30———The Games———30

1977 Warren Cousino downedMt. Clemens, 7-15, 15-9,15-13, in the Class A title

match hosted at Schoolcraft College University Center. Sturgis, led by Coach Carol Velasco, earned the

Class B crown with a victory over previously unbeat-en South Haven, 15-1, 15-8. The Trojans had finishedas runner-up in 1976. Susan Wegner led the victorswith 15 kills and one ace.

Edwardsburg grabbed the Class C honors witha 15-10, 3-15, 15-10 victory over Grand RapidsForest Hills Northern.

In Class D, Coach Bill Herrmann's Flint HolyRosary squad extended its winning streak to 89matches over three seasons with an 11-15, 15-3,15-5 come-from-behind decision over Battle CreekSt. Philip. Teresa Shaheen served five straightpoints in the second game to lead the comeback,while sophomore Colleen Shaheen served forseven straight points in the finale.

1982 The PortageNorthern Huskiescapped a 54-5 sea-

son with a 15-11, 15-10 triumph over WalledLake Western in Class A action at Howell HighSchool. Kim Gentry led Northern with 10 killsand five blocks. Teammate Lisa Fink totaledfive kills and four blocks in the championshipgame.

In the Class B contests, also at Howell,Battle Creek Lakeview dumped defendingchamp Stevensville Lakeshore. The top-ranked Spartans, led by first-year coachLinda Marick, trailed Lakeshore, 14-3, inthe first game, but knotted the score at 14-14 before losing, 14-16. After winning thesecond game, 15-4, the Spartans battledback from an 11-8 deficit to secure thetitle with a 15-11 win. The hitting of JackieCampbell and Kim Edwards was pivotaldown the stretch.

Berrien Springs earned its thirdMHSAA title in four years with a 15-10,16-14 win over Battle Creek Pennfieldin the Class C title match played atBattle Creek Central High School.Trailing 14-12 in the second game, thePanthers rallied back, highlighted by apair of aces from Vicki Backus and apoint by Rhonda Thran following afurious volley and a sideout save.With the win, Berrien Springs endedthe year with a 55-6 record.

In Class D at Battle Creek,Saginaw Michigan LutheranSeminary earned its first volleyballtitle by beating traditional power

Leland, 15-7, 15-12.In Upper Peninsula action at Watersmeet High

School, Robin Burton served 12 straight points in thefinal game of the title match as Brimley defeatedIronwood, 16-14, 8-15, 15-4 for the Open Class crown.

1987 Portage Northern becamethe first school to win threestraight Lower Peninsula

MHSAA volleyball titles as it defeated BirminghamMarian, 15-6, 15-13, in the Class A Finals. In the firstgame, Northern was ahead 10-0 before Marian scored.The second game was a different story, with Marian tak-ing a 13-9 lead. However, the Huskies recorded the lastsix points to win the game and title, finishing the seasonwith an impressive 75-1 record.

Comstock was overpowering in the Class B tour-nament. Coach Jeff Borr and his team collected theirsecond straight title by defeating Jackson Lumen Christiin 29 minutes, 15-1, 15-5, in the Semifinals, and GrandRapids Forest Hills Central in 37 minutes, 15-5, 15-3, inthe Finals.

Hanover-Horton earned the nickname “CardiacKids” because of the way they kept fans on the edge oftheir seats all season long. They held true to form in theClass C Finals with two-point, three-game victo-ries over Byron Centerin the Semifinalsand Rogers Cityin the titlematch. In bothi n s t a n c e s ,Coach KarenC l a r k ' sComets hadto bounceback fromo p e n i n g -game lossesto win big inthe secondcontest, andthen hold onfor thrillingGame 3 vic-tories. Thefinal gamescore of theS e m i f i n a l swas 16-14over ByronCenter, and inthe champi-onship match, 15-

Rhonda ThranBerrien Springs – 1982

Battle Creek Enquirer

31———The Games———31

13 over Rogers City.The Class D Finals were a breeze for

Concord. Coach Marty Andrews’ YellowJackets won in the Semifinals, 15-8, 15-2,over perennial power Battle Creek St. Philip,then took the crown with a 15-6, 15-3 blitzingof the Suttons Bay in the Finals. It was thesecond consecutive Class D title for theYellow Jackets (see “Legends”, page 4).

The Brimley volleyball team, rankedsecond in the state all season long in ClassD media polls, topped off its best seasonever by taking the program's sixth UpperPeninsula Open Class MHSAA champi-onship, held in Escanaba. Brimley nevergave Escanaba a chance in the champi-onship match, winning 15-3, 15-5. The victo-ry marked the sixth time in the UpperPeninsula's eight-year Finals history thatBrimley had won the title, including a string offive straight from 1981-85.

1992 In 1985, BerrienSprings coachJim Bermingham

became the first coach to win five MHSAALower Peninsula Girls Volleyball titles. In1992, Jack Magelssen and Sheila Guerrajoined Bermingham and Comstock's JeffBarr in the elite group.

