Northville's Lexi Coleman is a world champion.

The 6-foot pin hitter helped the U.S. Girls U17 National Team capture gold at the 2026 FIVB Girls U17 World Championship on Sunday, Aug. 16, in Santiago, Chile, sweeping Türkiye 3-0 (25-23, 25-11, 25-23) in the final.

Team USA went 9-0 across the 11-day tournament and never dropped a single set, winning all 27 in dominant fashion. It was the first time the United States competed in the event, which was held for only the second time, according to USA Volleyball.

Coleman, who attends South Lyon East High School, wore No. 3 and played pin hitter on a roster loaded with elite talent. In the gold-medal match, the Americans posted 45 kills to Türkiye's 24, led in blocks 11-8 and dominated from the service line with nine aces to four.

Opposite Kari Knotts earned tournament MVP honors after recording 17 kills, four service aces and 23 total points in the final. Maya Ogbogu was named Best Attacker, Maija Mortensen took Best Blocker and Brynli Burgess won Best Libero.

The championship point came on a pass from Julia Masselink, a set from Ellie Enger and a kill off the block by Knotts.

Head coach Heather Olmstead guided the squad through a bracket that included pool-play wins over Egypt, Türkiye and Chile, followed by sweeps of Thailand, Czechia, Argentina, Italy and China before the gold-medal rematch with Türkiye.

Coleman's path to the world stage started last fall. As a freshman at South Lyon East, she led Michigan with 413 kills, 55 more than any other player in the state, according to Hometown Life. Her coach, Larry Wyatt, said in October 2025 that the U17 selection "puts her in the Olympic pipeline." He compared Coleman's game to former Farmington Hills Mercy star Jess Mruzik, who led Penn State to the 2024 national title, and Ann Arbor Skyline graduate Harper Murray, now at Nebraska.

"She just hits the ball so hard, plus she's just as good in the back row as she is in the front row," Wyatt told Hometown Life in October 2025. "In international play, you don't have as many substitutions, so you have to be able to handle the ball, and she can."

Coleman returns to South Lyon East for her sophomore fall 2026 season as a world champion.