BATTLE CREEK — Different year. Same result.
The Traverse City St. Francis Gladiators made it back to the Division 3 volleyball state championship final at Battle Creek’s Kellogg Arena for the second straight year. And they left as the runner-up for the second straight year.
Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central swept the Gladiators in Saturday’s title bout, winning by a 25-21, 25-20 and 25-15 final that broke the hearts of the St. Francis players, coaches and fans once again.
“We’re second in the state. There’s nothing to be ashamed of,” St. Francis head coach Kathleen Nance said. “St. Mary’s played better than we did today. They earned that first-place spot, and we earned second. We were the last two standing. What’s to be ashamed about?”
The Gladiators (35-13-3) fought back to tie the first set at 18-18, but the Kestrels (30-4-2) rattled off five consecutive points to take control in the waning moments. St. Francis got to within three at 24-21, but a service error into the net gave St. Mary the 1-0 lead.
Riding the momentum, St. Mary quickly jumped out to a 4-0 advantage and maintained control through most of the second set, leading 7-1, 11-4, 18-11 and 21-14 before the Gladiators rallied back to get within three at 22-19. That rally ended as another St. Francis service error into the net gave the Kestrels the set win and a 2-0 lead.
With their season on the line, St. Francis came out strong in the third set and grabbed a 2-0 lead. But St. Mary tied it quickly at 2-2 before getting some distance from St. Francis at 9-4. The Gladiators never got back to within striking distance the rest of the way, falling by 10 points in the final set.
“St. Mary’s is just an amazing team. They’ve got great ball control. They’ve got great hitters,” Nance said. “We just weren’t able to have an answer for that today.”
With her squad down 24-15 in the final set, senior libero Avery Nance pulled her team together and — even with the outcome all but settled — let her fellow Gladiators know how much they mean to her.
“I told them that I loved them and that I was proud of them,” she said. “Let’s go out fighting for that last point because that’s who we are. We’re a gritty team, so let’s make it a gritty point. No matter what happens, I love them and we’re going to go out together as a team.”
Quinn Yenshaw led the Gladiator attack with 12 kills followed by Lola Brown with eight, Reese Muma with six, Landry Fouch with four, Harper Nausadis with three, and Reese Jones with one.
“I’m just grateful for what we’ve accomplished these last two years,” Yenshaw said. “We are so close as a team and love each other so much. … I’m going to miss the girls who are leaving, but I know we’ll keep the legacy going and keep Gladiator volleyball strong.”
Jones was tops in aces with two and in assists with 14 as Avery Nance pitched in with seven assists and Tessah Konas had six helpers.
On defense against the high-powered Kestrels, Nance led in digs with 14 followed by Fouch with nine, Yenshaw with eight, Jones with seven, Grace Mason with six, Coco Miller with five, and Nausadis with three.
“I feel like we were a little underestimated this year,” Coach Nance said. “This was our only loss to a D3 team this season — this loss today. I don’t think we’ll be underestimated anymore.”
The lone D3 loss ends the high school volleyball careers of four senior Gladiators — Avery Nance, Landry Fouch, Tessah Konas and Grace Mason.
“No one wants to lose, especially for those that this is their last time to play,” Coach Nance said. “No one wants that, but I’m proud of everything we accomplished this year.”
St. Francis brings back a wealth of talent with Jones, Muma, Yenshaw, Brown, Miller, Nausadis and Aubrey Lesinski to go along with a strong JV program and promising stars at the middle-school level, giving the Gladiators a long window to remain contenders.
“I want St. Francis volleyball to continue to be an amazing program. There’s so much talent we’re still going to have and so much talent that nobody even got to see today,” Coach Nance said. “We’re going to get there.”
Nausadis believes that as well.
“Obviously it sucks to lose, but we’re all really proud of each other,” Nausadis said. “This is a huge accomplishment just to make it here. It’s hard to see it right now, but there’s a lot to be proud of. We wanted to win it, but we did this for each other and proved we can make it back.”
Nausadis hopes the Gladiators can make it back in 2025.
“It will be a different team next year, but we’re going to work as hard as we can,” she said. “We’re going to do our best.”