John Raffel
Sports Scene
Brett Chesebro and Kayla Rosman remember what it was like to be on Morley Stanwood’s Class C state championship volleyball team last season.
This fall, they are among the key leaders of a Mohawk squad that might not be able to post another state crown, but one that still hopes to have a long run in the November postseason.
Chesebro is a senior in her third varsity season, who’s leftside hitter and back row specialist. She played on last year’s championship team that was led by standouts like Alexis Huntey and Bailey Cairnduff.
“This year, being the oldest one on the team, I’ve had to step up and kind of take on that role,” Chesebro said. “I’m playing the same amount.”
But with an all-stater like Huntey no longer in the lineup, Chesebro realized she would have to pick up some of the slack. “I knew somebody had to do it when Lexie left; everyone looked up to her and every team needs someone everyone can look to,” Chesebro said.
The Mohawks have been locked in a tie for first place in the Central State Activities Association with Chippewa Hills and White Cloud and are most likely headed into a three-way league tie.
“We fell to White Cloud a few weeks ago, but they’re a real solid team and we hope to get back at them in districts and keep going from there,” Chesebro said. “We played a great game against them; they had a really good night. I guess this time, we need to get more mentally prepared. We know what we have to do now because we played them once.”
Compared to a year ago, “I think this year I’ve slowed down the game a lot for myself. I know when I need to get my shots in. I take my time and make sure I get them in,” Chesebro said. “My serving has improved. I get more serves in.”
Being defending state champs has had a positive impact on the team.
“None of the seniors want to end on a loss,” Chesebro said. “Sometimes it isn’t a good thing, because if we don’t do everything last year’s team did, people get frustrated with us.”
Rosman is a sophomore in her second varsity season.
“I was starting middle last year, so right off the bat, coming off from summer in eighth grade, I was right with the team,” Rosman said. “I was really nervous in the beginning. After our first match, I felt comfortable.”
This year, “I think I’m smarter mentally and I’ve definitely gotten stronger,” Rosman said. “Watching Bailey and Lexie last year…I’ve come a long way.”
Rosman put in hard work during the off-season to get ready for this year. She was playing outside but recently moved back to middle. “Middle is definitely more challenging,” she said. “You have to do everything every second of the game.”
As a team, “we’ve proven a lot of people wrong; a lot of people said since we lost our two key players, we weren’t going to be good this year,” Rosman added. “So it feels good to prove people wrong. We’re doing very well.”
Looking ahead, “I think we’ll make it past districts,” Rosman said. “If we cut back on our mistakes and play strong, we’ll hopefully beat [White Cloud.] We’ve improved a lot. From our first game until now, we’re playing better as a team.”
As of mid-October, the Mohawks were 23-11-2. Rosman had 312 kills and a .309 hitting average with 32 blocks, 329 digs, and 96 percent serving average.
“We thought we could use her power outside to replace Alexis Huntey,” said coach Robin Kozuch. “We moved her back to the middle because we needed her to block. She’s a great athlete. She’s comfortable in both positions.”
Chesebro has 207 kills with 389 digs and 37 aces.
“She’s very aggressive,” Kozuch said. “We love to have her on the court. She’s a little spitfire. She’s definitely not one to back down.”