Fowler volleyball wins the MHSAA Division 4 state championship
Fowler volleyball accepts the program’s first state title after defeating Mendon, 3-0, in Division 4 state finals in Battle Creek, Nov. 22, 2025.
The 2025 Michigan high school volleyball state finals are in the books, and they did not disappoint.
The event inside Kellogg Arena in Battle Creek began at 10 a.m. with the Division 4 title match and concluded with the Division 3. Three new schools became champions, including two winning for the first time. The fourth team stood tall and repeated as champion.
Here’s a recap of the day’s events:
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Division 3: Kingsley runs away in 4th set to capture 1st title
What started off as a closely contested match became a runaway for Kingsley as the Stags captured their first state title, defeating Kalamazoo Christian, 3-1.
The first two sets of the match saw both teams split with intensity. Kingsley found momentum and rode it the rest of the way to win the final two sets, 25-15 and 25-12.
Dave Hall, Kingsley’s coach, was still in awe after the history-making moment.
“It’s surreal. I just told somebody, it’s probably going to be tomorrow before I realized what happened,” he said. “We’re just going to enjoy a win right now, but I’m stunned at these kids: The heart, they just never quit.”
Senior setter Sarah Wooer finished with 48 assists, nine digs and three kills and recalled the turning point for her team.
“I think we were just kind of nervous at the start and in the second set we realized we were really in it,” she said. “We just had to play hard and once we kind of realized that we were doing well and we could win, we just kept playing hard and we were able to pull it off.”
Kingsley last made the MHSAA finals in 2004, when it lost in the Class C final.
Hall said 2025’s victory is high on his list of favorite moments.
“We have some great moments and some really great teams and good wins,” he said. “This one is obviously No. 1.”
Division 2: Birmingham Detroit Country Day repeats
Detroit Country Day successfully defended its Division 2 state championship, beating Flat Rock in three sets.
Country Day was down by four early into the first set, but found its rhythm and never let up, winning 25-18, 25-19, 25-12.
Country Day coach Kim Lockhart said the team’s confidence was a key.
“I felt our nerves were settled from out the gate and we kind of came in with confidence and a lot of communication,” Lockhart said.
Yellow Jackets senior Elise Hiemstra had 21 kills and nine digs. She also broke Country Day’s career kills record and the program’s single-season kills record.
Hiemstra said they “manifested” their title defense following the success they had last season.
“We all wrote down – last year, too – we wrote down, ‘We will win a state championship 2025’ and burn it with a candle on the first full moon right before playoffs,'” she said. “It probably sounds so wacky, but I swear it works.”
The Rams were led by junior hitter Sarah Giroux, who finished with 15 kills and nine digs. She and coach Morgan Delhey admitted they let the pressure of their potential first title opportunity get the best of them.
“This is our first time even making it here and I feel like we’re just not used to that, because coming up here, we didn’t have the best competition and I feel like if we had more competition it could prepare us,” Giroux said.
Division 1: Farmington Hills Mercy neutralizes Kayla Nwabueze
In a clash of Oakland County titans, Farmington Hills Mercy regained the Division 1 state title, defeating Kayla Nwabueze and Bloomfield Hills in four sets.
Bloomfield Hills opened the contest on a 5-0 run forcing Mercy to call a quick timeout. The Marlins got on the board following an error by Nwabueze, the state’s No. 1-ranked player and a Harvard commit. Both teams continued to deal blows, but the Marlins found momentum late to win the set, 25-18.
The second set was tightly contested, with three lead changes and six ties, but Mercy prevailed, 25-20.
Mercy opened the third set in the same manner as Bloomfield Hills did in the first, leading to the Black Hawks’ early timeout. Bloomfield Hills clawed back to tie the set due to multiple Marlin errors, bringing the score to 20-all, and the Black Hawks closed out the set for a 25-23 edge.
The Blackhawks started the final set strong with a four-point lead, but the Marlins stormed back to win the title, 25-20.
Marlins coach Loretta Vogel said the plan was to neutralize Nwabueze.
“Our plan was to shut down Kayla and put big blocks up, make them change something,” Vogel said. “And I thought, ‘That works for us.'”
Farmington Hills Mercy volleyball wins MHSAA Division 1 state title
Farmington Hills Mercy volleyball celebrates its victory over Bloomfield Hills in the Division 1 state final Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025 in Battle Creek.
Ella Andrews, the Marlins’ senior middle blocker and Miss Volleyball finalist, said the message throughout the playoffs in moments of adversity was “not to worry.”
“We were down in the semifinals [against Byron Center] and came back to reverse-sweep them,” Andrews said. “So I just feel like our message was just to stay calm. We can trust ourselves, we’ve been working for this all season, we just have to really on each other and feel confident in ourselves to get back and score those points those points to win the set.”
Division 4: Fowler sweeps Mendon to win first state title
The tournament kicked off with an electric matchup that saw Fowler defeat Mendon to win its first state title.
The Eagles swept the Hornets in the first-ever match between the schools, but the victory didn’t come easy. The opening set saw both teams surpass the 25-point mark and closed out with Fowler winning, 30-28. Mendon took an early four-point lead to start the second set, but Fowler clawed back to take the set, 25-19.
Momentum from the second set victory carried over into the final set, allowing the Eagles to walk away with their first championship following a 25-22 victory.
Senior outside hitter Paige Thelen led the Eagles’ offense with 21 kills and 11 digs. Fellow senior setter Neelah O’Rouke left her mark on the game with 48 assists.
“They’re just so focused today. I mean, we’ve been focused all year hoping this moment would come and could bring home the state championship,” Fowler coach Patty Feldpausch said. “We’ve said it all year, these girls don’t care about stats, they’ve broke a ton of individual records this season and they don’t care. … It’s all about the team and they don’t care who does it, as long as we get it done and today we got it done.”
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Eric Guzmán covers youth sports culture at the Free Press as a corps member for Report for America, an initiative of The GroundTruth Project. Make a tax-deductible contribution to support this work.
Contact Eric Guzmán: eguzman@freepress.com; 313-222-1850; Follow him on Bluesky.
