The opportunities don't come as frequent any more for Kendall Michels.
But when the Laingsburg senior setter has some down time from a hectic schedule of school and volleyball, she likes to be in the gym working to perfect her game alongside her father.
"Every time we get a free chance we put hard work in at the gym," Michels said. "We go to the gym and (my dad) just pounds down balls at me. He makes sure I can not leave that gym until I get at least 50% of the balls up. We spend so much time on my defense to the point where it is coming natural to me. I have to give all the credit to my dad because without him I would not be defensive-wise where I am today. That's a lot of work put into the gym."
That work has yielded plenty of positive results in many areas as Michels has continued to see her game evolve during her three-year varsity career. And the latest big achievement for Michels came when she surpassed 1,000 career assists in a CMAC victory over Lansing Christian on Thursday, Oct. 8. The accomplishment came in a week where Michels had a combined 63 assists in victories over Durand and Lansing Christian.
Michels, who was voted the LSJ girls athlete of the week, said the milestone is validation of the work she has put into a sport that is big for her family.
"It wasn't just my accomplishment, it was also my team's accomplishment because without any of my passers or my hitters I would have never hit where I am today," said Michels, who is committed to continue her career at Lansing Community College. "I really am thankful for all of them."
Michels has a team-high 51 aces this fall and and is averaging 5.9 assists per set for Laingsburg, which is 6-2 in CMAC play and tied for second in the standings behind Bath. Coach Mickey Fox said Michels has been instrumental in the Wolfpack's success.
"Kendall is our quarterback," Fox said. "When she's not on the court I think we're not as effective if you look at stats and data. I think just in looking at how many points we score and how effective our offense is. it just kind of runs through her. We moved to a 5-1 this year because our other setter — we needed her to hit. That's helped with our consistency because everybody is coming from the same source.
"Kendall has the ability to give the ball to who is hot but also when we get into those slumps to be able to turn and hit. She just does so much for us all around. Even from the serving line she leads our team in aces and she really doesn't miss often. That consistency is huge. It just really changes the pace of the game."
Contact Brian Calloway at bcalloway@lsj.com. Follow him on X @brian_calloway.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Kendall Michels leading charge in Laingsburg volleyball success