Perrysburg, OH – GRCC’s volleyball team arrived near the campus of Owens Community College yesterday in preparation for this week’s NJCAA Division II National Volleyball Tournament. Ranked second in the nation, GRCC is expecting their best finish ever.
Today most teams are taking some time for a last minute practice before heading to the banquet to honor the 16 teams from across the US who qualified for this tournament through rigorous Regional post-season play.
In the first round of the tournament GRCC is facing the 15
th seed, Hagerstown Community College of Maryland. The Hagerstown Hawks enter the tournament boasting a 23-3 overall and on a 12 match win streak.
Hagerstown Community College’s team, coming out of Region XX, makes gauging them as completion tough for GRCC, a Region XII team, because both teams have only faced two mutual opponents this season. Both GRCC and Hagerstown bested Genesee County Community College in three sets in 2012, but one of the Hawks losses came by way of Jackson Community College’s Jets, 2-3.
In regular season play, GRCC had 2-0 record (not dropping a set) against Jackson with the average set scored 25-15. While a promising sign for the Raiders, effectively it means nothing as any team entering this level of competition certainly deserves respect.
While GRCC has tremendous respect for their competitors, these Raiders should know that that have while they may have the numbers on their side, this Hawks team is nothing to balk at.
The Hawks have some truly impressive statistics—mainly coming by way of a pair of sophomore players, Emmalyn Stahl and Elise Manning. Stahl, a 5-9 outside hitter, has recorded 291 kills in 2012 and added 16 blocks and 292 digs.
Manning, a 6-0 middle, managed an astounding 116 solo blocks and 20 assists for a total of 136 blocks on the year while contributing 282 digs in 2012.
The Hawks’s Callie Butts earns honorable mention as their third leading killer with 201 on the year, but the seven other members of the squad appear to be left out of the offensive mix averaging only 26 kills between them.
Defensively the Hawks know how to keep the ball from hitting the court as they’ve racked up 1,792 digs this season. Libero Tiffany Rohrer leads the Hawks in that category with 416.
While these Hawks may lack the depth of production across the board that GRCC’s Raiders have shown this season, they have playmakers that have shown they are capable of making plays to win games. 23-3 doesn’t happen by virtue of luck.
That said, neither does the 35-1 record that followed GRCC's team down to Toledo, OH.
GRCC’s team this season has shown that regardless of what player steps on the court, she can play. Six of the Raider’s players have over 150 kills in 2012.
Leading the pack for GRCC is sophomore outside hitter
Nicole Czehowski Czehowski has 290 kills in 201 while adding 40 blocks, 234 digs and 13 aces. Czehowski’s followed by
Molly Maynard who brings with her 246 kills, 105 blocks and 107 digs.
More impressive than even those numbers are what the supporting cast brings to the team.
Amy Vander Wal earned a .412 hitting percentage in 2012 with 179 kills and 59 blocks.
Kourtney Wolters,
Kaitlyn Wolters and
Hannah Geelhoed all crossed the 150 mark with 197, 159 and 157 respectively.
Sophomore setter Kaitlyn Wolters—in addition to her 159 kills—threw up 1028 assists allowing the Raider offence to flourish.
Each player is making contributions. While some make those contributions more frequently than others, it seems that no GRCC player lets her time on the court go wasted.
With 26 straight wins, undefeated in conference, and a 9-1 record against nationally ranked opponents, GRCC has got something serious going on. 23 hours from now, all of the NJCAA’s DII teams will have a better idea of what that is.
The #2 ranked (and seeded) Raiders face off against the #15 seeded Hawks Thursday, November 15 at 11:00 AM at the NJCAA’s DII National Volleyball Tournament.
For live streaming of all the matches at the tournament, visit this site: http://www.ihigh.com/njcaatv/index.html
