SHELBY – For four years Shelby volleyball has housed the talent of Navea Gauthier and, for four years the Tigers have claimed district titles. The latest for Shelby came on their home court in a 3-0 sweep over rival Hart, Thursday, Nov. 7.
Hoisting that trophy and collecting individual medals were far from surprises for the Tigers, that’s always been the expectation. In 2021 when Gauthier first shook Head Coach Tom Weirich’s hand after a district finals win over Hesperia, she looked at her coach and made a promise – three more years of district titles to come.
“Four years of it and tonight again, she looked at me and told me ‘there’s our fourth baby'," Weirich said. “She’s known exactly what she wanted to do since she picked up a volleyball.”
As tight as things got when Hart and Shelby matched up at the start of September, the Tigers seemed to find a way to push through in the end. The same sense of resilience wasn’t needed quite as much in the second meeting between the two.
Shelby came out in the first set and rode the right arm of Gauthier to a 6-1 lead early. Before Hart could recover, Shelby doubled their lead and owned an 11 point advantage. For every point that the Pirates scored, Shelby poured on multiple in response which helped propel them to a 25-11 win to start the night.
The second set worked even better for the Tigers. Gauthier was still the centerpiece for Shelby’s attack, but there were several nice swings made on the opposite side of the net by freshman Jayna Burmeister.
“They chant (‘she’s a freshman’) in the stands, but Jayna Burmeister is absolutely not a freshman anymore,” Weirich said. “She delivered pretty big for us on the right side tonight. The defense – especially in game one and two – was suffocating. It was fun to watch.”
Hart struggled to answer Shelby in the second set, falling by an even larger margin than the first set, 25-9.
With their backs against the wall, the Pirates had no choice but to claw their way back from a 2-0 hole if they wanted to extend their season. The team did exactly what they needed to, fighting Shelby to a 9-9 tie to start the third set.
Hart wasn’t content with a tie however, claiming a 16-13 lead late and holding off a Shelby rally to stay in front at 20-18. After allowing Shelby to tie them at 20-20, Hart took a one point advantage, only to watch it disappear as the Tigers rolled to a 25-22 win.
The late push from Hart came as no surprise for Weirich and Shelby.
“No matter what (Hart) looks like on paper or in the gym, it’s always going to be a close game,” Weirich said. “Somewhere along the way, they’re going to make a run. We came out pretty fired up in game one and two, but the energy kind of went out of the gym for a while. That’s when (Hart) sneaks in and makes it interesting.”
Gauthier led Shelby in kills with 33 along with 22 digs while Audrey Horton led in aces with four and assists with 39. Burmeister added four kills and three blocks and Brylee Friedman had a team high 24 digs.
Horton surpassed 3,000 career kills on the night as well, and is now the all-time leader in career assists at Shelby. The team took a minute to celebrate the achievement after the game – just one night after Gauthier celebrated surpassing the MHSAA All-Time career kills record.
“(Audrey Horton) knew since she was a fifth grader that she wanted to set Navea in high school,” Weirich said. “She put in some time to make it all work, doing club stuff and getting in the weight room in the summer. She’s grown as an athlete and a leader.”
Hart had standout performances from sophomore libero Alayna Schiller (16 digs), Calyn Eisenlohr (four assists, seven digs), Kelsey Copenhaver (nine kills, 12 digs) and Reese Smith (15 digs, two kills).
The Pirates finished their season at 26-14-2 and a third place finish in the WMC Rivers.
“Many milestones were achieved this season,” Hart Head Coach Amanda Van Sickle said. “Kelsey Copenhaver had numerous triple-doubles and Reese Smith had multiple double-doubles. We started four sophomores who stepped up to the plate and did a phenomenal job.”
