ROCHESTER HILLS — Winning was a new experience for a pair of coaches at the Catholic High School League’s girl volleyball championships Oct. 4 at Oakland University O’Rena.
“I’m super pumped,” said Ann Arbor Greenhills coach Tiffany Willard-Norris amid the celebration of Greenhills beating Clarkston Everest Collegiate for its first Ste. Anne Division crown.
“Getting used to this private school stuff,” said Orchard Lake St. Mary’s Prep’s new coach Ross Talbott. “I’ve never played on a gym floor like this or at a college.” The Eaglets overwhelmed Macomb Lutheran North for their fourth consecutive Cardinal Division title.
Greenhills 25-18, 21-25, 25-19, 25-18
Greenhills (12-5) and Everest (13-4-2), the defending two-time champ, split the first two sets. The Gryphons trailed 12-5 in the third set before junior Priya Parikh slammed four consecutive kills to fire up a rally that carried over into the decisive fourth set.
Parikh ended up with 14 kills. Sophomores Lexi Harper had 10 and Enan Shihadeh 5.
“We had some tough going there,” Willard-Norris said. “We were real nervous and they just pulled it together. That's been the heart of our team all year, that we find ways to win, we find ways to support each other.
“I am super pumped about this team. We graduated nine seniors last year. For them to rebuild and load and trust each other, it's just a testament of our work and on how they're bought into each other.”
Everest coach Danielle Walker reflected on her team's performance.
“Yeah, I think we had a slow start," Walker said. "We knew what we had to do, and they were ready. We played them last week (Greenhills won 3-0); I think we got a little tired, and then we had really high moments where we had the energy. We were competitive.
“But then when those unforced errors hit us, instead of just resetting each point and moving forward, we kind of got stuck in the past on the errors.”
Everest lost eight seniors from a year ago. “So we are in the rebuild stage,” Walker said. “(With) the younger girls coming up, we’re just trying to figure out what line-ups are, who's playing where.”
St. Mary’s 25-9, 25-17, 25-17
Talbott said he was proud of the Eaglets' overall performance, even if a few things need to be cleaned up.
“In the first set we came out with swinging big,” Talbott said, “We controlled the game with our ball control and then at the net where obviously we’re a little bit bigger. But it came down to ball control and serve-service team like it does in most games.
“I think we just got a little bit of complacent in the second and third sets. We laid off the gas a little, but then I think we turned it up at the end.”
Talbott has been coaching club volleyball for 15 years at the national level. He was the varsity coach at Rochester Stoney Creek High School from 2016-2023 and last year as varsity assistant at Bloomfield Hills High School.
About rumblings that St. Mary’s (16-6-2), who has won the Cardinal Division four years in a row, may be moved up to the Bishop Division, Talbott said, “To be honest, we begged to move up this year, but they said one more year. It's almost, ‘Be careful what you wish for,’ because you know, now (we’d be) hanging with the Marians and the Mercys, but we're junior-heavy, so we'll be ready for that league next year.”
“We played St. Mary’s earlier this year,” Lutheran North (16-8) coach Paul Drdul said, “and, you know, they're tough. So we knew what we had coming in against them. We wanted to be a little bit more competitive, but we're happy to be here. And the girls worked their butts off to get here. So overall, obviously we're super proud of them.”
The Mustangs (16-8) lost to St. Mary’s in the finals two years ago. About St. Mary’s moving up, Drdul laughed, “That’s the best news of all.”
Contact Don Horkey at [email protected].
