this winter and plans to study exercise science and kinesiology at MTU.
John Vrancic has covered high school sports in the Upper Peninsula since joining the Escanaba Daily Press staff in 1985. He is known most prominently across the peninsula for his extensive coverage of cross country and track & field that frequently appears in newspapers from the Wisconsin border to Lake Huron. He received the James Trethewey Award for Distinguished Service in 2015 from the Upper Peninsula Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association.
PHOTOS (Top) Kingsford’s Maddy Kreider sets for her teammates during a match last season. (Middle) Kreider, right, takes a photo with Kingsford’s Male Athlete of the Year Gavin Grondin. (Photos provided by the Kingsford athletic department.)