Team of the Month: Reese Girls Volleyball
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
December 10, 2021
Saturday will mark three weeks since Reese completed an almost astonishing comeback to win its first MHSAA Volleyball Finals championship.
But the Rockets are still riding high like it happened yesterday – and there’s no reason to end the celebration any time soon.
As volleyball coach Angie Compton looked into the crowd during Thursday’s girls basketball game, she saw a sea of Reese championship shirts – many worn by people she’s never seen before.
“I’ll see people out, and they’re still congratulating us. The girls (Thursday) are like, ‘Oh my God, everybody is wearing our championship shirts today – the town must have all gotten them,’” Compton said. “I think so many alumni are just super excited about it. The school is still so excited for us, and other students, they know it’s a really big deal. It’s really given us something fun, and some pride.”
Reese’s volleyball team – the MHSAA/Applebee’s “Team of the Month” for November – gave us an unforgettable comeback that likely will be brought up for years to come when discussing the tournament’s most extraordinary finishes.
It’s not that the Rockets won, but how:
For starters, the Finals championship was the school’s first since the boys cross country team’s title in 1964.
Reese was up against Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central, which had won the previous two Division 3 championships and five titles total over the last 11 seasons.
The Rockets, meanwhile, had the day before played in their second Semifinal ever and first since 2010.
Reese then lost the first two sets to the Kestrels, 25-18 and 25-19.
And then – as the story was told – the Rockets broke into some unexpected song and dance, keeping things light, and won the next two sets 25-15 and 25-21 and then the final two points of the fifth to clinch at 16-14.
Learning to find the fun in those moments, even the toughest ones, had been part of the team’s mental preparation earlier in the season, and those lessons clearly paid off. The Rockets didn’t enter the match focusing on St. Mary’s past successes, and were able to bounce back midway through the match when it seemed this golden opportunity was all but lost.
“A few years ago, if my team was in this position, I would’ve had a totally different demeanor about it – get refocused, this is what we need to do … it would have been a different talk,” Compton said of climbing out of the 0-2 deficit. “It’s because of this team, and what they respond to. … I think it’s amazing.”
Senior Maddi Osantowski’s 34 kills were the fourth-most in a championship match, senior Josie Johnson’s 29 digs tied for fourth, and senior Sarah Gray also made that digs list with 21. Senior Aydan Dalak – Compton’s daughter – just missed the list for most assists in a Final with 42.
Osantowski was named to the all-state first team after the season, while Dalak made the second and Johnson earned an honorable mention.
Eight seniors total anchored the team, which finished 35-5-1.
Past Teams of the Month, 2021-22
October: Birmingham Groves boys tennis - Read
Kingsley Scores Final Point of 2025 Season to Clinch Program's 1st Finals Title
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
November 22, 2025
BATTLE CREEK – For a set and a half Saturday, it was clear Kalamazoo Christian was the team with a championship experience edge in the Division 3 Volleyball Final against Kingsley.
The Comets were playing at Kellogg Arena for the fourth straight year, having won a title in 2023, finished runner-up in 2022 and reached the Semifinals as well in 2024.
But apparently that set and a half was all the time Kingsley needed to become comfortable in the moment, as the Stags rallied for a 22-25, 26-24, 25-15, 25-12 victory, claiming the program’s first Finals title.
“We got hammered the first game, just didn’t play well,” Kingsley coach Dave Hall said. “Just error after error, tight, and just out of nowhere they find it in them. In the second set we were down again, set point, and somehow they find a way to score a point and tie it. We’ve been in 25 of those this year, and have probably won 23 of them. They just don’t get rattled. I’m chewing my fingernails off and can’t look half the time, and they just play volleyball. It’s amazing.”
Hall’s illustrious career has spanned nearly three decades at Kingsley, as he’s won 1,230 matches in his 27 years with the program.
It was the second time he had taken a team to the final day of the season, with the previous for the Class C Final in 2004.
“It’s surreal,” he said. “I just told somebody that it’s probably going to be tomorrow before I realize what just happened. We’re just enjoying the win right now. … My daughter was just telling me she was 7 years old last time we were here. She’s 28 now, married. It’s awesome. I don’t even know if I have words right now to describe the feeling.
“Honestly, these kids have worked so hard. They got knocked out in the Regional Final in four sets (a year ago), and their goal was to come back and go further. Our motto has been one more day, one more day, just try to get to the end of the season. I said, ‘We’re going to play the last point of the volleyball season in the state of Michigan today, and it’s going to be match point and we’re going to win this thing.’ Thank goodness it worked out that way.”
It didn’t look that way early, as Kalamazoo Christian led from 4-3 on in the first set to take early control of the match. It then weathered a fast Kingsley start to the second before going up 24-22 with a chance to take complete command.
“I think we were playing really loose,” Comets coach Carlie Southland said. “Having a lot of fun and playing really disciplined in our passing, blocking and serving.”
Kingsley (57-4-1) would win the next four points, however, and never let go of the momentum, as Kalamazoo Christian (30-12-3) would never have another lead in the match.
“I think we were just kind of nervous at the start,” Kingsley senior setter Sarah Wooer said. “Then in the second set we realized that we were really in it, we just had to play hard. Once we realized that we were doing well and we could win, we just kept playing hard and we were able to pull it off.”
The lone glimmer of hope for Kalamazoo Christian came late in the third set, when it cut a 15-7 Kingsley lead down to 16-11. But a wild rally that included diving saves from Wooer, Isabelle Seitz and Aizlyn McKinley ended with a Jenna Middleton kill, and Kingsley rolled from there.
The play was a great representation of how the Stags played throughout much of the match.
“I think we all just read the hitters really well,” Wooer said. “We knew they had really good hitters, and we were able to adjust our block really well. Our blockers played a big part in it. Our defense played well, and we were able to just keep the ball off the floor, that’s all we try to do.”
Seitz led Kingsley with 28 digs, while Aizlyn McKinley had 22, Middleton had 15 and Ariyah McKinley had 14.
Wooer finished with 48 assists on the day, with Middleton coming in at 19 kills, Aizlyn McKinley at 15 and Delaney Case at 12.
Elliana VanDusen led the Comets with 18 kills, while Eliana Keller had 13. Lily Manion finished with 28 digs for Kalamazoo Christian, Ellory Zuiderveen had 11, and Reagan Zuiderveen had 36 assists.
PHOTOS (Top) Kingsley’s Sarah Wooer (6) sets for teammate Jenna Middleton (11) on Saturday as Kalamazoo Christian’s Elliana VanDusen prepares to defend. (Middle) Kingsley’s Aizlyn McKinley sends a kill attempt toward the net and Kalamazoo Christian blockers Ashlyn Triemstra (14) and Lydia Boley (7).