Veteran Madison Aiming for Repeat Run
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
September 8, 2017
By Doug Donnelly
Special for Second Half
ADRIAN – Last November, Kiarah Horn was part of the first Adrian Madison volleyball team to reach the MHSAA Semifinals in more than 25 years. She’d like nothing more than to do it again.
“It was an awesome experience,” said the Madison senior. “We all want to get back to where we were last year. We are excited about it.”
If the first few weeks of the 2017 volleyball campaign are any indication, the Trojans from Lenawee County could be knocking on the door again come MHSAA tournament time.
Madison went 57-4-2 last season, including a perfect 14-0 in the Tri-County Conference, and was a surprise winner over Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central in the Class C Regional Final. The Trojans beat Allen Park Cabrini to advance to the Semifinals at Kellogg Arena in Battle Creek before losing to Brown City. It was Madison’s first Semifinal run since 1993 when current head coach Dawn Opsal’s sister was a member of the Trojans team.
“It was so rewarding last year for the girls to get there,” said Opsal, who is a Madison graduate in her 20th season leading the program. “They worked so hard. To beat SMCC, to get to the Semifinals, that was a great experience for everyone. It kind of showed them that, ‘Hey, we can compete.’”
SMCC was the top-ranked team in Class C and a 2015 Class C runner-up when Madison knocked it out of the 2016 tournament.
Opsal, who works in the business office at Madison, was a four-sport athlete in high school and has been around Madison nearly all of her life. The school held a ceremony retiring her number a couple of seasons ago, but she is still going strong. Madison has steadily climbed the volleyball ranks since she took over the program in 1999, a season that saw Madison win just 10 matches. She now owns four TCC championships and six District titles since 2008. She has more than 500 wins.
This year, Opsal created a more rigorous summer schedule and beefed up the regular-season schedule. Topping the school wins record is the last thing on her mind.
“The 57 wins just sort of happened,” she said. “That wasn’t our goal. We just got on a roll and it happened. For me, it’s not about a record or number of wins. I want the girls to play hard, to work hard and get better and, when the time comes, be ready for the (MHSAA) tournament.”
Horn, the senior setter, said the summer schedule was good for her and her teammates, who had to replace three key players, including Ysabela Soto, now playing at Oakland Community College in Auburn Hills.
“We played a lot of bigger schools,” Horn said. “It was a challenge.”
The regular season has been kind to Madison so far. The Trojans are 14-3-1 after winning Thursday’s match against TCC opponent Britton Deerfield. That also includes winning the Addison Tournament, advancing to the finals of the Tecumseh Tournament before losing to Ann Arbor Huron in the championship match (25-23, 25-19) and making it to the semifinals at Schoolcraft College before bowing out to Detroit Cass Tech, 25-22, 22-25, 15-8.
Madison played in summer leagues at Siena Heights University and Schoolcraft College, plus got into some games at Spring Arbor University.
“We have had a good start to the season,” libero Kia Rainey said. “We’ve played against some bigger schools. That will help us later in the season.”
Opsal said the schedule is by design.
“I kind of wanted to see some different schools and see how we competed with them,” she said. “I want to show this team right where we need to be.”
Seven players from last year’s team are on this season’s roster, including Rainey and Horn, Rachel Isom (opposite/middle blocker), Emma Freshcorn (middle blocker), Mahala Raleigh (opposite, middle blocker), and outside hitters Laura Teunion-Smith and Kaiya Wall. Wall, who is approaching 1,000 career kills, was second team all-state last season while Horn was an honorable mention choice.
Of the 10 girls on the varsity roster, five are seniors and five are juniors. Jersi Garza, Taylor Jordan and Kaitlyn Svoboda are the three newcomers.
“I’m excited with all of the returning players and the young ones coming up,” Opsal said. “I know the team has great hope. Last year was a great experience, but we want to make that repeat again and again. We’ve got a lot of little things to work on, but there is time.”
