MASON — Carley Robertson believes the DeWitt volleyball program could have gone in two different directions a couple of years ago while she was early in her tenure as the varsity coach.
And she credits this year’s senior class of Natalie Clacko, Avery Benson, Payton Terwilliger, Quinn Rypstra, Lucy Roberts and Ava Kujansuu for steering the Panthers in a positive direction and helping them maintain success.
DeWitt had some more strong achievements this fall, earning a share of the CAAC Blue title and then beating the team it shared the title with — Grand Ledge — in a district final.
And while the latest state tournament run for the Panthers ended in a three-set regional semifinal loss to Ann Arbor Skyline on Tuesday, Nov. 11, Robertson believes the six seniors left a strong legacy.
“Some of them were on varsity for three years and some of them were on varsity for two years, but I think they really bought into what we were trying to do as a coaching staff,” said Robertson, who is in her fourth year as head coach. “It’s hard to create buy-in and get kids to buy in to something like that because it’s just a lot of work. Relationship building is a lot of work. They really put in the work and the time with each other and in the locker room they were talking about it.
“The end of the season — it can feel really long, but they all still wanted to come to practice and spend time with each other. That’s the program that I’m trying to build and so to know that they feel the same way means a lot.”
This season marked the fourth consecutive trip to regionals for the Panthers as the groups under Robertson have built on the success the program experienced under previous coaches Christy Thelen and Kyle Anderson.
DeWitt was slow to settle in against Skyline on Tuesday and faced an early 12-4 deficit while dropping the opening set 25-13. The second set was tied 7-7 before Skyline went on a run to pull away for a 25-15 victory. The third set was the tightest and tied at 16 before Skyline went on to finish off the sweep with a 25-18 win.
Robertson said the ending doesn’t take anything away from this season’s success for DeWitt.
“I told them the program is better because of the six seniors that are in it and I hope as we move forward, year over year, that’s what I want from each graduating class is to leave the program better than you found it,” Robertson said. “This group was really hungry to win a district, win a conference and go as far as we could in the postseason. They wanted that not just for them but for everybody around them and their teammates and the program in general.”
Contact Brian Calloway at bcalloway@lsj.com. Follow him on X @brian_calloway and Bluesky @briancalloway.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Seniors leave lasting mark for DeWitt volleyball in latest run to regional
Reporting by Brian Calloway, Lansing State Journal / Lansing State Journal
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