No volleyball team in state will have more depth than Plymouth
The 2025 Plymouth varsity volleyball team. PHOTO BY MICHAEL VASILNEK
Since being hired as Plymouth High School’s new volleyball coach this off-season, Lindsey Ancevski has loved everything about her new responsibilities.
Make that everything except one.
“Making cuts was the worst,” Ancevski revealed. “During the week leading up to that day I probably slept two hours each night. It’s gut-wrenching because you have to tell kids they’re not quite good enough to play the sport they love.
“In the end, I had to make the right choices for the program, not my heart.”
She kept the max
Given that Ancevski has a big heart, she did what few coaches before her have done.
“I kept 18 girls, the maximum number the MHSAA will allow you to keep in volleyball,” she said. “When you have a big school like this and there’s a lot of great talent and kids who work hard to stay with the program, they deserve to be rewarded.”
“Now, it’s up to me to figure out a game plan to use an 18-player roster so that we can out-perform and out-work other teams. We’ll have the depth to sub more so that girls can catch their breath.”
Volleyball is booming sport
A whopping 90 students tried out for the the Wildcats’ three volleyball teams (freshmen, junior varsity and varsity), 45 of whom were freshmen.
“Volleyball is a growing sport, so it’s good to see all of the interest,” said Ancevski, who played high school volleyball at Gull Lake High School before playing club volleyball at the University of Michigan.
“We had 40 to 45 freshmen try out and three made varsity and four made JV. They were all very involved in our summer programs, too, which is important if you want to make it.”
Stellar seniors
Ancevski spoke highly of the team’s seven seniors — Giana Jourdonnais, Abby DiCarlo, Keira Howes, Payton Wandel, Natalie Southwick, Harmony Purwadihardja and Abbey Kuehneman — who she knows well. She was hired as the Wildcats’ JV coach in 2023, the year her now-seniors were sophomores.
(Click here to watch a brief video of Plymouth seniors answering spontaneous questions from Social House News
Ancevski was a varsity assistant coach in 2024 until October when she gave birth to her first child, Nora.
“We have six DS’s (defensive specialists) and four middles, which isn’t ideal,” Ancevski admitted. “With our middles, we’ll work it like hockey shifts. We’ll ask them to work as hard as they can when they’re in there, then sub them out when they’re getting tired.”
Parnell was super as a soph
Based on last season’s post-season honors, the Wildcats’ top middle hitter will be junior Dakota Parnell, who earned All-Conference honorable mention laurels as a sophomore.
Parnell will be joined in the middle rotation by junior Tanvi Paturi, freshman Jasmine Johnson and DiCarlo.
The setting duties will be handled by Jourdonnais, junior Kate Ryan and junior Sydney Saling, while the all-important DS positions will be shared by Wandel, Southwick, Purwadihardja, Kuehneman, junior Gabby Beydoun and sophomore Hope Purwadihardja.
Rounding out the robust roster will be outside hitters Leah McCully, Riley Taylor and Jordyn Holly.
Last but not least, the right-side hitter spot will be shared by Howes and Langley VanSickle.
KLAA West is one of state’s best
Competing in the KLAA West Division will be anything but a walk in the park, Ancevski said.
“This division is so good,” she said. “Obviously, there’s Northville, the defending state champ; and Hartland, Howell, Novi and Brighton are all solid. Brighton has a Duke commit from what I understand. And the Park games are always battles because of the rivalries.
A former program manager for Ann Arbor-based Google, Ancevski has proven people and management skills — both assets in the world of high school coaching.
“I’ve been coaching volleyball for 12 years, so I know the game, although I’m still learn something new every day,” she said. “My experience at Google will help me when it comes to fund-raising, budgets … things like that.
“I told the parents at our parents meeting that everything I do is for the girls because I care about them. I want playing on this team to make a positive impact on their lives.”
Ed Wright can be reached at 734-664-4657 or edwright@socialhousenews.com.