Doug Donnelly has served as a sports and news reporter and city editor over 25 years, writing for the Daily Chief-Union in Upper Sandusky, Ohio from 1992-1995, the Monroe Evening News from 1995-2012 and the Adrian Daily Telegram since 2013. He's also written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Madison all-stater Kaiya Wall puts down a kill past two blockers. (Middle) Trojans coach Dawn Opsal (facing, third from left) huddles with her team during last season’s Semifinal against Brown City. (Top photo by Joni Cabello Ehinger.)
Class A Final Rematch Goes to Novi
November 21, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
BATTLE CREEK – Novi was plenty familiar with Romeo heading into Saturday’s Class A Final at Kellogg Arena.
And the Wildcats had more or less memorized last season’s championship match loss to the Bulldogs. “I watched that game … a lot,” Novi senior Victoria Iacobelli said. “Too many times to count.”
But she and her teammates also were more familiar with the stage of an MHSAA Finals weekend after last year advancing for the first time since 2007. And that made all the difference in reversing last season’s result.
The top-ranked Wildcats won the first set this time and then the final two to down Romeo in four – 25-16, 20-25, 25-21, 25-17.
“Obviously last year was a new environment, so there were a lot more nerves coming in,” Iacobelli said. “So we knew this year we had to stay calm and come in with confidence, whether that meant passing well and serving well, or just playing our system and trusting the girls on our team to do what they’ve got to do. And that’s what we did.
“We started strong, and that was a large contributor … confidence.”
Understanding the significance of Saturday, aside from the obvious – Novi winning its first MHSAA title in the sport in only its third trip past the Regionals Final – requires a brief review of last season’s championship match.
Romeo won in five sets after Novi got behind 2-0 and fought back to even. Recently-awarded Miss Volleyball Gia Milana cemented her status as favorite with 29 kills, including six in the final game.
This time, Novi won convincingly the first set before Romeo drew even winning the second. The third set was close, and at the end of the afternoon Milana again had 29 kills including a couple that simply were jaw-dropping – but by the midway point of the fourth set, it was clear Novi was surging toward the decisive finish. Wildcats juniors Ally Cummings and Emmy Robinson combined to block one final Milana attack back across the net for the final point.
“There’s obviously a little more motivation coming in from last year. (A rematch) wasn’t necessarily on our minds through the postseason, but I know as soon as Thursday was over and Romeo was our opponent, there was a lot more motivation,” Iacobelli said.
Milana’s kills will again tie for sixth most in an MHSAA Final during the rally scoring era that began in 2004-05. But Novi senior Paulina Iacobelli also will make the list with 20, and she didn't have a hitting error. Cummings had 17 and 21 digs and Victoria Iacobelli added 13 kills and six aces.
Sophomore Erin O’Leary’s 47 assists also tied how many she had in the 2014 match – and again for eighth-most in an MHSAA Final.
Romeo entered the tournament ranked No. 6 and ended 48-8-1. Milana will graduate among the top hitters in MHSAA history with her kills this fall ranking among the top 10 for one season. Senior setter Breanna Olley added 39 assists and 15 digs.
“I’m honestly happy for them because they really deserve it,” Milana said. “We just needed to say ‘No.’ We didn’t say no; we played with them instead of at them. We didn’t go after them. We stepped back and let them take the wheel and do whatever they wanted.”
Novi finished 55-2, its only losses this season to Farmington Hills Mercy, an honorable mention in the final Class A coaches poll, and Class B champion Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard.
“I thought if we played our game that we could defeat them. But they’re teenage girls; you’re never quite sure what you’re going to get and how the nerves are going to play into it, and the emotions,” Novi coach Jennifer Cottrill said. “I was confident in our team and our ability to win, and I’m just happy that they went out and performed the way I know they can.
“That was a tough loss last year. They were just so hungry this year."
PHOTOS: (Top) Novi celebrates as coach Jennifer Cottrill hoists the team’s first championship trophy in volleyball. (Middle) Romeo’s Payton Klein follows through on a kill attempt while Novi’s Kathryn Ellison puts up a block.