2021 Division 1 Player & Coach of the Year

<p>It was another incredible year in Division 1 volleyball around the state.</p> <p>We were treated to a number of future D1 college stars and the Miss Volleyball winner.</p> <p>Marian repeated as state champions with a dominant run through the postseason.</p> <p>It should be no surprise that the Mustangs also find themselves collecting the Player of the Year and Coach of the Year honor.</p> <h4><strong>2021 D1 Player of the Year</strong></h4> <h5><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="24846" first="Ava" last="Brizard"], Marian</strong></h5> <p><img class="size-medium wp-image-165605 alignright" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2021/11/Miss-Volleyball-Gallery-22-216x300.jpg" alt="" width="216" height="300" />The 2021 Miss Volleyball winner plays with an unmatched intensity and she led Marian to its second consecutive D1 state title this season.</p> <p>Though surrounded by a lot of talent, Brizard plays the position as well as anyone and was still the go-to arm when the Mustangs needed a big point.</p> <p>This season, Brizard had 602 kills while hitting .436 on her attacks. She also had 408 digs, 53 aces and 41 blocks.</p> <p>Brizard leaves Marian with tremendous career numbers as well, racking up 2,138 kills with a .373 hitting percentage. That goes along with 1,748 digs, 148 blocks and 162 aces.</p> <p>On a talented team, Brizard was the voice that commanded the team’s attention and the emotional sparkplug that kept the Mustangs motivated to be truly great. She leaves a lasting legacy in Michigan prep volleyball’s storied history.</p> <p><strong>Special Mention: </strong>[player_tooltip player_id="66319" first="Harper" last="Murray"], Skyline; [player_tooltip player_id="66328" first="Ava" last="Sarafa"], Marian; [player_tooltip player_id="137571" first="Mackenzie" last="Delacher"], Rockford</p> <h4><strong>2021 D1 Coach of the Year</strong></h4> <h5><strong>Mayssa Cook, Marian</strong></h5> <p>It’s not easy to handle coaching when everyone expects perfection.</p> <p>After returning the entire squad from the 2020 championship squad, Mayssa Cook never hid from those expectations and demanded them from her team herself.</p> <p>She knew how special they could be and pushed them to reach that level of play. Marian finished the year ranked No. 2 in the nation by MaxPreps.com and fourth by PrepVolleyball.com.</p> <p>Cook also handled all of the pressure and expectations while expecting her third child. She somehow dialed in the mental magic to prevent herself from going into labor during finals week, with her due date already past.</p> <p>Cook clearly gets to work with a lot of talent at Marian, but she also knows how to bring the best of out the talent and develop them throughout their time in the program.</p> <p><strong>Special Mention: </strong>Stephanie Chenlo, Hudsonville; Chris Christian, Skyline; Neil Rucinski, Dakota.</p>