Club Volleyball

It's time to start considering playing club volleyball! I highly recommend USA-Michigan. I do so for many reasons. 1) I was mentored in that program, so the fundamentals will be consistent with what the girls learn here at LHNW. 2) The practices are structured and all the coaches teach the same techniques and use the same drills. 3) The improvement is dramatic! The girls don't just get better simply by getting more experience, but fundamentals are stressed and developed! That is what makes championship players and teams!

USA MICHIGAN TRYOUTS
OAKLAND COUNTY
Our Shepherd Lutheran School
1658 E. Lincoln, Birmingham, MI 48009
November 4 5:00pm-7:00pm
November 11 4:30pm-7:30pm
November 18 5:00pm-7:00pm
for more information: http://www.theamericanathlete.net/
They will also have a MACOMB COUNTY program; see website for more details.

Other clubs:
Michigan Elite: http://www.michiganelitevolleyballclub.com/
http://www.michiganbusiness.us/michigan-aau-volleyball-clubs.php

Admire

Here is Stephanie reading, "I admire Janelle because... " I guess she had a lot to say, since she needed to write it on two feet of paper towel!!! We have a lot of fun exchanging "admire" slips on Mondays. I think it is just "great! great! great! great! great! great! great!" ha ha!

Kris Gettin High; Jen Gettin Low

Mrs. Gerds sent me these two shots of Kristine SKYING last night. The first shot is from her best kill of the night and the second from her self-proclaimed "superb" roll shot. = ) Let's take a look at the supporting cast in these 2 shots though. ONLY JEN is covering correctly. Good job Jen....... everyone else....... let's get low! CAUGHT YA! = ) Let's do the easy stuff right ladies. It just takes heart and I KNOW we have it, so let's show it!!! Remember... "Only those who have the will to do the simple things perfectly will acquire the skill to do the difficult things easily."

Aces -n- Faces

The JV game was all about Aces. Jillian had 15! Chelsea 5, Cassie 4, Kaitlyn 2, and Kacie 1. Not much else happened besides serving practice tonight for JV as they easily secured the 25-5, 25-9 win.
The Varsity game was all about facials, five in fact (preminition!). Sara had an ERROR FREE night in hitting, passing, blocking and serving! She had 7 kills, as did Kristine. Janelle 1-uped them though with 8 kills. Four girls besides Sara had perfect passing stats (Cole, Coop, Allie, & Emma). Emma had 26 assists and Cole 4. The Crusaders improve to 3-1 in the Metro with the 25-5, 25-12, 25-16 victory tonight over the Cosmos.I thought I'd throw in a picture from yesterday's practice. The girls doing an ab exercise and here we see Coop & Janelle doggin it with bent knees! Tisk Tisk!

WL Tournament

Well, it was our best tournament yet, so that's good. We defeated the champion of last weekend's Country Day Tournament and conference rival Cranbrook Kingswood, 25-23, 25-19. We played really tough in the 2nd game against Class A Pinckney, but fell just shy 24-26. Serving 90%+ were Emma (of course!) 100%, Cole 100%, Kara 94%, and Coop 93%. We had 2 serve recievers better than 80%: Coop 91% and Janelle 85%. Coop and Janelle also had the most digs today with 18 and 24 respectively. Kara had 17. I was most proud of Kara's net play today. She was by far our most consistent hitter, going 20/22 and her only misses were blocked. She had 8 kills for a team high 27% kills. Sara had 15 kills; Janelle 14; Cole 5. Sara also had 5 stuffed blocks. The Crusaders take the court again on Tuesday against the Cosmos of Hamtramck. See you then! (and yes, I forgot my camera today... but at least I remembered to bring the right food this time! Gotta see the bright side!).

Cashin In

King of the Hills!

Most of the JV game was serving. Our top server was once again Alyssa who had 9 points with 6 aces. Cassie also had 9 points (3 aces). Elaine served 7 points (3 aces). Every serve Jillian got over was an ace (6). Four Crusaders had 2 kills apiece (Cassie, Jillian, Alyssa, & Shannon). Scores: 25-6, 25-9
The Varsity game showcased Sara who had TWENTY-TWO kills (41%)! Coop was next with 8 kills (35%). Juniors Kara & Kristine had 4 kills each. Emma led the team defensively today (96% passing), earning 11 digs to go along with her 33 assists. Allie was very consistent in the front row with no hitting errors and 3 assists. Serving 100% today were both Emma's, Cole, and Stephanie, but Jen once again led us in service points with 12 (5 aces). Scores: 25-20, 25-14, 25-19.
P.S. Pretty cool ref we had for half the game tonight anyway! Thanks Mr McLoughlin for helpin out!

Spotlight on... JANELLE

Janelle (aka Jan, Jannie, J-nell, J, Stud), Senior Captain, 5'9" OH, 2nd year on Varsity

Club Experience: VIP (3 yrs), UVA (1 yr), MI-Elite (1 yr)

Other Sport: Basketball

Coolest thing about being an outside hitter: You can hit anywhere on the court and you get set up a lot.

Best Career Volleyball Moment: I don't have a specific one... just everytime I get a kill!

Favorite Cheer: Tip-Tip-Tip it good. Na - na na na

Best MTT Tip: Always keep your head up & if you mess up just tell yourself you have the next one.

Coach says... Janelle is an outstanding all-around athlete. She currently leads her team in points, digs, serve receptions, and kills. She has an explosive armswing and also masters the finesse game of placing balls in the opponent's holes. I admire Janelle because she continues to push herself to improve everytime she walks into the gym.

SLURPEES!

Look at our girls all purdied up!

Varsity also swept Harper Woods 25-23 (huh?), 25-6 (oh, that's much better... slurpees!), 25-18. Offensively, SKARA had 16 kills (8 for Kara & 8 for Sara!). Defensively Sara, Janelle & Emma each had 8 digs. Jen had the most points (16) and aces (3).

However, the most notable items tonight were Cole setting in the 3rd game and Kristine's excitement as she got to serve for the first time this season and earned 2 aces! This game EVERY Crusader got to serve and everyone scored at least 2 points, with Allie closing out the match! Nice work!

A special thanks to Emma for being not just mentally tough, but also physically tough and playing even though sick tonight. Emma also had no service errors and no passing errors! Thanks Cap'n!

Above... our amazing fans who demanded their picture on the blog! ; )
AND... Happy 25th to the Gerds.

Back on Track

JV took down Harper Woods in 2: 25-19, 25-12. Alyssa was sensational (borrowed that adjective from Kristine, Ms Thesaurus) on the service line with 13 points (5 aces). Chelsea had the most kills tonight with 4. I must say though I got most of my enjoyment during the JV game from Katie. I love her attitude! Oh and I also got a good laugh as Kacie tried to crash this picture of Chelsea & Alyssa! = )

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.