St. Phil Makes History with 8 Straight
November 23, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
BATTLE CREEK – Sierra Hubbard-Neil finished the final roundhouse swing of her high school career and was on the Kellogg Arena floor with the rest of her Battle Creek St. Philip teammates Saturday before the ball hit the floor.
As with many of her swings during a four-year all-state career, this one finished a point – and one of the most historic victories during St. Philip’s heralded run.
That final kill sealed a 25-19 Game 3 win over Waterford Our Lady and another Class D title for the Tigers – their eighth straight, which tied Marysville’s teams from 1997-2004 for the longest championship streak in MHSAA volleyball history.
Although it’s debatable how much anyone believed it, some said St. Philip might have a tougher challenge this fall after graduating seven seniors in the spring including six starters and Miss Volleyball Amanda McKinzie. But despite only Hubbard-Neil as a returning starter, the Tigers simply rolled on with three more seniors taking on bigger roles.
“Everyone looks up to the seniors. The seniors are just like top dogs,” Hubbard-Neil said. “They lead the younger ones, and they try to keep that motivation through them and keep the enthusiasm to keep the tradition going.”
And so it did, in another way as well. The title was the ninth for St. Philip coach Vicky Groat, tying the total won by her mother, former Tigers coach Sheila Guerra, who died in 2006 but is frequently noted by Groat for her enormous influence on the program and its current coach.
St. Philip finished this run 64-7-2 while again playing some of the best from every class in the state – among those victories were wins over the top-ranked teams in both Class B and Class C at the end of the regular season, Hudsonville and Mendon, respectively.
“Marysville always has been a wonderful program. It’s an honor to be up there with them,” Groat said. “It’s pretty special, but I’m just glad we got nine. I wanted this one so badly for these girls, and to match my mom.
“She was an amazing coach, and I learned so much from her. Just to be on the same level as her; we have nine together, 18 as a family, and that’s pretty special."
The last time a team took St. Philip to a fourth game in a Final was 2007. But after beating back nerves during a first-set 25-12 loss, Our Lady gave the Tigers plenty to consider.
The Lakers were playing in their first MHSAA championship game after returning to the Quarterfinals for the first time since 2001. After the team scored only 12 points in the opening set, hitters Allison Samulon, Courtney Wightman and Kristina Krupiak fell into stride.
“They first game was necessary to get the nerves out,” said Samulon, who finished with seven kills. The second and third games we fought hard, and there were a couple of things we could’ve done differently. But I think the first game had to happen for it to work.”
The Lakers three times gained the lead during a 25-22 loss in the second set, and wouldn’t go away during the third scoring three straight points to pull within 23-19 and cause Groat to call an impassioned timeout.
She’d watched Our Lady come back multiple times during the Semifinal against Leland, which the Lakers beat in three sets by a combined eight points.
“You get to that point, and (the players) know what’s in sight. So I just relaxed them a little bit,” Groat said. “And they responded after that timeout.
“Coach (Angela) Williams and I were talking about how much we love this team, how special they are. They just keep battling and working hard and trying to prove people wrong, and they did that today.”
Hubbard-Neil finished with 19 kills on 31 attempts for a match hitting percentage of .516. She’ll be playing next season at Western Michigan University. Junior Emily Schaub capped her season with 26 assists, four aces and six digs, and senior libero Rachel Gallagher had nine digs.
Wightman, a sophomore, led the Lakers with 11 kills, five digs and three blocks. Our Lady (41-6-6) will graduate the rest of its starting hitters and setter, but return next fall with a new expectation after watching a number of other teams at the school have championship success over the years.
“Now we have a measuring point. The girls know how hard they have to work,” Lakers coach Stephanie Swearingen said. “The younger kids have watched as our success has grown. I think it’s really going to excite the school. Hopefully we’ll be back soon.”
PHOTOS: (Top) St. Philip’s Sierra Hubbard-Neil sends one of her 19 kills during Saturday’s championship match. (Middle) The Tigers celebrate their eighth straight Class D title. (Below) Waterford Our Lady senior Amanda Ludlow returns the ball.
Grand Rapids Christian Returning to Semifinals, Ready for Next Challenge
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
November 20, 2025
GRAND RAPIDS – A Regional exit from the MHSAA Tournament last year wasn’t necessarily the norm for the Grand Rapids Christian volleyball program.
The returning players aimed to change that and get the Eagles back where they are typically found during the final weekend of the season.
