2025 D4 Player And Coach Of The Year

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>**The 2025 Prep Dig Exposure Tour is approaching, as it comes to Pontiac on Dec. 21. There is&nbsp;</em><a href="https://events.prepdig.com/e/2032/register/prep-dig-exposure-tour-michigan"><strong><em>plenty of time to get registered for the event</em></strong></a><em>, as many already have. A big crop of talent will be on hand to showcase their talents for scouts and colleges around the country. You don't want to miss out, as it will be a great opportunity to compete against talented players in a variety of classes, and a variety of states.**</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Division 4 playoffs may have been the best of the entire state finals weekend.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A new champ was crowned and their was some very thrilling matches that took place.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In the end, there were plenty of great candidates for Player and Coach of the Year, but Fowler took home the top honors.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>D4 Player of the Year – [player_tooltip player_id='836790' first='Paige' last='Thelen'], Fowler</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:image {"id":908382,"width":"264px","height":"auto","aspectRatio":"0.7722397678631547","sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none","align":"right"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2025/11/Fowler-vs-Forest-Park-16.jpg?w=790" alt="" class="wp-image-908382" style="aspect-ratio:0.7722397678631547;width:264px;height:auto" /></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Fowler brought a lot of talented skill players to the court, but the Eagles were a different team when Thelen rotated to the front row.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The 5'10” outside hitter brought an extra bit of power on the pin, and her ability to put the ball away gave the rest of her team a big lift.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In the five-set semifinal with Crystal Falls Forest Park, Thelen had 32 kills and hit .329. In the final with Mendon, Thelen had 21 kills and hit .311 in a hard-fought sweep for the title.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Thelen finished the season with over 500 kills to earn D4 Player of the Year honors. She definitely established an historic reputation while leading the Eagles to their first championship.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Honorable Mentions: </strong>Forest Park senior outside hitter <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='916058' first='Ava' last='Fischer']</strong> left everything she had on the floor in an attempt to get the Trojans to the title. She had 28 kills and hit .421 in the semifinal loss to Fowler, but proved she's as strong of a six-rotation outside as you will find in D4. Mendon senior libero <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='462081' first='Jadyn' last='Samson'] </strong>has always played at a high level and in 2025 she guided the Hornets to a runner-up finish while recording 43 digs in two matches at Kellogg Arena. Ubly junior middle <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='611100' first='Waverly' last='Hagen'] </strong>was a dominant player at the net while leading the Bearcats to the semifinals. She had over 450 kills on the season while hitting .330 to be among the top players in D4.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Coach of the Year – Patty Feldpausch, Fowler</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The veteran Fowler coach finally guided the Eagles to the top of the mountain in 2025 and did so with composure and trust in her players. After blowing a two-set lead to Forest Park, the Eagles regrouped and came through with an impressive fifth-set win to best a top contender. Fowler then showed its best play of the year when it beat Mendon in three sets to claim the title. Feldpausch was a Coach of the Year-caliber coach before this season, but 2025 solidified that.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Honorable Mentions: </strong>Mendon coach <strong>Kenneth Herbet </strong>had the Hornets playing at a high level all season and they came up just short of the title. Still, Herbert pulled a lot of the right strings throughout the year to get Mendon playing at a top-ranked level. Crystal Falls Forest Park coach <strong>Bobbie Jo Anderson</strong> guided her team to just two losses throughout the season. Forest Park was as close as anyone to winning the title, going to five with Fowler. Anderson managed that with just two seniors on her roster. Inter-City Baptist coach <strong>Vince Muscat</strong> led the Chargers to being within a few points of a state semifinal appearance. After being down two sets to Ubly, ICB showed tremendous resiliency to push the match to five sets, a credit to what Muscat did with the team.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->