Groves’ dream season continues with triumph over Lakeview in regional semifinal
BLOOMFIELD HILLS — In nearly every set of Tuesday night’s D1 regional semifinal, Birmingham Groves built an early lead of at least four points over St. Clair Shores Lakeview.
Twice the Huskies tied those sets, and though they controlled another from start to finish, it proved to not be enough as the Falcons emerged victorious in four sets, winning by scores of 25-22, 25-23, 17-25, 25-17.
Tuesday’s second semifinal at Marian High School between the two young teams began with the Falcons jumping out to a 10-4 start, yet eventually Lakeview vanquished the deficit and led at 17-16.
With Groves up 22-21, sophomore Kamryn Bambrough and Olivia Michalak provided points to leave the Falcons one away, and though a tip by sophomore Lauren Boatman provided the Huskies hope, Groves didn’t let it slip.
Again, the Falcons established a 9-3 advantage in the next set, but Lakeview was pesky as ever to get it even at 16-all. When Groves followed that up with three unanswered, Lakeview answered with five of the next six. Still even at 23-23, senior libero Margaux Nollet stepped up to push one over, then a tandem effort at the net for the winning point put Groves up two sets.
Asked bout the team’s propensity to come out of the gate on a roll in sets, Groves assistant coach Ashley Dixon responded, “Our girls have been working hard all season to make that who they want to be. In that third set, we kind of fall short sometime, but I think we’ve been proving time and time again that that’s not us.”

The exception to the Falcons’ early rule came with Lakeview on the brink of elimination. This time, the Huskies (15-21-1) got off to a 10-5 start, and as Groves labored through some attacking errors, Lakeview’s lead remained steady around six or seven points throughout as senior CeCe Decker set up Boatman and classmate Emma Mulrenin on back-to-back kills to win the third set.
“I think it’s somewhat (to do) with the perception we started the year with ourselves,” Lakeview head coach Kevin Nugent said of his side’s ability to battle back after falling behind. “Being a strong team and figuring out as the match goes along that we can do a lot of things that we’re prepared to do and just sticking with the process. I think that’s probably the difference in a lot of these games. We’ve just had those slow starts, and then you work a lot to get back in it, and you kind of get spent. And then you need every point at that point, and it gets exhausting trying to win points, especially against a team that has good hitters that can put the ball away.”
Photos of Birmingham Groves vs. St. Clair Shores Lakeview in a D1 volleyball regional semifinal
As Nugent alluded to, that effort seemed to finally take its toll by the time the Huskies battled back from Groves' third early lead. Ahead just 7-6, the Falcons went on a 7-1 run and gradually mounted a cushion of double-digits.
Still, Lakeview made the Falcons breathe a sigh of relief after staving off the match point seven consecutive times before Groves could finish the job.
On laboring to get that decisive point, Nollet, one of just four seniors for the Falcons, said, "(It was) just trying to stay confident. Don't be afraid. We were up by a lot, so I wasn't too afraid. It would have been nice to get it done quicker, but we stayed as a team and finished it strong, so it was OK ... I think our energy definitely up (as much in the third), and we had troubles with communication, but we cleaned it up pretty quickly."
As with Groves, Lakeview relied on few (three) seniors this season, so its future remains bright despite what it will miss from Decker, Mulrenin and Bethann Dostine.
"We return a lot of young kids," Nugent said. "Our seniors were incredible this year. They really set a great example, so I think the team coming back next year has a much better understanding of what's required to be successful. I owe that debt of gratitude to them and their sacrifices. So I really look forward to next year, but gonna miss the seniors, because they were really valuable to the culture, the team, everything."
Groves' next task on Thursday is formidable in No. 2 Bloomfield Hills, who beat Grosse Pointe South in the evening's first semifinal. But in the moment, the focus for the Falcons was on going as far as anyone in the building from the program could recall. They were last district champs in back-to-back years in 2013-14.
"I've been with Groves for four years, and we've always kind of lost earlier during districts, so it means a lot to be able to push into regionals, especially since we haven't done it for volleyball in a long time," Nollet said.
With so much returning, she speculated like it could be the first leg of another back-to-back, adding, "Honestly, the underclassmen are really, really strong, and it just makes me excited for what Groves has to come. I'm excited for them next year to kind of build on this momentum."






















































































































































































































































































