Weber Coming Up Big Again as Madison Eyes League, District Opportunities
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
October 12, 2021
ADRIAN – Abby Weber doesn’t stand out on the volleyball court during warm-ups or lineup introductions.
At about 5-foot-6, Weber doesn’t look like a dominating volleyball player – until the game starts, that is. After that, opponents better know where she’s at and how to stop her.
The Adrian Madison senior captain has been the key cog in a Trojans volleyball team that won its 33rd match of the season Monday. She’s on the varsity for the fourth straight season and, with her on the team, Madison hasn’t lost a Tri-County Conference game. The Trojans have won 49 straight TCC matches – and picked up five straight league titles along the way. They are in great shape to capture a sixth straight as they are 7-0 in the league with five matches left.
In the win over Ottawa Lake Whiteford, Weber was more than dominating, standing out for her serving, hitting, and seemingly making every dig necessary.
“It’s just her drive,” Madison coach Heather Lanning said. “She is one of those kids who has a heart of gold and the drive and the ambition. She will not let a ball drop.”
Weber started playing volleyball when she was 6, at the YMCA in Adrian. She attended volleyball camps at Madison while growing up, then joined a travel team out of Toledo, located about 35 minutes from Madison, which is in Lenawee County. She played two years on the middle school team, then was brought straight to the Trojans varsity as a freshman.
She played her way into the lineup and has stayed there since. Last year she was the only underclassmen in an otherwise all-senior lineup. Despite not being a senior, she was a captain. It is a role she relishes.
“They all depend on me because I’m a captain,” she said. “I love to help them and give them energy. When someone gets a kill or something, I want to congratulate them because it’s a big deal. They love it.”
In the win over Whiteford, Weber recorded her 1,500th career kill. Earlier this year she went over 1,000 digs. It’s kind of like a basketball player having 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds during a career.
“It just goes to show her drive and her ability on the court,” Lanning said. “That’s just Abby.”
Lanning is the second coach Weber has played for during her four-year varsity career. Lanning previously coached the Trojans JV team, so she was familiar with most of the Madison varsity when she got the head coaching job. She didn’t now Weber, but it didn’t take her long to notice what a gem she had inherited.
“She already knew everyone else,” Weber said. “I was into the mix with them.”
Lanning was looking over some statistics from the last couple of seasons when she realized the milestone her returning all-conference and all-county player was nearing.
“She told me I was coming up to 1,500 digs,” Weber said. “I know it was a pretty great accomplishment to get it. I’m happy about it.”
Weber said she couldn’t do it alone. Through Monday she has 1,508 career digs and 1,104 career kills. She had 19 kills and 17 digs in Monday’s match alone.
“My team helps me,” Weber said. “I wouldn’t be able to get a dig if it wasn’t for people helping me and telling me where everyone is, and I wouldn’t have as many kills as I do if it wasn’t for my setters and back row making the pass. It’s because of everyone.”
Driven by a high energy level on the court, Weber often serves, then makes a move to get closer to the net, and, finally, will get to the front row before the ball is back on her team’s side.
“I like to go with the faster-pace tempo,” she said.
Lanning said wherever she puts Weber, she is impressed.
“She’s very effective on the attack from the back row,” Lanning said. “She can still kill it from the back row. It doesn’t matter where she is at.”
The moves Weber made impressed her opposing coach Monday. Whiteford’s Janie Bunge saw far too much of Weber.
“She was everywhere,” Bunge said. “As soon as her rotation came up, she’d serve six or seven points in a row. We couldn’t stop her.”
Weber is interested in playing college volleyball but isn’t sure where at the moment. She’s been looking at some schools at the NAIA level.
“I love being part of a team,” Weber said. “I have made a lot of friends from volleyball and competing against other teams. It’s really fun.”
Madison keeps getting stronger as the season goes on. They are getting contributions from multiple players, including sophomores Tatum Wilson and Jillian Kendrick, four juniors and five of Weber’s fellow seniors, such as Mallory Palpant and Hannah Kendrick. All four of those players had their moments in Monday’s win.
Madison has begun getting some votes in the weekly Michigan Interscholastic Volleyball Coaches Association rankings. The Trojans were among the honorable mention teams in the latest Division 3 poll. The top-ranked team – Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central – is in the District that Madison will host.
