By James Herold
The eighth-ranked Grand Rapids Community College women’s volleyball team extended their winning streak to 19 as they faced the Montcalm Community College Centurions on Oct. 19 at Ford Fieldhouse.
From left to right, sophomores Alyssa Wierenga, Autumn Cole, Braelyn Berry and Vienna Koenigsknecht received a plaque and bouquet at the Grand Rapids Community College Homecoming game, in honor of their commitment to the GRCC Volleyball team. (Blace Carpenter/The Collegiate)
The game itself was a part of Homecoming Week. GRCC alumni as well as President Dr. Charles Lepper came to watch the volleyball team play, while a few sophomore players celebrated their two-year careers. These sophomores included Alyssa Wierenga, Autumn Cole, Braelyn Berry and Vienna Koenigsknecht.
GRCC won 3-0 (25-21, 25-15, 25-21) in three sets, sweeping the season series against Montcalm.
GRCC fell behind 5-1 in the first set, but took its first lead after Wierenga came in and turned a two-point deficit into a 19-18 lead. The Raiders would ultimately prevail, ending the first set 25-21.
The second set was all Raiders as they opened up with a 7-1 lead and cruised to a 25-15 win.
Montcalm wasn’t going to finish its season without a fight and looked as if it would force a fourth set, up 21-19, but Berry sealed the visitors’ fate serving the final five points to win 25-21.
Freshman Lizzie MacIntosh and Lilly Peterson led the Raiders with nine kills, and Berry and Freshman Ava Schultz chipped in with seven and five. Freshman Carle Bruggema, Freshman Lizzie MacIntosh and Koenigsknecht each had nine digs and two service
aces.
When asked what he thought of his team’s performance, Head Coach Chip Will had nothing but praise.
“Good, It’s obviously a fun, emotional night, you know during homecoming,” said Will. “(It was) sophomore night so emotions are running high …I thought we did a nice job after that early part of that first set, kind of regrouping and coming out with a purpose and trying to put on a good performance for our great crowd.
Undefeated in the Northern Conference, GRCC has a lock on the conference title and a playoff spot.
“We just have to make sure that when we are not playing our best or things are going wrong, like, we need to fix them faster because you never want to lose obviously at the end of the year, have your season end,” Will said. We need to make sure that at any point we struggle, offensively, defensively, we snap out of it faster, just some make sure we get a win at the end of the day.”
Koenigsknecht described her thoughts on her team’s performance.
“I think we played well, I think we could of done better but our energy was really good and I think we had a lot of fun in our last home game.”
Koenigsknecht also shared her thoughts on her team’s lock of the conference.
“Yes! We won conference which is good,” Koenigsknecht said. “I think we have a lot more practice to do but we will go far.”
GRCC, 21-3 overall and 11-0 in conference play, who clinched its 12th conference title a couple of nights ago will face Muskegon Community College in their final regular season game on Oct. 24 at 6:30 p.m. in Muskegon.
GRCC will then play their next opponent in the Michigan Community College Athletic Association (MCCAA) Championship. If GRCC wins, they face their next opponent Nov. 2-4 in the Great Lakes A District Tournament at SC4 Fieldhouse in Port Huron, MI.
If GRCC manages to also wins those matches, they will then face their next opponent at the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II National Tournament, Nov. 15-18 at AEP Arena in Cedar Rapids.
