The finalists for the 2024 Michigan Miss Volleyball Award have been named.
The high school seniors were nominated by the Michigan Interscholastic Volleyball Coaches Association. The award was first sponsored by the Free Press in 2003.
Here are this year’s 10 nominees, in alphabetical order:
School: Birmingham Marian.
Position: Outside hitter.
Height: 6 feet 1.
Career stats: 1,270 kills, 761 digs, 125 aces, .307 hitting percentage
The buzz: Busignani was a first-team all-state, first-team all-region, and first-team all-Catholic League player as a sophomore and junior. She’s also No. 26 in the country on PrepVolleyball’s class of 2025 rankings and helped Marian win Division 1 championships in 2021 and 2022.
College plans: Busignani will be attending Cincinnati.
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School: Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central.
Position: Outside hitter.
Height: 5-10.
Career stats: 1,469 kills, 1,247 digs, 139 aces, 90 blocks, .352 hitting percentage.
The Buzz: Costlow received first-team all-state honors in 2022 and 2023, after getting a second-team all-state nod as a freshman in 2021. Her squad won district championships from 2021-2023 and was the runner-up in the 2021 state title game.
College plans: Costlow will attend Toledo, where she will continue to play volleyball and study biomedical engineering.
School: Northville.
Position: Setter.
Height: 5-10.
Career stats: 2,549 Assists, 457 kills, 865 digs.
The buzz: Craggs is a two-time all-conference player in the Kensington Lakes Activities Association and made the MHSAA All-Region team in 2022 and 2023. Northville won district and regional championships in 2022 and 2023, and were the Division 1 state runners-up in 2022.
College plans: Craggs will attend Illinois State.
School: Farmington Hills Mercy.
Position: Setter.
Height: 6-3.
2023 Stats: 553 assists, 35 serving aces, 1.3 aces per set, .409 hitting percentage.
The buzz: Flynn was the 2023 Michigan Gatorade Player of the Year, a MIVCA first-team all-state player in 2022 and 2023 and a third-team all-state player in 2021. Flynn is also a member of the 2024 USA Volleyball under-21 national team. She won a state championship in 2023 and a district championship in 2022.
College plans: Flynn will attend Nebraska on a volleyball scholarship.
School: Shelby.
Position: Outside hitter.
Height: 6-1.
Career Stats: 2,801 kills, 345 aces, 1,490 digs, 138 blocks.
The buzz: A three-time all-state, all-region and all-conference player, Gauthier has helped her team to three conference championships, two district championships and one regional championship. Gauthier is on pace to set the Michigan record for all-time kills, according to coach Thomas R. Weirich.
College plans: Gauthier has verbally committed to Ohio State.
School: Temperance Bedford.
Position: Middle blocker.
Height: 6-2.
2023 stats: 467 kills, 251 digs, 119 blocks.
The buzz: Gray’s numbers have increased steadily, and it shows in the team’s records. Gray joined Bedford in 2021 and posted 100 kills and 90 digs, and Bedford finished with a 49-14-4 record;. Her sophomore year, the team finished 41-12-2, and Gray tripled her kills and nearly doubled her digs. Last year, the team finished 62-4 and became district champions.
College plans: Gray will attend Indiana.
School: Birmingham Detroit Country Day.
Position: Middle blocker.
Height: 6-1.
Career stats: None provided.
The buzz: Grenadier helped her team to a 2021 regional championship. She has received honors throughout her career including 2022 first-team all-state and all-region selections and a 2023 all-region nod. In 2022, she recorded the school’s single season kills record (367 kills).
College plans: Grenadier will Colorado on a volleyball scholarship.
School: Cass City.
Position: Middle blocker.
Height: 6-1.
Career stats: 1,388 kills, 180 blocks*, 643 digs* (*sophomore and junior year stats).
The buzz: In 2022, Ignash helped Cass City win its first regional championship since 1977. Ignash is a multiple first-team all-state and all-region player and made the 2023 MHSAA Division 3 All-Tournament Dream Team.
College plans: Ignash has committed to Texas Tech, where she plans on majoring in social work.
School: Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central.
Position: Libero/outside hitter/setter.
Height: 5-7.
Career stats: 809 kills, 1,254 digs, 174 aces, 1,089 assists.
The buzz: Payne has multiple MIVCA all-state honors spanning across her various positions. Last year, she, along with Costlow, lead their team to a 33-9-1 record and a Huron League championship.
College plans: Payne will attend Utah on a volleyball scholarship.
School: Harper Creek.
Position: Middle blocker.
Height: 6-1.
2023 stats: 707 kills, 105 blocks.
The Buzz: Pratley was the team captain and MVP last season as she earned all-state, all-region and all-conference honors.
College plans: Pratley will attend Western Michigan to continue playing volleyball.
Not a hot take, not trying to get down voted into oblivion, don’t consider myself a genius. just what I think will happen.
UM is at home, noon game, potential for rainy cool weather. Michigan’s defense is good enough to shut Texas run game down, making them one dimensional.
Who do you pick, Ewers or will Johnson? One big play by UM’s secondary may be enough to win the game.
I give UM week #1 a pass…new starters in key spots, Nat. Champ hangover, but the lights will be bright, big game on Sat. Donavan Edwards may prove to be the best player on the field. I get it, no Stallions, no booger picker at coach, but that’s how I’d bet, if I did indeed bet.
I think Ohio State has a National Champ caliber team, and it won’t be easy, so I see UM being a huge hurdle for them in 2.5 months.
If Texas smokes them, I’ll gladly call myself an idiot, I’ll be happy and I’ll laugh for a while.
What say you?
1/9
From a werewolf tearing off his shirt to a simple “ope, I voted,” clerks will be handing out newly designed “I voted” stickers during the November general election.
The nine new sticker designs were created and selected by Michiganders during a statewide competition by the Michigan Department of State.
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(CBS DETROIT) – A Tennessee motorcyclist was arrested over the weekend after he was stopped for speeding while on the way to visit his girlfriend in Michigan. He was carrying a gun with him but didn’t have a CPL.
At 2:35 p.m. on Saturday, a trooper conducted a traffic stop on a motorcycle for speeding on M-32 near Gamage Road in Alpena County.
The motorcyclist, a 56-year-old man from Tennessee, told the trooper he and his chihuahua, which was tucked inside his jacket, were heading to Michigan to visit his girlfriend.
State police say the man also told the trooper he had a gun in a backpack that was strapped to the motorcycle. He did not have a CPL, and the trooper seized a .45 caliber pistol.
The motorcyclist was arrested and taken to the Alpena County Jail and said “the chihuahua was not taken into custody.”
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