YPSILANTI – The two best girls' volleyball teams in the state collided in the Catholic High School League playoffs, Saturday, Oct. 10.
Farmington Hills Mercy, ranked No. 1 in Division 1, and Bloomfield Hills Marian, rated a notch behind, met at the George Gervin GameAbove Center at Eastern Michigan University in a daylong volleyball tripleheader to decide the Bishop, Cardinal and Ste. Anne's division winners.
Marian charged out to an 8-0 lead in the first set and to 10-3 in the second set, then withstood Mercy’s rallies for 25-21 and 25-23 victories.
Mercy won the third set, 25-22, but Marian broke away from a 13-13 deadlock to win the fourth and deciding set, 25-17. The schools have split the Bishop Division title 5-5 in the last ten years.
“There’s a lot of trust in this team. There’s a lot of great chemistry,” said Marian coach Mayssa Cook. “Obviously, it’s clear thus far that there’s a lot of talent on the team (28-3-0), yet I believe we win because of the trust and how much love the girls have for each other.”
Cook singled out senior Sophie Smith (17 kills, 5 blocks, 9 digs), particularly in the fourth set.
“She’s such a positive presence and a calming presence on the court," Cook added.
Junior Quinn Nelson had 19 kills, junior Ashton Pelon 33 digs and setter freshman Molly Hickey 51 assists.
“I was happy we managed to come back,” said Mercy coach Loretta Vogel. “But I needed something that would light a fire under some people. The (assistant) coaches weren’t sure about it, but I said we needed something to change so they would look at us differently.”
She moved senior outside hitter Kate Kalczynski – a surefire Miss Volleyball candidate, with 1,300-plus career kills and a Penn State commit – to libero. Mercy won the third set.
Cook dismissed the notion that Mercy’s adjustment had any major effect.
“I think it was more that we didn’t serve as aggressively," Cook explained. "We didn’t pass as well as we had done in the first two sets and then again like we did in the fourth.”
Mercy freshman outside hitter Cate Verkeyn had 19 kills and four blocks, Kalczynski 15 digs, and sophomore setter Kaelyn Easton 41 assists.
State tournaments will begin Nov. 10. Mercy (20-2-0) is the defending Division 1 champion. The Marlins also won in 2019 and 2023. Marian won state titles in 2009-10 and 2020-21-22.
A first for Divine Child
Divine Child’s girls teams have won 100 CHSL championships in 10 sports in the school’s history. Well, make it 101 in 11 sports after the Falcons outlasted Ann Arbor Fr. Gabriel Richard in five sets – 25-17 21-25 26-24 18-25 15-13 – for the Cardinal Division championship.
“Man, I’ll tell you what,” jubilant coach Mark Grenier said. “That’s just what you’d want on a championship game. You’d want a great match that goes five, and you know, we were just really fortunate that we were able to come out and do it. We did a five-series with them earlier (Sept. 10), and we won it. So really proud of where we’re at and what these kids are.”
Senior middle hitter Eliza Szczypka-Klein had 16 kills, three down the stretch of the thrilling third set.
“We knew that we could do it, but we knew that we had to put ourselves to the test, and we couldn't be complacent," Szcypka-Klein said. “We also have homecoming later (that evening), so we had a reason to win.”
Senior outside hitter Amelia Mastrogiacomo had eight kills, including the one that won the third set.
Statistical leaders for Gabriel Richard included freshman Mia Keefer, 18 kills; senior Courtney Dyer, 16 kills; sophomore Mary Lynn Hendershot, 11 kills; sophomore Rylee Burke, 29 digs; and freshman Alison Oleszkowicz, 17 digs.
A two-peat for Greenhills
Ann Arbor Greenhills won the first two sets 25-17 and 27-25. Madison Hills Bishop Foley responded by winning the third and fourth sets 25-15 and 25-17 to set the stage for a torrid deciding fifth set won 16-14 by Greenhills, giving the Gryphons the Ste. Anne Division trophy two years in a row.
A week earlier, Greenhills lost a five-set match to Bishop Foley in a regular-season-ending league game. "The girls were just real hungry,” Coach Tiffany Willard said. “You know what, their effort tonight, they’re just teenage girls fighting through life here and coming together as a team. I’m so proud of this team.”
Junior Lexi Harper with 14 kills and senior Priya Parikh with 13 led the Gryphons' offense.
“We played tough,” said second-year Bishop Foley coach Jess Fett. “We knew it would be like this.“
Fett offered high praise for senior Leah McCulloch, who had 20 kills.
“She has been a force at the net for us the entire season, and my libero Sophie Barnes. She's a junior who just keeps everything off the floor and has so much intensity.”
Setter Junior Abbey Jones directed the offense with 51 assists.
Contact Don Horkey at [email protected]
