Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 | Box Score 3 | Box Score 4 Perrysburg, OH – Several Raider volleyball players were recognized for the outstanding play following the NJCAA DII National Tournament where GRCC finished a perfect 4-0 to clinch the first volleyball National Championship in school history.

By the numbers, each player deserves a significant amount of credit for that accomplishment.

GRCC’s sophomores all represented themselves as champions over the weekend as each contributed in some way over the weekend as capped by their 3-0 win over Cowley County Community College’s Tigers.

Sophomore setter Kaitlyn Wolters was named the tournament MVP.  Over the course of the four games, Wolters tossed up 145 assists leading to 191 team kills.  20 of those kills came when Wolters called her own number to placing a ball across the court with .340 efficiency, the team’s second highest of the weekend.
Additionally Wolters added three services aces and 47 digs, also the second highest figure the Raiders had over the weekend in that category, while adding two blocks to her rap sheet for the weekend.

When one considers that the NJCAA DII National Tournament represents the top 16 teams from across the United States, it is not small accomplishment to be named the best of that field of players.

Wolters’ title, while unquestionably deserved, is impossible to earn without the team that surrounds her.

Kaitlyn Wolter’s identical twin sister and outside hitter, Kourtney Wolters, and middle blocker Amy Vander Wal, were named to the NJCAA DII All-Tournament Team as well.

Kourtney laid down 33 kills over the course of the tournament.  She also dug up 21 balls while adding 9 blocks and 4 aces.

Amy Vander Wal delivered as expect over the weekend.  Vander Wal landed 44 kills, the second highest on the team, with an efficiency of .315 on 108 total attempts.  Vander Wal added 10 blocks and six digs.

While the rest of the Raider squad didn’t make the All-Tournament Team cut, each posted numbers congruent with Champions.

Sophomore outside hitter Nicole Czehowski did over the course of the weekend what she does best, kill volleyballs.  The Region XII District F MVP, in her last outing as a Raider, led her team in kills with 45, while adding 33 digs and seven blocks.

Sophomore middle Molly Maynard held her own in the middle of the court adding 34 kills to the team’s stats.  Maynard recorded a team high 18 blocks

Sophomore defensive specialist Kendall Wolffis came through with a team high 6 aces and kept play alive on the Raiders’ side of the court adding 17 digs over the weekend.

Sophomore libero Karleigh Strazisar stayed true to her position leading her team in digs with 57.  Strazisar also added 1 ace and 6 assists to keep GRCC rolling.

Sophomore middle Hannah Geelhoed finished the weekend with the second highest blocking total for GRCC with 11.  Geelhoed added 20 kills, 7 digs and six assists.

While GRCC’s sophomores definitely led the way, GRCC’s freshman didn’t simply pass out water and keep the chairs warm—they played, and well.

Tayler Friend, a freshman outside hitter, saw the least amount of action for GRCC appearing only 3 of the 14 sets GRCC won over the weekend.  But, when her number was called, she delivered.  Friend finished the weekend with 2 kills on 5 attempts with no errors.  While the number isn’t staggeringly high, .400 hitting efficiency against the nation’s best bodes well for next year’s squad.

Freshman Taylor Meyer appeared in all 14 sets as a defensive specialist digging up 32 balls for GRCC.

While the 2012 Raider volleyball team has some stars, not one person on the team is responsible for the accomplishments they’ve made all year.  From the Conference and State Championship to the Regional and National Championship, the wins were that of a team, and more so, a program.

One of the least likely to assume any credit for this team’s success is the one who chooses and develops them, Head Coach Chip Will.

Even immediately following the crowing of GRCC Volleyball as the National Champions, Will effectively gave all of the credit to the team and the program as a whole.

His personal modesty aside, Coach Will couldn’t avoid one accolade as he was honored as the NJCAA Division II Coach of the Year.

That was not the first plaque he’s delivered back to GRCC.

Coach will has been named the Region XII District F Coach of the Year five times, the MCCAA Coach of the Year four times, and the MCCAA Western Conference Coach of the Year four times.

He’s earned each.

GRCC’s volleyball program under Coach Will has been working towards this achievement for the past six years.

Will’s teams have found their way to the NJCAA Division II National Tournament in 5 of the 6 years he’s been at the helm of the program.

Under Will, GRCC volleyball have been the MCCAA Western Conference Champions four times, MCCAA State Champions four times, Region XII District F Champions 5 times and a national tournament placing team three times while attending the tournament 5 times.

This year’s success was no fluke.  GRCC’s teams have been forging a mentality of winning since the day he took over at GRCC.

In Will’s first seasons of 2007 and 2008, GRCC qualified for the tournament finishing both years 1-2 in national play, just short of placing nationally.
2009 witnessed the Raiders lose their only ever Region XII District F championship match under Will as they were defeated by conference rival Kalamazoo Valley Community College who went on to take 8^th Nationally.

In 2010 and 2011 GRCC again found their way back to the national stage. 

GRCC’s 2010 team left for the Wisconsin Dells boasting a then program’s best 35-2 overall record with a gang of sophomores still bitter over the past season’s Regional loss. 

That team delivered the highest finish in the program’s history, earning a 9^th, by winning three straight matches following their first round loss to Pasco-Hernando, who ultimately won the title in 2009.

2011’s team entered the National Tournament boasting a 38-3 overall record entering the National Tournament as the 10^th seed.  A first round win left the Raiders hopeful, but GRCC ultimately fell to Oakland Community College, a team who they’d beaten twice in regular season play.  In the he very next round, GRCC was downed by Iowa Lakes, who had previously knocked them out of national play in 2007 and 2008.  The Raiders, battered but still playing for 7^th or 8^th place, took to the court against MCC-Longview and won in three, again securing their highest finish ever as a program as the 7^th best in the nation.

In 2012, GRCC‘s volleyball team won it all beating the #1 seed and undefeated Cowley County , but not entirely on their own. 

Does this year’s Raider volleyball team deserve the credit?  No doubt. It was their effort, their sweat, and their collective bond that allowed them to fight for each point and each win necessary to take home the title.  But, every single player from Coach Will’s era has a stake in this Championship as every season’s teams were influenced, led and empowered by veterans of seasons past.  They too have a stake in this Championship.

The 2012 NJCAA Division II Volleyball National Championship marks the sixth outright National Championship in Grand Rapids Community College’s rich athletic history.

GRCC’s baseball program leads the Raiders in National Titles with 5, having earned them in 1996, 1997, 2003, 2004, and 2005.

GRCC’s late football program, which competed as a non-scholarship program, was named the Top Non-Scholarship Program in both 2005 and 2009 by the NJCAA.

GRCC Volleyball now holds the most recent National Title, and the first for a women’s sport, as the 2012 NJCAA Division II Volleyball National Champions.