BATTLE CREEK The game plan wasn’t much of a secret. Stop Kayla Nwabueze. It’s something every opponent of Bloomfield Hills has attempted to do this season, but in Saturday’s Division 1 final, the Marlins did it better than anyone else has managed to in 2025. The Marlins threw everything they could at her, including multiple blockers over six feet. While nothing could completely shut down the Black Hawk senior, Mercy did enough to pick up a BATTLE CREEK The game plan wasn’t much of a secret. Stop Kayla Nwabueze. It’s something every opponent of Bloomfield Hills has attempted to do this season, but in Saturday’s Division 1 final, the Marlins did it better than anyone else has managed to in 2025. The Marlins threw everything they could at her, including multiple blockers over 6-feet. While nothing could completely shut down the Black Hawk senior, Mercy did enough to pick up a 25-18, 25-20, 23-25, 25-20 win and claim its second Division 1 state championship in three seasons at Kellogg Arena. “Our plan was to shut down Kayla and put big blocks up, make them change something else. And I thought that worked for us,” Mercy coach Loretta Vogel said. “I thought the girls got up there and just put four hands in front of her, and there was one time we triple blocked. So, I think and changing something up like that and giving her a different view had an impact on her. For any hitter, that would have an impact.” Third-ranked Mercy (44-6-1) put its focus on Nwabueze, a Harvard commit, from the start. The Marlins put every block they had on her, even the occasional triple. It worked well in the early stages, as Mercy managed to pull away in the first set. Down 15-12, Mercy would score 13 of the next 16 points to take the set 25-18. The Marlins had a pair of big blocks during the run, two of their 14 for the match. “It was really frustrating because I knew that they were going to come out and try to stop me, and I just had the mentality of don’t let that happen. But, I feel like I got into a rut a couple times. I really tried hard to try to get past that block. It was a really big block,” Nwabueze said of Mercy’s defense. In the second, the Marlins were down 20-18, but scored the final seven points of the set on the serve of freshman setter Kaelyn Easton and another pair of blocks. The Marlins had all the momentum for a potential sweep in the third set, as they led 20-16, but the second-ranked Black Hawks (41-6-3) rallied to even things up at 20-20. Sophomore Allison Stakoe then found another gear for her play, coming through with four kills over the final five Black Hawk points to give them a 25-23 victory and extend the match. “I think she played with lots of energy, and she kind of went out there when we needed somebody to make an impact on the game,” Bloomfield Hills junior setter Brynn Wilcox said of Stakoe. “I think she just played with lots of energy and just focused on doing her job, which helped turn the side for us.” With that momentum from the third-set win, the Bloomfield Hills offense seemed to open up in the fourth. Stakoe continued to find a home for her attacks, while freshman middle Emily Nwabueze got in the act. That started to open up better looks for Kayla Nwabueze, who had six kills in the set. Mercy had to adjust, this time shifting junior outside Kate Kalczynski into more of a defensive role. It worked, as Kalczynski was able to come through with some key digs and take the Marlins from a 17-13 deficit into the lead. “So, we moved (Kalczynski) over. We moved her to a different position, at five defensively. I thought that changed everything, (was) huge,” Vogel said. “We weren’t reading it well enough. So, like, let’s switch it, and all of a sudden, when (Nwabueze) would hit it, Kate was really capable of bringing the ball up. So, it wasn’t a situation where she was booming and knocking people over.” Mercy would score nine of the final 11 points of the match to lock up the title. Kalczynski got the final point on a kill, her 16th of the match. The junior would also notch 12 digs in the win while middle hitter Ella Andrews had 13 kills with a pair of solo blocks. Cree Hollier added 12 kills, while Easton had 44 assists and 11 digs. Maya Zarow added 24 digs. Photo gallery from FH Mercy vs. Bloomfield Hills in the D1 volleyball title match Nwabueze finished with 24 kills to lead all players in the match, still guiding the Black Hawks to their first state finals appearance. “I’m just glad that we got here. This is a great way to end the season,” Nwabueze said. “Even though it was a loss, we came to the last game of the entire season, and that was definitely not the goal that we started at the beginning of the season. I’m really proud that we kept fighting.” Stakoe had 20 kills and 14 digs for Bloomfield Hills while Wilcox finished with 42 assists.
https://www.theoaklandpress.com/2025/11/22/mercy-slows-down-bloomfield-hills-nwabueze-wins-d1-state-title-in-four-sets/
Mercy slows down Bloomfield Hills’ Nwabueze, wins D1 state title in four sets
