Janelle Earns All-Tournament Team

Janelle's performance in the DCD Tournament earned the vote of the coaches to put her on the All-Tournament Team. Congrats!

Other good stuff:
Kills: Sara 43, Janelle 42, Cole 12, Kara 12
Digs: Janelle 67, Coop 52, Steph 45, Emma 42
Serve Reception: Coop 52, Janelle 49, Steph 32
Assists: Emma 91, Kris 6, Cole 4
Points: Emma 32, Janelle 24, Jen 22, Steph 20
Blocks: Sara 8, Kris 3, Cole 2

Focusing on the Positive!

First of all, look at how ADORABLE Natalie is! How could you not smile at that? She is sooo cute in that new jersey! It is funny that our uniform fits a 2-year old though! = )

Next, let me say that the first game was the best Junior Varsity competition I have seen in a long time. I was so proud of our girls; it is the best I had seen them play (so far!). Lauren led the defensive effort with 20 digs! Kacie was next with 11. Elaine really had a great night with 9 digs, 8 assists and 3 kills! WOW! Jillian had some powerful swings that turned into 11 kills! Kacie & Chelsea added 4 kills each. Nice match girls!!!

The Varsity match spotlighted Coop, who played with so much poise under pressure. We threw her into a new position (again!) and she shined. She led us in both serve receive (most good serve receptions-14) and she had the best defensive passing accuracy (82%). Coop had the 2nd most digs (9) even with only playing in 2 games! Our team was consistent in serving, serve receive, and hitting accuracy. Kara went 12-for-12 in hitting with 2 kills. Janelle was 26-for-29 with 10 kills. The best kill% tonight though went to Cole who had 7 kills in 17 attacks (29% kills). Emma added 19 assists.
The Crusaders hit the court again Saturday at the Country Day Tournament.

Crusaders Sink Their CLAWS into Clawson!

(come on girls, only Kara is looking ferocious!)

The Crusaders opened up conference play with a big win at Clawson tonight (25-20, 25-19, 25-20). Our serving was great... BOTH consistent and smart! We served 97% as a team (73/75) and we earned 11 aces and countless freebie overpasses. Stephanie led the way with 16 points and 6 aces. While Clawson was scrambling on serve receive, our serve receive was STELLAR tonight, not just in-play passes but DIMES! Nice work girls! Also consistent once again was our hitting at 85%. Cole & Kara had the best kill% and earned 6 kills apiece. Janelle had 11 kills and 18 digs. Sara had 10 kills.

Emma had 30 assists and 12 digs. Putting up a FLAWLESS performance tonight were Kristine and Coop - both had ZERO errors! WOW!

I also want to note... parents, you guys were awesome fans tonight! It was great to get you in on the action! We appreciate your support.

OAKLAND PRESS =======>

JV Puts up ANOTHER Win!

JV started the night off right with a decisive win over Clawson 25-11, 25-19. Once again Jillian was the queen of the net, earning 5 kills. Also earning kills were Kacie (2), Alyssa (2), Chelsea (1) and Cassie (1). Setters Cassie & Elaine combined for 11 assists. Kacie was a serving stand-out tonight. We are proud of the whole JV squad and Coach Kelly!

Spotlight on... SARA

SARA (aka SP), 5'11" Senior Captain, MH, 2nd yr on Varsity

Club Experience: Ideal, 2 yrs

Other sports: Tennis, Soccer

Coolest thing about being a middle: Stuffing the hitters

Most memorable vb moment (so far!): Saving a shanked serve receive & winning the point against HV.

Best MTT Tip: Visualization can improve your game because your brain doesn't know the difference between a real or vividly imagined event.

Best thing about your team?: We love being together and hanging out off & on the court.

Coach says... Sara is enthusiastic about playing volleyball. When she's on the court, the team is more fired up and excited. She has a powerful swing AND can place the ball in the opponent's holes. She passes well and has great defensive instincts. She is a good captain because she exudes confidence in her teammates and herself.

D-Day for Detroit country Day

It was a fun game tonight taking down Detroit Country Day 25-21, 25-21, 25-22 by PLAYING SMART! The thing we focused on was hitting consistently and WOW did we do it... 85% as a team... GREAT JOB! Sara (15 kills) & Janelle (10 kills) hit SO WELL tonight by picking apart CD's defense with GREAT sets from Emma (26 assists). Jen & Cole led the backcourt with 14 points and 9 digs a piece. I have to give some more kudos to Stud tonight though, she really lived up to her nickname.... she passed 85% with 16 digs and went 100% on serving. The thing that impressed me the most was how well she read the opponent, both on offense AND defense. Jennifer was also amazingly consistent, going 18/19 serving and led the team in passing going 16/17! AND as a team, we served 96%!!!!! NICE WORK!!!

Janelle gives all the credit for her OUTSTANDING performance tonight to her NEW ("I'm a REAL vb player now") kneepads... bye bye bubbles!!! hooray! Coach Rachel is coming after you next Steph!

Stephanie is SUCH a good sport, reenacting her (boink) OUT serve receive! Well, at least it wasn't a facial. Our girls are so beautiful we don't need 'em, but we are so generous, we do enjoy treating our opponents to facials from time to time!! = ) OAKLAND PRESS:

JV Remains Undefeated!

JV defeated Country Day in 3 games. Kacie led the team in serving and had 4 aces. Jillian & Kaitlyn added 2 aces apiece. Shannon led at the net with 4 kills. Alyssa did a nice job stepping in and playing front row for ailing Elaine and Jillian had great court sense tonight.

