By Jack Walker and Bianca Bower
The Grand Rapids Community College women’s volleyball team defeated Aquinas College at the Ford Fieldhouse in a close match that went to the fifth set to determine a winner. It was the first time all season the Raiders played in a match that went past the third set. The win pushed the Raiders record to 3-2 on the season before they go on a five-game road trip.
The first home game for the Raiders involved high spirits and a packed fieldhouse, adding a high energy and excitement to the team’s home opener. Many young and aspiring volleyball players attended the match to learn more about the sport. Grand Rapids Public Schools including Grand Rapids University Preparatory Academy, North Park Montessori School and Westwood Middle School were all in attendance.
The Raiders were able to win the first set by a score of 25-22 to take the lead over Aquinas. Out of 52 total attempts, the Raiders converted 13 kills to take advantage. Aquinas was able to even the match against GRCC, winning the second set, 21-25, marking the first time the Raiders were tied at 1-1 in a match all season.
GRCC took control of the match again in the third set, winning narrowly 25-23. But, the back-and-forth game continued, with Aquinas winning the set by the largest point differential of the day, 16-25. The fourth set was GRCC’s lowest kill percentage of the day, putting up nine kills to seven errors on 46 total attempts, leading to a .043 kill percentage.
The Raiders were heading into the fifth set for the first time all season, a good experience for the team early in their season. GRCC was able to take care of business in an extremely tight set, winning 17-15 to take home the victory.
Freshman Taylor Kik led the team with 16 kills in the evening. Kik spoke on the difference between the high school level and the college level after the game.
“It’s definitely a bit more intense in high school, but I really like that because it’s a lot of girls that all enjoy playing volleyball and they all really want to be here every day and get better,”she said.
Outside of the fourth set, the game remained close, with every other set being determined by four or less points.
“I think this group fights, I think every set we were coming from behind,” said 18-year head coach Chip Will. “This group never stops believing in each other and that started with our trip down to Texas that first week. Knowing that when things are tough if you know everyone is coming from a genuine place. There’s no fighting, there’s no complaining, and I think that was a true testament right there.”
Sophomore Ava Schultz led the way with 29 assists, 16 more than second on the team, sophomore Carle Bruggema, who added 13 of her own assists.
Sophomore Lillian Peterson held down the defense for the Raiders, leading the way with eight blocks. Peterson spoke about the team’s outlook for the rest of the season, “I would definitely like to go farther in nationals than we did last year, especially after that game to see how we react. I’m really excited to see how we respond to fixing the things that we can.”
As previously mentioned, the Raiders will be on the road for their next five games, covering the remainder of September.
The team will be back at home on Tuesday, Oct. 1 against Muskegon Community College at 6:30 p.m. in the Ford Fieldhouse. The Raiders will finish the season with six home games out of seven total, not including the Raider Challenge which is set to take place on Oct. 5 – 6, times and opponents for the challenge are still to be announced.
