It’s been a busy month of October for the Grand Rapids Community College volleyball team, but also a very successful month, playing and winning in all seven matches, while losing only one set.
Coming off a sweep in the Raider Challenge, where GRCC defeated Oakland Community College, Glen Oaks Community College, Lake Michigan College and Southwestern Michigan College, the Raiders faced Delta College for the second time this season after previously beating them in five sets earlier this season.
The most recent match against Delta was not as close as the first, with GRCC beating them in three sets, 25-14, 25-17 and 25-14.
GRCC continued their dominant stretch into their homecoming game against Montcalm Community College, beating them in all three sets as well.
In the first set, GRCC outscored Montcalm 25-13, with the Raiders putting up a .289 hitting percentage, registering 14 kills to just three errors on 38 total attempts. The Raiders outscored Montcalm 25-19 in set two, with a hitting percentage of .256. GRCC had 15 kills to five errors on 39 total attempts in the second set. In the third and final set, GRCC outscored Montcalm 25-16, with a .250 hitting percentage. The Raiders had 14 kills to five errors on 36 attempts.
In the homecoming game against Montcalm, freshman Taylor Kik led the team with 14 kills, sophomores Lillian Peterson and Lizzie MacIntosh added eight and six kills, respectively.
Peterson led the way with two blocks and MacIntosh led the team with two aces, tied with sophomore Carle Bruggema. Freshman Ava Tarsi led the team in assists with 18, Bruggema finished second in assists with 15.
On Oct. 17, GRCC faced North Central Michigan College and were once again victorious. North Central Michigan was the second team GRCC beat in their current 14-game win streak back on Sept. 26, where the Raiders won all three sets. Similar to their first matchup, the Raiders won all three sets again in the most recent match.
GRCC defeated North Central Michigan 25-15 in the second set, putting up a .265 hitting percentage with 15 kills and six errors on 34 total attempts. GRCC won the second set 25-18 and then won a lopsided third set, 25-10 to complete the sweep.
Taylor led the team in kills with 14, with MacIntosh and Peterson right behind her with nine and six kills, respectively. Bruggema led the team in assists with 19, Tarsi also added 17 assists of her own.
The Raiders are now responsible for both of North Central Michigan’s conference losses on the season.
Dating back to Sept. 19, the Raiders have now won all three sets against 11 of their last 12 opponents, losing just one set to Southwestern Michigan College in that time frame. With the Raiders now having a 14-game winning streak and a perfect 9-0 record in conference play, playoffs will be in sight for the squad, with only three games of regular season left to play.
Last season, the team was able to win the Michigan Community College Athletic Association (MCCAA) Championship, as well as the Great Lakes District B Tournament before reaching The National Junior College Athletic Association Division II National Tournament.
The Raiders look likely and destined for a deep postseason run based off of the team’s current form.
At the homecoming game, head coach Chip Will explained what the team is looking towards at the end of the season.
“We just have that they perform, you know, you don’t always have to be successful, but we just want you to go in and give max effort,” Will said. “So as long as, all 18 kids keep pushing each other to get better, the sky is the limit with this team.”
GRCC will conclude regular season play against Muskegon Community College on the road, Alpena Community College at home on Friday, Oct. 25 at 6:30 p.m. before the regular season finale against Bay College at home Saturday, Oct. 26 at 1 p.m at the Ford Fieldhouse.
Editor-in-Chief Alexa Cheaney contributed to this story.