Scores: 22-25, 25-16, 15-9

Spotlight on... ALLIE

ALLIE (aka Al, AGeezy, Allison), 5'8" Senior, RH, 1st yr on Varsity


Club Experience: MI Elite


What's your favorite vb drill: Wash Drill


Other sport: Basketball


What's the best thing about your team? We are really close... no drama.


Favorite vb cheer: ROOF

Best MTT Tip: Always keep your head up


Coach says... Allie is one of the best blockers we have... she has great timing and instincts. Her hitting is consistent and her off-speed attacks catch her opponents off-guard! She has been improving so much & so fast this season. Allie is a great asset to our team!

Spotlight on... EMMA (COOP)

EMMA (aka Coop, Em, Ems, Kid), 5'7" Freshman, OH, 1st yr on Varsity

Club Experience: USA Michigan, 1 yr

Other Sports: Soccer & Softball

What's the best thing about your team?: How much we all support each other.

Best MTT Tip: Always keep your head up. If you look confident, you will feel confident.

How does it feel being on Varsity? It's a surreal feeling. It is such an honor and I feel so blessed. I love my team and I am so thankful for them.

Coach says... Emma/Coop is an amazing all-around, versatile athlete. She has a very powerful armswing and is consistent in passing. She is so awesome that I hardly ever remember that she is a freshman, but when I do I get VERY EXCITED... what a talent to have for FOUR YEARS!!!

Having Fun!

It was a 'fun' game tonight against the Hawks from Huron Valley Lutheran. Northwest handled them in 3 straight games 25-18, 25-19, 25-10. Stephanie was so consistant... 100% serving, 100% serve receive... in fact, she only had one error all night!!! I was also so proud of Emma, setting awesome... 23 assists and NO setting errors! The kills were evenly distributed amongst the team (Janelle 8, Sara 5, Cole 4, Kris 4, Allie 2, Kara 2, Kelsey 1, Jen 1, Emma 1). Leading the defensive effort with digs were: Kara 11, Emma 10, Janelle 10, Cole 10, Steph 6, Coop 4, Jen 4, Sara 3, Kris 1. The Crusaders have a week off, but will be getting prepared to take on Country Day on Tuesday, Sept 18.

JV Hurts the Hawks

Our JV team took out the Hawks 25-18, 25-13 tonight. Jillian really had a great all-around performance, earning 4 aces, 5 kills, 1 assist and 1 block! Kaitlyn did really well serving with 4 aces and the most team points. Alyssa and Cassie each had 2 kills. Shannon added a kill and a block. JV remains U N D E F E A T E D ! ! !

OCS Tournament

Kristine had a breakout performance today at the Oakland Tournament. She had 8 kills in 15 attacks (team best kill%), 2 assists, 4 continuation blocks and 3 stuffed blocks! Sara also played hard and intense all day. She led the team at the net with the most kills (24) and blocks (5,5). She also had the best passing percentage of the team!

Leading the team in serving were Janelle (45/46, 30 points), Emma (25/25), Stephanie (22/23) and Kara (17/18). Defensively, the team was led by Janelle (35 digs), Cole (26), Emma (21), Kara (18), and Jen (15).

Scores: ICB 17-25, 25-20; Avondale 25-21, 25-18; Genesee 22-25, 21-25, Luth Westland 21-25, 25-23, 5-15

The Crusaders hit the court again Tuesday night against Huron Valley Lutheran.

Showing Our Support

The Varsity team made t-shirts at Kara's house, next dinner at Coach Jessie's house and then headed off to the Northwest / North football game to show our support. We hope to see the guys at our games this season AND don't worry guys, we'll get them back for ya (9/27/07)!

Spotlight on... STEPHANIE

STEPHANIE (aka Steph), #14, 5'7" Senior, 2nd Year on Varsity, DS

Favorite Volleyball Drill: The Pit or Mountain Climbing from Freshman Year

What's the best thing about your team: We are always encouraging each other and we have great chemistry.

Favorite cheer: bang, bang, hoo, hoo, ch, ch, ACE!

Coolest thing about being a DS: When you dig up a really hard hit... it's such a great feeling!

Best MTT tip: Never say you can't. Always, always say something positive.

Coach says... Stephanie has an amazing attitude! She is always smiling and upbeat. She definitely brings a positive presence to the court. She has significantly stepped up her game and is one of our most consistent servers and passers and it is exciting when she goes ALL OUT for a dig!

Class C Crusaders are CLUTCH!

WOW! Our AMAZING team went undefeated tonight against Lakeview (Class A!), Lakeshore (Class B) and Stevenson (Class A!).

As a team we served 92% (YEAH!), leading the way were Stephanie (17/17) & Emma (26/27).
Defensively, we were led by Janelle (24 digs/86%) & Stephanie (23 digs/85%).
Dominating at the net were Sara (16 kills/32%; 3 blocks), Janelle (18 kills) and Kara (8 kills/36%). Of course they all have Emma to thank (46 assists)!

Scores: Lakeview: 25-17, 25-13; Lakeshore: 26-24, 15-25, 15-11; Stevenson: 26-24, 25-22

G R E A T job girls!!!

OAKLAND PRESS:

Go Katie!

Coach Jessie, Coach Rachel, Coach Kelly, Janelle & Sara went to watch a Rochester College volleyball match last night.

JV defeats Parkway

Lauren was a STANDOUT on the court, leading JV with her defense and serving to the victory over Parkway: 25-15, 25-13. Elaine once again led the team in aces with 7. The team put up 14 kills (Alyssa-3, Kacie-3, Jillian-3, Chelsea-2, Cassie-2, Kaitlyn-1) and 5 blocks (Chelsea-2, Cassie-1, Jillian-1, Kacie-1). Great job girls!!!