Vball Banquet

It was great to get together one last time as a team to put a cap on our awesome season!

Thank you Seniors! We will miss you all!!!

Ha Ha Coach Rachel!

We know how much you love those bubble knee pads!

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And the awards....

Returning Varsity Letter Winners:

Senior Captain Emma vanPietersom

Senior Captain Sara Pridmore

Senior Captain Janelle Lostutter

Senior Jennifer Grabowski

Senior Stephanie Raezler

1st Time Varsity Volleyball Letter Winners:
Senior Allie Gerds

Junior Kara Looker

Junior Kristine Washburn

Sophomore Sarah Coleman

Freshman Emma Cooper

Metro Conference Academic Excellence Award:

Emma vanPietersom

Stephanie Raezler

Sara Pridmore

Jennifer Grabowski

Allie Gerds

Kristine Washburn

Sarah Coleman

Emma Cooper

Lutheran Northwest Academic Excellence Award:

Sarah Coleman

Allie Gerds

Jennifer Grabowski

Sara Pridmore

Emma vanPietersom

Stephanie Raezler

TEAM All-State, All-Academic

2007 LHNW Crusaders!

All-State, All-Academic Volleyball (Individual):

Sara Pridmore

Allie Gerds

Stephanie Raezler

Emma vanPietersom

Metro All-Conference Awards:

2nd Team: Emma vanPietersom

1st Team: Sara Pridmore

1st Team: Janelle Lostutter

All Region Team: Janelle Lostutter

Sportsmanship Award: Kristine Washburn

Teamwork Award: Jennifer Grabowski

Most Improved Player: Kara Looker

"Miss Mentally Tough": Stephanie Raezler

Most Valuable Player: Emma vanPietersom

Paper Plate Awards:

Coop: Lord of the Rings

Cole: Triple Threat

Kristine: Spiderman

Kara: Great Catch

Janelle: Trooper

Allie: Entertainer

Jennifer: Gratuity

Sara: Operator

Stephanie: Marcus Thames

Emma: eMVP

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'til next year ladies...

Coach Jessie = )

Regional Finalists!

Spaghetti Dinner at Stephanies Friday night!

Our fans were CRAZY-AWESOME on Saturday. Thanks so much for supporting us. It made the whole experience so much more exciting for all of us. I hope to see more of the same next year!

Northwest made it to the Regional Finals! GREAT JOB!

First we defeated River Rouge 25-9, 25-23, 25-9.

Although we lost in the Final to Shrine 16-25, 20-25, 18-25, our girls played with HEART and we went out leaving it all out on the court. We can be proud of our play and know that our season was a success because we gave it our best!

Year End Stats

Emma - 99.4% serving* (335/337)... 260 serves in a row without a miss*! 170 points, 14 aces, 201 digs, 30 kills, 771 assists*, 1 block

Janelle - 207 points*, 54 aces*, 440 digs*, 86% serve receive, 274 kills, 7 blocks, 10 assists

Sara - 338 kills*, 24% kills*, 49 blocks*, 64 digs, 4 assists

Jennifer - 185 points, 52 aces, 161 digs, 86% serve receive, 1 kill, 4 assists

Stephanie - 156 points, 45 aces, 94% serving, 175 digs, 2 kills, 4 assists

Allie - 11 kills, 9 digs, 8 points, 11 assists

Kara - 110 points, 21 aces, 268 digs, 124 kills, 10 assists, 9 blocks

Kristine - 45 kills, 18 blocks, 42 digs, 18 assists

Cole - 163 points, 31 aces, 93% serving, 133 digs, 90 kills, 20 blocks, 23 assists

Coop - 138 points, 27 aces, 90% serving, 186 digs, 91% serve receive*, 87% overall passing*, 13 kills, 8 assists, 2 blocks

* team high

Record: 20-14-3

D I S T R I C T C H A M P S ! ! !

I'll say it again... Class C Crusaders are CLUTCH! = )

It was a great day for the Crusaders sweeping through to the District Championship!!!

Sacred Heart... 25-18, 25-23, 25-15

Clawson... 25-17, 25-23, 26-24

Sara had a day... wow... 45 kills!!! 6 blocks too!
Janelle had 25 kills, 8 aces and 34 digs
Emma had 75 assists and is now at 235 consecutive serves without a miss! (310/312)
Cole's kill was the most exciting one of the day as it clinched the 26-24 victory and the District Trophy!
Coop was 20-for-20 on serve receive, had 9 digs and 21 points
Jen was one of our best passers! 18 digs! 10/11 serve receive
Kara had 27 digs and 7 kills
Steph had 15 digs, 14/16 serve receive
Kristine was 20/22 passing and 10/10 hitting.

