Michigan

Meet the finalists for the 2024 Michigan Miss Volleyball Award

Published

4 months ago

September 5, 2024

Meet the finalists for the 2024 Michigan Miss Volleyball Award

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:

Isabelle Busignani

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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Jessica Costlow

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.

Ella Craggs

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.

Campbell Flynn

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.

Navea Gauthier

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.

Victoria Gray

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.

Olivia Grenadier

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.

Shelby Ignash

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.

McKenna Payne

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.

Cassidy Pratley

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.

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Michigan

Dan Mullen Appears On Dakich, Seemingly Rips Michigan Over Alex Orjii

Published

5 hours ago

January 14, 2025

Press Room

Dan Mullen Appears On Dakich, Seemingly Rips Michigan Over Alex Orjii

PublishedJanuary 14, 2025 5:55 PM EST|UpdatedJanuary 14, 2025 5:56 PM EST

UNLV head football coach Dan Mullen joined OutKick’s Dan Dakich on the latest episode of Don’t @ Me with Dan Dakich and talked about some of the new players he’s bringing to the Rebels including former Michigan Wolverines quarterback Alex Orji.

Mullen was talking about bringing in Orji as well as former Virginia quarterback Anthony Colandrea which he was able to do thanks to a ton of scouting, made possible in part by his job at ESPN.

“You know, the greatest thing you have been at ESPN is I’ve gotten to watch everybody play,” Mullen said. “You know, you sit in that room all day, and I’m watching every game in college football. I’ve seen them all.”

Mullen had a lot of praise for both of his new signal callers.

“I got to watch Anthony live,” Mullen said. “His ability to extend play, scramble around, throw the ball, tremendous arm talent. Really excited about what he brings to the table.”

Dan Mullen talked about something that confused him about the way that Michigan handled new UNLV quarterback Alex Orji. (Getty Images)

He then moved on to praise Orji, but not without getting in what sure seemed like a subtle shot at Michigan in how they used — or, perhaps more accurately — misused their former quarterback.

“I mean, he’s undefeated against Ohio State. Mullen noted, but he didn’t seem to think that Michigan always used him the best way. “He was a guy that was head scratching to me last year. Sometimes I’m watching him and, you know, I don’t know. I’m not in the game meetings, don’t know what like everything going on at Michigan, but I’m saying, ‘I don’t know that they’re highlighting his strengths,’ right?

“I mean, you know, in football, the job of coaches is to put a guy in position to do what he does. Well, that’s what coaching is all about.”

Mullen continued by saying that while systems are important, they should fit the players, not the other way around, something he said confused him about Michigan’s handling of Orji.

“I was watching some of the games, and I’m saying, hey, when they put that guy in a position to do what he does well, Ohio State won’t tackle him, and they’re playing for a National Championship, Mullen said. “But to sit there and put him in a position to do things where you’re not highlighting his strengths all the time, that’s a little confusing.”

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Michigan

University of Michigan basketball fans return to high school lot to find vehicles broken into

Published

13 hours ago

January 14, 2025

Press Room

University of Michigan basketball fans return to high school lot to find vehicles broken into

Ann Arbor — More than two dozen vehicles in a high school parking lot had their windows smashed and were broken into during a men’s college basketball game at University of Michigan.

Ann Arbor police said the break-ins occurred Sunday, WXYZ-TV reported. Damage was reported to 27 vehicles. No arrests have been made.

Fans watching the Wolverines defeat the Washington Huskies at Crisler Arena discovered the damage as they returned to the lot at Pioneer High School. Cash, purses, wallets and other items were taken from the vehicles, police said.

“Everything was great until we got back out to the car after the game and saw glass everywhere,” Joe Weitz told the TV station.

Weitz, of Kalamazoo, said he had taken his 8-year-old daughter to her first Michigan basketball game.

“It was pretty devastating,” he said. “My daughter was definitely pretty emotional because they went through everything in our car.”

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Michigan

Residents speak out against Sheetz in Farmington Hills, Michigan

Published

20 hours ago

January 14, 2025

Press Room

Residents speak out against Sheetz in Farmington Hills, Michigan – CBS Detroit

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The battle over a Sheetz gas station in Farmington Hills continued Monday night as the city considered the next phase of potentially approving the gas station.