Alisha Glass Childress was 1 of 12 honorees inducted into the national hall of fame Monday, at the NFHS summer meeting hall of fame press conference.
“Leland is where I fell in love with the sport of volleyball and a lot of different sports,” she said. “For me, high school sports is the start of understanding yourself — reflecting on who do I want to be, what do I want to achieve. Goal setting. And recognizing it takes a lot of hard work and it also takes being a part of a team sport and developing relationships with teammates.”
Alisha, along side her mother and former coach, Laurie Glass, was honored as part of the 43rd class during a press conference in Salt Lake City.
Glass Childress said she was grateful to the MHSAA for the nomination and described the honor as an opportunity to look back at where it all began. Sweet home Leland.
“High school was a really beautiful time,” she said. “It was the beginning of a love affair with sports for me.”
Glass Childress graduated from Leland in 2006 with national high school career records of 3,584 kills, 680 blocks and 937 aces.
She went on to star on three Penn State national championship teams and help the U.S. national team to a bronze medal at the 2016 Olympics.
Her aces high school records still stand, her career kills record stood until broken in 2024 by Shelby’s Navea Gauthier, and she remains third on the career blocks list. Glass continues to hold MHSAA records for single-season and career aces and also for her 48 kills in Leland’s 2005-06 Class D Final win over Battle Creek St. Philip. Childress also led Leland to a Class D runner-up finish in 2004-05 and the Semifinals in 2003-04. (All three tournament runs took place while girls volleyball was still played during the winter season before moving to the fall to begin the 200708 school year).
“Nothing great comes without challenge, and there are going to be obstacles,” she said. “But they are testing you.”
Her mother and coach played a central role in instilling that mindset.
“My mom instilled in me as a coach that this is beyond sport,” she said. “It is life and about the life lessons you learn along the way.”
Glass Childress currently serves as head coach of the San Diego Mojo of Major League Volleyball. She becomes Michigan’s 11th inductee into the National High School Hall of Fame.