I am very proud of all of you... each girl that has a medal today earned it. If not on the court today, you were there at the practices making our TEAM better by giving them AMAZING competition and encouragement. We are all a team and we are AWESOME! Enjoy this District Championship and then it's back to work on Tuesday! There's more opportunitites to seize!

Spotlight on... EMMA

EMMA (aka Em), Senior Captain, 5'5" Setter, 2nd yr on Varsity

Club Experience: VIP (3 years), Mi Elite (1 year)

Favorite Sports Movie: MIRACLE

Best thing about your team: We are so close. No one gets mad at each other and everyone is so supportive. I love our team!

Coolest thing about being a setter: It's great to be able to contribute to every play. I get a huge sense of accomplishment when I see my hitters succeed!

What's it like being a captain?: It's a wonderful opportunity to be a leader. It pushes me to be more vocal and to be a positive example through my demeanor. It pulls the best out of me.

Best MTT tip: The power of your thoughts is unimaginable. The things you can accomplish through positive thinking & visualization are countless.

Coach says... Emma handles the pressure of being a senior captain and our setter with ease. She is always poised under pressure and leads her team with confidence. She is a great setter, defender and server. She has a positive attitude and she helps me learn how to be a better coach with her insight and input. She exhibits mental toughness, leadership and confidence.

Spotlight on... SARAH

Sarah (aka COLE!), Sophomore, 5'9" MH/RH, 1st year on Varsity Club Experience: 3 years (1 USA Michigan, 1 TPV, 1 Michigan Elite) Favorite Drill: Dig or Die Other Sports: Basketball, Softball Best thing about your team: Everyone is encouraging. No one gets mad if someone messes up; we just move on to the next play. Coolest thing about being a middle hitter: A lot of net plays like blocking, tipping and hitting. Best MTT tip: If you're down on yourself, your team will get down. If you're positive, your team will be positive... so stay positive! Coach says... Cole is a consistent force on the court. She often tends to be our "unsung" hero, quietly giving key performances. She is one of our most consistent servers and attackers. Her specialty is the re-direct kill. She's one of the few players that is truly a "utility" player and can be used in any position effectively. She has good fundamental skills and it will be a pleasure to build this program with Cole for three years.

Spotlight on... KARA

KARA (aka Kare, Karebear, KaRUH), 5'8" Junior, OH, 1st yr on Varsity Favorite Drill: The Pit Other Sports: Basketball, Soccer Best thing about your team: We are all so close and have so much team unity. I love my team like I love my sisters! Coolest thing about being an OH: When I get a kill that no one can touch, it's such a great high, its like God looks down from the heavens and angels sing and everything is good! Best MTT Tip: Never focus on past mistakes, it will only ruin your game. Tell yourself the good things you're about to do. Favorite Cheer: Ahh Roof (clap clap) roof roof ROOF ROOF! Coach says... Kara is an awesome all-around player. She is a great passer, hitter and server. She has improved SO MUCH from the beginning of the season, especially in her mental game. She is passionate about the game and that drives her to keep getting better. I am extremely proud of Kara... when I think about how much she's grown this year, it makes me beam inside!

2nd in Metro Conference Tournament!!!

We met for a team breakfast at Kerbys and then Stephanie hosted the team at her house for an inspirational viewing of "Miracle".

I was very proud of our team today. First we

played Liggett. We started off rough, getting shut out 0-10 before we scored our first point! We were down nearly the whole game, but we maintained our mental toughness and fought back and won 25-23. The defeat was deflating to Liggett and we dominated the 2nd game, winning 25-6. This match featured Kara, who hit 16-for-16 with 7 kills (44%). Sara was 17-for-18 with 8 kills (39%). Coop was 20/21 on passing. Emma had 20 assists. Stephanie led us in serving with 12 points, all right in a row in the second game. Janelle had 11 digs. Jennifer, Allie, Sara & Stephanie had no passing errors.