“We are thinking about Districts,” Weber said. “We’re just going to try and figure out where the other teams’ holes are and what we need to do.”
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 Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Adrian Madison’s Abby Weber gets high over the net on a kill attempt this season against Sand Creek. (Middle) Webber sends a volley back toward the Aggies’ side of the net. (Photos by Mike Dickie.)
Jenison Ace Enters Senior Season Fueled by Team's 2024 Breakout Success
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
August 28, 2025
JENISON – Karis Chatfield will remember last year’s Division 1 District Final against Hudsonville as one of the best days of her life thus far.
It was a day that erased several years of heartbreaking losses for the Jenison volleyball team.
“I will talk about that day forever because it was one of the best feelings I’ve ever had,” the senior standout said. “Some of the girls we played against were my best friends and they had beaten us the last two years, so to pull off that win in that atmosphere and to do that in front of that crowd and then to be able to play in the Regional Finals on our home court was just an awesome opportunity.”
Jenison swept rival Hudsonville 3-0 to claim its first District championship since 2013 and then defeated Mona Shores in the Regional Semifinals.
The season ended against Rockford in the Regional Finals, but that loss is fueling this year’s team.
“That's our goal again this year, but our goal is to get even further,” Chatfield said. “I think the loss to Rockford is going to light a fire under our butts. Not every girl plays at a super-high club level and hasn’t been in those situations to see those lights when the pressure is on you, so I think they learned a lot about what it takes mentally. I think that will help a lot this year.”
Chatfield, a returning all-state first-team selection who has committed to East Tennessee State, will be joined by several key returnees, including senior Charlee Cochran and juniors Ava Bush-Nelson, Rylee Paddock and McKenzie Thompson.
Wildcats coach Teran Peerboom-Vanderbroek said last year’s MHSAA Tournament run gave her team a taste of playing in pressure-packed moments against quality competition.
“Now that they’ve seen that and been there, they kind of got the feel for it and they know that they can do it,” she said. “Yes, the big stage was new to us, but we handled the pressure and we are ready to go this year. We beat Rockford twice last year, we beat Northville, so they’re excited for the opportunity to be on that platform again.
“We want to win and go further than last year, and I definitely think we have the potential and the talent to do so.”
Chatfield, an outside hitter, has emerged as one of the top players in the state and was named a finalist for Detroit Free Press Preseason Player of the Year.
As a junior, the 5-foot-11 Chatfield registered 518 kills, 470 digs, 62 assists, 73 aces and 39 blocks. She is among the program’s top three leaders in kills, digs and aces.
“Skill-wise, she’s just so talented and it’s her dedication to practicing, to the sport,” Peerboom-Vanderbroek said. “She’s playing non-stop year-round, trying to get touches and trying to improve. She doesn't want to be mediocre, she wants to be great, and she has a very high expectation for herself.”
Chatfield is taking all of the preseason hype in stride.
“Volleyball is still a game and what I love to do, so I don’t feel a ton of external pressure,” she said. “I’m just having fun with it and setting these goals for myself. If I achieve them then that’s awesome, but if I don’t then it gives me something to work harder for in the future.”
Chatfield had already eclipsed 1,000 career digs, and Tuesday night against West Catholic she reached 1,500 career kills.
“I came into my senior year with a lot of goals,” Chatfield said. “Some of these goals I already achieved and I’m just adding layers onto them, but for me it’s more of a team sport than an individual sport so I really want to focus on what my team has done for me and things that have allowed me to get where I am.”
Chatfield’s competitiveness can be attributed to her family background.
“We’ve always been super competitive, and that competitive edge in me just always wants me to be the best and make my teammates better,” Chatfield said.
The Wildcats, who shared the Ottawa-Kent Conference Green title last year with Caledonia, have opened the season with eight wins over their first nine matches.
“They’ve been playing well, and we are just figuring out what we are going to do with our lineup and trying to solidify that before conference starts because we have a lot of options,” Peerboom-Vanderbroek said. “A lot of our players are just so versatile and they can play multiple positions. We are just trying to figure out what is the best fit for our team this year, and I think that speaks to our players that they can play so many positions so well.”
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) Jenison’s Karis Chatfield sets up for one of her more than 1,000 career digs. (Middle) Chatfield and her teammates celebrate their District championship last season. (Top photo by Robert McCulfor Photography.)