Division 3 Player And Coach Of The Year
In this article:
The Division 3 finalist field was the only one to not feature a team from the 2021 semifinals. That made for a lot of excitement and a lot of new names to establish themselves on a big stage. Picking the…
Access all of Prep Dig
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingThe Division 3 finalist field was the only one to not feature a team from the 2021 semifinals.
That made for a lot of excitement and a lot of new names to establish themselves on a big stage.
Picking the Player of the Year and Coach of the Year in Division 3 wasn’t easy, but the winners certainly were deserving.
D3 Player Of The Year: Taylor Smith Taylor Smith 6'1" | S Pewamo Westphalia | 2024 State MI , P-W Jr. Setter
A volleyball state championship had been a long time coming for Pewamo-Westphalia.
The Pirates have had strong contenders for many years, just always seemed to run into the latest buzzsaw in Class C or Division 3.
This year, the Pirates finally collected the title and a lot of it had to do with their 6’1” junior setter.
Smith had the P-W offense running like a fine-tuned machine all season and especially at Kellogg Arena.
In the semifinal sweep of Cass City, P-W hit .337 as a team with Smith dishing out 26 assists to go along with eight kills of her own.
In the final, P-W hit .266 as a team. Smith tallied 36 assists and seven kills in the victory. She also had 20 digs over the two Battle Creek matches.
Smith was a great floor general for P-W and plays with a lot of athleticism and quickness for her size. She displayed a lot of great decision-making and is a player many colleges should be putting on their radar.
Other finalists: Shelby Ignash Shelby Ignash 6'1" | MB Cass City | 2025 State #124 Nation MI , Cass City; Navea Gauthier Navea Gauthier 6'1" | OH Shelby | 2025 State #56 Nation MI , Shelby; Holland DeVries Holland DeVries 5'10" | OH Kalamazoo Christian | 2024 State MI , Kalamazoo Central
D3 Coach Of The Year: Amy Cuthrell, Cass City
Division 3 had a lot of candidates worthy of Coach of the Year, but it’s hard to ignore Cuthrell leading Cass City to its first semifinal appearance since 1977.
The Red Hawks had a great mix of experience and youth and Cuthrell found a way to put it all together in a seamless fashion.
Cass City put together a 34-9-3 record on the season, finding themselves in the top 10 rankings for a good part of the 2022 season.
Their postseason run to Battle Creek featured five sweeps, including wins over recent D3 power programs like Unionville-Sebewaing, Valley Lutheran and Royal Oak Shrine.
With some All-State pieces returning, Cass City could be on the verge of becoming a Battle Creek regular.
Other finalists: Jim Thelen, P-W; Cassie Haut, SMCC; Carlie Southland, Kalamazoo Christian