On to our next match against top seed Lutheran Westland (ranked 4th in the state). Before tonight no one in our conference had been able to take even a single game away from them. But we shocked them the first game with a 25-23 victory. They came back tough in the 2nd game and we lost 9-25, but instead of getting down, we chose to get intense and to play ALL OUT and we beat them in the deciding game 25-23 again. The victory was exciting! Janelle was awesome this game, she had 20 digs and 12 kills. Emma also played her heart out and passed 95% as well as dishing out 28 assists. Sara had 15 kills and 6 blocks. Our serve receive this match was an amazing 97%! Winning the passion prize: free dinner with coaches Jessie & Rachel was SARA, who was intense, energetic, enthusiastic, and excited both on the court and on the bench. Congrats Sara.

Emma is now at 216 serves in a row!!! Tonight Emma told me that every time before she serves she tells herself, "I am a consistent server" and she just KNOWS it's going over & in. That's MTT in action girls. Great job Emma.

Below: Some pre-tournament dodge-ball to warm-up.

NW 'blows out' NH

It was a fun way to end our last home game this season with a dominating victory over New Haven, 25-13, 25-9, 25-9. Kristine had a great game, leading us in kill% with 63% (8/8, 5 kills!). Everyone on the team got a kill, except our beautiful blonde DS's, but they made up for it with their offensive aces! Good stuff...

Cole: 12 points (93% serving), 2 digs, 3 kills, 2 solo blocks, 2 block-assists

Jillian: 1 kill, 1 block

Coop: 7 points, 2aces (100% serving), 3 digs, 2 kills, 1 block

Allie: 1 dig, 1 kill

Jen: 8 points, 2 aces, 6 digs, 92% passing

Kara: 100% serving, 8 digs, 2 kills (50%), 2 blocks

Janelle: 9 digs, 90% passing, 9 kills (29%), 1 assist, 1 block

Sara: 11 kills (50%), 1 solo block, 1 block-assist

Stephanie: 6 points, 2 aces (100% serving), 8 digs, 92% passing

Emma: 16 points (100% serving), 3 digs, 92% passing, 1 kill, 33 assists

Kristine: 1 dig, 5 kills (63%), 2 block assists , 100% passing

Emma has now served TWO HUNDRED serves IN A ROW without a miss!!!!!!! Overall this year, she has kept 275/277 serve attempts in play. WOW! That is AMAZING!!!!!!!

GREAT SEASON JV!!!

Our JV girls had an AMAZING season! Looking forward to our future!

Thanks Coach Kelly for doing an AWESOME job with your team!

Scouting Report

Party at Sara's Place!

LOTS OF FUN! = )

The scouting portion of our evening was a bust, but I stopped back at Sacred Heart afterwards and found myself inside the coaches office and found that THEY had a detailed scouting report ON US!
LHNW runs a 5-1 with a very talented setter, #5, who seems to get to every ball. She leads the court with key communication & leadership as floor captain. She can turn any pass into an amazing set. The first thing I noticed about their hitters was #11, a natural athlete with a vertical leap that is amazing. The biggest swing comes from middle #15 who is not intimidated by a big block, she will either hit around it or through it... her choice. Then there's those outside hitters, #10 & #14... you think you are happy when #14 rotates around to the back row, only to find out that #10 can also swing away and #14 reads every ball so well, she is always right there passing up everything that comes over the net! Then they have these 2 blonde DS's, #3 & #8, that somehow bring offense into the back row with these crazy floater serves that look harmless enough until they change direction at the last second and then it's shanks everywhere! So that brings us to their other hitters, #9 and #12, who are quiet but deadly. They send over these off-speed shots that just drop to the floor and then they are the queens of the re-direct, so please do not send any overpasses over there! So you look at their roster for a weak spot and see, OH YEAH, a FRESHMAN to pick on... the Libero!?!?!?!... what? Yeah, she's an amazing passer, so never serve to her or hit at her, cuz all she knows how to do is pass up dimes. We are thinking that NW must be hiding something though, cuz they just brought up this other "freshman", #13, to Varsity and we caught her on film DRIVING! Hmmm!
Anyway, this team plays with so much heart and intensity, it's hard to get the momentum away from them. Even when they don't get the point, they have gone all out for it so even THAT keeps them fired up. You look across the net at them and don't see a weak spot. They are tough, confident and talented. I hate to say it ladies, but this just isn't our year for Districts. The Crusaders have it locked up!

Senior Night

Honoring our Seniors...

