Vote for the Gaylord Herald Times Volleyball Player of the Year, 2026
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GAYLORD — A rollercoaster year of volleyball in the Gaylord area has come to a close.
Gaylord and St. Mary volleyball both fought through rebuilding seasons, focusing more on culture building over wins and losses. Meanwhile, JoBurg put together another 30+ win season while fighting through an injury to its best player, an impressive bounce back for a team that had high hopes entering the season.
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All three seasons ended in the district rounds of the MHSAA playoffs last week, meaning it is finally time to start looking back on the top performers of the 2026 volleyball season.
First, help us decide who had the top overall season from Gaylord, St. Mary and JoBurg.
Hailey Bober, JoBurg - Without their star in the middle, Mady Peppin, the JL Cardinals had to reconfigure its lineup and change the way they attacked each game. One of the major factors in keeping them on track was having a libero like junior Hailey Bober that they could trust.
Bober had a team-high 565 digs while adding 42 assists, 17 kills and 73 aces. Regardless of who was leading the offense on a nightly basis, the Cards could count on Bober to be keep the ball alive and get their middles and outside hitters opportunities of their own.
Emery Lawes, JoBurg - When Peppin went down early in the season, nobody really knew what the JoBurg attack would look like without her, the team's kill leader in 2024 and 2025. It was a dual effort between Emery Lawes and Lily Crane stepping up to fill her void, and Lawes had her best season on the volleyball court in three seasons on varsity.
One of three Lawes sisters on the team, Emery had 319 kills (second on the team), 89 aces (team-high), 55 blocks (team-high) and 281 digs (second on the team).
Lily Crane, JoBurg - One of the top girls basketball players coming into the 2026-27 season, senior Lily Crane also filled a major void once Peppin exited the lineup.
Crane led the team with 249 kills while adding 256 digs, 18 assists, 7 blocks and 71 aces.
Laney Perdue, St. Mary - The daughter of coach Christine Perdue, Laney stepped into a larger role this season after the departure of seniors Kaylee Jeffers, Emery Blust and Payton Glasby from last year's team. She met those expectations in stride, leading the Snowbirds with 171 kills while adding 119 digs, 6 assists, 12 blocks and 25 aces.
Savannah Collazo, St. Mary - A quiet leader for the St. Mary Snowbirds, Collazo put together an impressive stat line during her junior season: 88 kills, 155 digs, 114 assists, 31 aces and 13 blocks.
Maiya McDonald, Gaylord - A senior leader and one of Gaylord's top threats at the net, McDonald was a big part of a culture-setting season for the Blue Devils volleyball program.
Polls ends Friday, Nov. 20
Contact GHT Sports Editor Dylan Jespersen at [email protected]. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @dylanjespersen, and Instagram, @dylanjespersen.
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Vote for the Gaylord Herald Times Volleyball Player of the Year, 2026