DEARBORN HEIGHTS -- Though the season officially began back on Aug 20, the majority of girls' volleyball teams don't really get their seasons going until early September after Labor Day.
That is the case for a pair the squads at both Taylor and Dearborn Heights Crestwood, who battled it out in an early-season non-conference matchup.
The build-up to the new campaign has been especially growing for Crestwood first-year head coach Rebekka Phelps. After coming over from nearby Dearborn Edsel Ford, where she served as a varsity assistant coach, Phelps has been anxious to get the season started.
"It's been so great so far," Phelps said. "The girls have been extremely adaptable and nothing but open-minded. I'm absolutely loving it here. "The anticipation had been killing us."
The anticipation for both Phelps, along with her Taylor counterpart Jeana Rybski, was officially over on Wednesday. And although they fell behind early, the former saw her new Chargers group storm back and finish on the right side of the ledger.
In what was a very evenly-played battle, Crestwood needed the maximum five sets required to down the visiting Griffins from Taylor (25-23, 19-25, 19-25, 28-18, 15-11).
Albeit not the smoothest of rides to the win, Phelps was encouraged to see her team follow through on a message she has been preaching since the summer.
"I'm really proud of them for the way they pulled through," Phelps said. "We did have a bit of a slow start. But since day one when I joined the program, I told them, 'it's not how you start, it's how you finish.'
"Obviously they took note of that and here we are."
On a smaller scale, Crestwood did get off to a strong start to the match by scoring nine of the first dozen points. Taylor, however, put together two separate stretches of five unanswered points to fuel a comeback.
The Griffins nearly forced a win-by-two scenario but the Chargers were able to put away that final point and take a 1-0 lead in the match.
Game two saw a bit less consistency from both sides. In fact, the longest run of unanswered points from either side was four, which Taylor did on two different occasions. The Griffins ended the set strong with a 14-9 run while allowing Crestwood to score consecutive points only once during that span.
Both teams traded big swings in momentum early on in the third, with there being three different stretches of four unanswered points or more through the first 22 points. The last of which was a 5-0 run from Crestwood, putting them up 12-10 and forcing Taylor to call a timeout.
Rbyski's Griffins responded in a big way with the match's best stretch of the evening. A run of eight consecutive points -- led largely by a trio of seniors in Madelyn Waddell, Simone Hatch, and Samantha Briggs -- gave the visitors enough cushion to pull away and take a 2-1 lead in the match.
Suddenly in a must-win situation, Phelps' veteran-laden team appeared to not show any signs of panic.
"The girls showed a lot of mental strength, and I think it speaks volumes," Phelps said. "They fell behind 2-1 but they put their minds to it and were able to finish through."
Finish through, they did.
Despite again falling behind 4-0 early in the fourth set, Crestwood not only rallied back to reclaim a lead midway through, but also returned the favor for Taylor. The Chargers closed out the fourth set with seven consecutive points.
They were able to then recapture some of that late-game momentum in the match-deciding fifth set as well, after again finding themselves in a tug-of-war early with Taylor.
This year's Crestwood squad boasts 10 seniors, one of which being a 2024 all-Dearborn Press & Guide honoree Isabel Cassab. Taylor meanwhile has a fair amount of experience as well with seven players from the Class of 2026.
The Griffins also have some youth with upside this fall. Among those being a sophomore hitter in Pacey Meherry, who started for the visitors on Wednesday.
Looking ahead, both teams will now find themselves in a regular routine of practices and matches.
With a couple of local tournaments on the schedule upcoming before jumping into their league slate, Phelps is welcoming the opportunity to be playing consistent volleyball moving forward.
"I think that is going to help us tremendously," Phelps said. "The girls really drive of consistency. I, myself, am very excited as well. I've missed these game days. It was great seeing so much energy here in the gym and I'm excited to feed off of that."
Crestwood has a quick turnaround when they participate in the Dearborn all-area tournament on Thursday, Sept 4 at Divine Child Catholic High School. A quintuple tournament with a round-robin setting, the invitational made its debut a season ago. Crestwood throughout the afternoon will battle local rivals Dearborn High, Fordson, aforementioned Edsel Ford, and the host Falcons.
The Chargers will then have a day off before partaking in another tournament hosted by WWAC foe Melvindale on Saturday, Sept 6. They then will begin their conference schedule next week.
Taylor meanwhile will also be back in action on Sept 6 when they find their way over to Wyandotte Roosevelt for a day-long tournament. The Griffins will then visit local foe Melvindale on Sept 9 before beginning Downriver League play a week later at Allen Park on Sept 16.