Stevenson Volleyball So Far

Stevenson volleyball beat Franklin 3-1 Tuesday, Oct. 13, in a match coach Amy Osborn said would decide second and third place in the Spartans' division. Stevenson is 10-14-2 in a season Osborn says has included about seven or eight losses to state-ranked teams.

Beating Franklin

Stevenson beat Franklin 3-1 at home Tuesday, Oct. 13. Before the match, Osborn said it would decide second and third place in the teams' Lakes Valley Conference division. The win puts Stevenson at 10-14-2; Osborn gave the record as 9-14-2 on Oct. 8, before the match.

Osborn said the team would use the night to honor its Class of 2027, six seniors including Schleif, Bartus and Bazzi, along with exchange student Laura Garcia of Spain.

Stevenson's next listed matches are at home Tuesday, Oct. 27, against Grosse Pointe North, Bloomfield Hills Marian and Plymouth, and at Howell Thursday, Oct. 29, at 6:30 p.m.

Source: coach Amy Osborn; score and schedule from the season game list, via Locals Thrive

A season of "winning moments"

Osborn said the program is "rebuilding a little bit" and has adopted what she calls a winning-moment mindset, drawn from John Wooden's idea of winning and learning. "All of our players have committed to a certain winning moment and then when they achieve it they come up with another," she said.

"Obviously always pleased with a win, but also really happy with how we played in most of our losses," Osborn said. About seven or eight of the team's losses have come against state-ranked teams, she said.

Matches that stood out

Osborn called the five-set loss at Churchill, Thursday, Sept. 24, the toughest of the season; Churchill won 3-2. Stevenson lost 2-1 to Zeeland East Saturday, Oct. 3, in a best-of-three match; Osborn said Zeeland East is state-ranked.

Stevenson swept Farmington Tuesday, Sept. 29, North Farmington Thursday, Oct. 1, and Walled Lake Central Tuesday, Oct. 6, each 3-0, before beating Franklin.

Source: coach Amy Osborn; scores from the season game list, via Locals Thrive

By the numbers

Through Oct. 8, Stevenson had 171 aces as a team and served at 89.3%, Osborn said. The figures below are from the same date.

Senior Madi Schleif, whom Osborn called "our QB," has 327 assists, 47 kills and 35 aces, serving at 93.7%. Senior middles Eva Bartus and Kamilia Bazzi have 67 kills each. Junior outside hitter Delaney Madigan leads the team with 117 kills, and defensive specialist Kate Martin has 30 aces, serving at 90%.

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