Magelssen's Portage Northern Huskies,with just one senior on the squad, blitzedthrough the tournament to win the Class Atitle, culminating with a 15-3, 15-7 win overTemperance-Bedford in the Finals. Big-timeshots came from Katie Bekker, Kerry Ginterand Magelssen's freshman daughter,Jennifer. His other daughter, Heather, wasthe team's setter.

Pinconning also was used to volleyballsuccess, having reached the Quarterfinalsthe previous five years. It was advancing to,and winning in, the Finals that had been ahurdle the Spartans could not clear. CoachJeff Williams made sure 1992 would end ona winning note as Pinconning defeatedFenton, 15-5, 15-10, to capture its first ClassB crown. Comstock's powerful teams hadbeen a major factor in stopping the Spartans

in previous years, but Pinconning pulled off ahuge 15-13, 7-15, 15-13 upset of the top-ranked Colts in the Semifinals before beatingFenton for the championship. Pinconningwas led by setter Becky Miller and the expe-rience of five senior starters.

Concord had won MHSAA titles beforein volleyball, just never in Class C. TheYellow Jackets had previously won two ClassD championships. It had been five yearssince they had made as far as theSemifinals, but they took just 40 minutes tooust Burton Atherton, 15-6, 15-6, in theFinalas and take the Class C crown.

Battle Creek St. Philip had become aperennial favorite in Class D, but CoachSheila Guerra had failed to capture a titlesince the Finals had moved to KalamazooCentral. Her teams had gone home disap-pointed the previous two years, falling justshort of their goal. Thanks to some tall mid-dle hitters, not even the Kalamazoo Centraljinx could stop the Fighting Tigers as her tal-ented team edged Dryden, 16-14, 15-12, inthe Class D Final. Senior Beth Crawford (6-2) and junior Megan Reetz (6-0) led thecharge to St. Philip's sixth crown.

In Upper Peninsula play at EscanabaHigh School, seniors Angie Jenko and LauraNewberry combined for 22 points on servesto lead Ironwood to the Class A-B-C titlewith a 15-13, 15-2 win over the hostEscanaba squad. It was the second consec-utive crown for the Red Devils, who over-came a 7-2 deficit in the opening game.

Always a bridesmaid, Cedarville shedthe role with a 15-6, 15-5 defeat of defendingchampion Brimley in Class D. It was theschool's first volleyball title after finishing sec-ond the previous four years.

1997 Upsets were fewand far betweenas all four tourna-

ment winners were ranked No. 1 in theirrespective classes in the final coaches' asso-ciation poll.

Sophomore Kim Taskey had 12 kills andsophomore Kaitlyn Martin added six kills and

five service acesto lead PortageNorthern to itsninth Class Atitle, all under theleadership ofHead Coach JackMagelssen. TheHuskies’ 15-4, 15-5 victory overRomeo in theFinals was alsotheir fifth title in sixyears.

Marysv i l l ebecame just thesecond team inMHSAA volleyballhistory to win a

title with an unbeaten record. The Vikingsfinished 57-0 on the way to their first everClass B crown (beginning a streak that hasnow reached five straight). The first schoolto finish undefeated with a title was PortageNorthern's 1995 team, which was 82-0.Jenny Conger had seven kills and KellyHarrison four, while Jennie Williams had fivekills and eight assisted blocks for Marysville,as the Vikings defeated Charlotte, 15-10, 15-12, in the Finals.

Coach Bill Abbott's Hanover-HortonComets won their second straight Class Ctitle, beating Lake Fenton 15-13, 15-9.Proving that taller is not necessarily better;the shorter Comets had 41 kills to LakeFenton's 26. Tahny Dean, a 5-10 middle hit-ter, led the way with 15 kills. Rillie Spink, a 5-8 senior outside hitter, added 14.

After a one-year absence, Battle CreekSt. Philip's Sheila Guerra won her ninthClass D title – the school’s 10th overall –when her Fighting Tigers beat Center LineSt. Clement, 15-6, 15-9. The seniors, BrookeFormsma, Mary Chadwick, Sarah Reetz,Megan Markovich, and Teresa Bess allplayed big roles in the championship match.Reetz was virtually unstoppable, hitting killsfrom the middle to the right and left. She had15 kills and a .565 hitting percentage.

In the Upper Peninsula, Ironwood cap-tured its third Class A-B-C title overall, andfirst in five years with a 15-5, 15-3 win overRudyard. The Class D Final in the U.P. wentto Cedarville for the sixth straight year, as theTrojans toppled Iron Mountain NorthDickinson, 15-3, 15-10. The six straight is stilla record for consecutive volleyball titles inMichigan.

— Compiled by MHSAA InternMatthew “Mo” Gerhardt and

MHSAA Historian Ron Pesch

Gary Shook, Otsego

Becky ChubbPinconning – 1992

Shyann RobinsonPortage Northern – 1997