Grand Rapids Christian will make its return to the Semifinals in Battle Creek after defeating Tecumseh 3-2 in Tuesday’s Division 2 Quarterfinal.
It will be the Eagles’ fifth Semifinal appearance over the last seven years, but last season’s five-set loss to South Christian in a Regional Final has provided the fuel for this year’s tournament run.
“After that loss last year, it definitely wasn’t what we expected or wanted, and I think from the moment we lost that game all the returners just felt a different kind of hunger for next season,” Grand Rapids Christian junior standout Grace Goodyke said. “We were already talking about our plans and what we wanted to change and keep going forward with.
“I think we knew this was the season that we had the talent, and all the girls had a love for each other that was super special and we had the opportunity to go far. It came down to the work we were ready to put in.”
Eagles coach Amy Huisken, who returned eight players, said expectations were high coming into the season.
“This is one of the goals that our team set way back in the beginning of the season,” she said. “So this is where we expected to be and wanted to be. Every win and every loss was for this purpose.”
Goodyke, a three-year varsity player, has led the Eagles’ charge and amassed more than 500 kills.
She understood the winning tradition of the program as an incoming freshman. The Eagles won three consecutive Division 2 championships from 2018-20.
“I had to buy into the culture pretty quickly, and I think our upperclassmen did a great job of showing me about the legacy that they came into,” Goodyke said. “This season we talk a lot about playing for each other and just trusting everybody to do their roles. We are just super close, and we use that to our advantage.”
The Eagles have played this season without senior Mallory Bremer, who tore her ACL and MCL during club season. But a core of key players has stepped up to lead the way.
Junior captain Piper Cebulski has 490 assists and is nearing 1,000 for her career, while junior Taylor Frost has provided leadership on the court while reaching 1,000 assists during Districts.
Sophomore Mya McKinnon is a two-year starter in the middle and has a hitting percentage over .400.
“We obviously have talent, but if you don’t have anything to back talent then it doesn't take you too far,” Huisken said. “The girls know who they are playing for, and it's the person next to them. Everyone works so hard in their role, knowing it's what the team needs to be successful. No selfishness and everyone working for each other.”
The Eagles tied for the championship in the Ottawa-Kent Conference White, facing the likes of Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern, East Grand Rapids and Grand Rapids Catholic Central.
Grand Rapids Christian also has played against the top teams from the other side of the state.
“It makes us a battle-tested team, so we’re ready for tough moments,” Huisken said. “We do that on purpose, and we understand that our end result isn't going to say we're 25-0. But the losses are part of our story and how we got here. It's important for us to have that tough schedule, and we've had it throughout the tournament, too. There’s only one team we’ve played that hasn’t been ranked.”
The Eagles (36-9) will clash with reigning champion Detroit Country Day (27-9) in Friday’s Semifinal.
“They are a very good team,” Goodyke said. “I think we expect it to be a highly-competitive match. We do know that our coach has scheduled us against top teams in the state all season long, and our conference is pretty difficult so that prepares us as well.
“Those are the types of games we like. We’ve trained for those types of games, and I think we are ready to go out and just have fun and show the work that we’ve put in.”
Two more West Michigan teams advanced to this weekend.
Byron Center is in the Semifinals for the first time in 32 years after sweeping Ann Arbor Skyline 3-0 in a Division 1 Quarterfinal.
“This team is very special and their team chemistry is as good as any team I have ever coached,” Bulldogs coach Missy Ritz-Johnson said. “They are exceptional teammates that work very hard together, and their success is largely due to who they are as people and how much they care for each other. I couldn’t be more proud of this team.”
The Bulldogs (37-5-2) will face Farmington Hills Mercy (40-5-3) today at 4:30 p.m., while Rockford (46-1-1) meets Bloomfield Hills (42-6-1) in the other Division 1 Semifinal.
The Rams, who lost to Northville in last year’s championship match, defeated Traverse City Central 3-0 in a Quarterfinal.
All four Finals are slated for Saturday.
Dean Holzwarth has covered primarily high school sports for Grand Rapids-based WOOD-TV for five years after serving at the Grand Rapids Press and MLive for 16 years along with shorter stints at the Ionia Sentinel and WZZM. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Allegan, Kent and Ottawa counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Grand Rapids Christian takes a photo with their newly-won Regional championship trophy last week. (Middle) The Eagles’ Grace Goodyke gets up for a kill attempt against Tecumseh during Tuesday’s Quarterfinal. (Photos courtesy of the Grand Rapids Christian girls volleyball program.)