Emma, Sara, Janelle, Stephanie, Allie, & Jennifer

Freshmen Moving Up

Two freshmen moved up teams today. First Stacy, a standout on the Freshman squad, moved up to the JV team AND Jillian, JV's leading hitter/blocker, moved up to Varsity. Welcome! Both squads fell to Lutheran Westland tonight, but the way JV played in the 2nd game was GREAT!!! They never gave up or gave in. Although the final score did not go our way, JV should leave tonight with pride in their performance. Varsity had an off-night, but focusing on some good things... Emma and Coop had amazing passing stats... Coop was PERFECT on serve receive (19/19) and had 15 digs, with an overall passing percentage of 93%. Emma had 12 digs and passed 94%. Emma has also served 173 consecutive serves without a miss! WOW... getting close to Coach Rachel's high school record of 234 serves in a row without a miss. Hitting was off tonight, but having the best kill% were Allie (1/1, 100%) and Jillian (7/8, 2 kills, 13%). Jillian also had 2 continuation blocks and one stuffed block in her first Varsity match.

<<==== Our CUTE little mascots!!!!

When Kaylee put on the jersey tonight she said, "I'm #1, I'm the WINNER!"

Crusaders Improve to 5-1 in Conference Play

JV started things off right with a win over Claranceville 25-20, 25-22. It was an exciting match, where I actually got to record a lot of DIGS for a change - meaning the opponent was actually setting it up and hitting it! (Lauren 14, Cassie 7, Alyssa 6, Kacie 3, Jillian 3). Kills were earned by Jillian 7, Kacie 6, Kaitlyn 2, Chelsea 2, Elaine 2 and Alyssa 2. Cassie had 16 assists and Elaine had 4. Nice work girls!
Varsity had their first 4-game match since the first game of the season, 21-25, 25-19, 25-18, 25-21. The entire team contributed to the win tonight, but here are the category leaders:
SERVING 95%+: Janelle 95%, Coop 96%, Cole 100%, Steph 100%, Emma 100%
POINTS Coop 16, Janelle 13, Emma 9, Jen 7
SERVE RECEIVE 100%: Coop (12/12), Kara (16/16), Jen (9/9), Janelle (22/22)
DIGS: Janelle 28, Kara 20, Emma 18, Coop 10, Steph 8
KILLS: Sara 20, Janelle 15, Kara 10, Cole 7
BLOCKS: Sara 4, Cole 2
ASSISTS: Emma 46, Kara 2, Cole 1, Allie 1, Kris 1

More Pics!

What a GREAT team!!!























Steph just got an A-C-E- ACE - YEAH!
I liked this picture... a lot of good things going on.
1st, Janelle's passing posture and platform are perfect!!! Textbook, really!
Emma has released and is in the target area and
Coop & Kris are already transitioned out to hit.
All the girls are keeping their eyes on the ball.
Good stuff!

Crusaders Knockout the Knights

LHNW took down another conference game tonight with a shutout win over Liggett 25-16, 25-23, 25-15. We were SO consistent in both serving 97% (season high!), and serve receive 94%! The Liggett coach commented on how we were the BEST serve receive team he has seen all year! Oh yeah! Leading in kill% tonight was our SHORTEST player, Emma, with 3 kills in 5 attempts (40%), to go along with her 31 assists. Kristine had 2 kills in 7 attempts (29%), Sara 10 kills in 25 attempts (28%) and Kara 9 kills in 21 attempts (24%). Janelle had an amazing day in the backcourt. She paced the team with serving 95% and had a team-high 15 points. Her passing was outstanding, earning 19 digs and passed 93% overall. Jen had a FLAWLESS performance tonight! She went 16/16 serving (12 points) and 17/17 passing. I was also VERY pleased that Jen was doing the "touch" not just on defense but before every serve receive. Great job! Enjoy the action shots below taken by team photographer Mrs Gerds! Kudos to those who were covering well... Allie, Sara, Janelle & Jen.

JV DOMINATED the first game winning 25-2 (yes, 2). Alyssa & Cassie served out the entire game... WOW! The second game went to 25-17. The coaches didn't take stats tonight, but I was impressed with Cassie's court leadership and communication skills. Honestly, she has the BEST court communication out of everyone in the entire volleyball program! I admire that SO much! Lauren passed VERY well and got to make a lot of attacks tonight from the back row. Katie got a lot of playing time and was very consistent. Kacie got an opportunity to set in the 3rd just-for-fun game and I think my ears are still ringing with Cassie yelling "DEFENSE!" from the bench... ha ha. The Liggett coach said our JV team was very solid and it looks like we have a great future... you betcha!