Box Score Scottsdale, AZ – Before GRCC even got one foot on the court in Scottsdale yesterday, the Raiders jumped up seven spots in the NJCAA DII polls to #2 in the nation.  Their opponent, Phoenix College, however, witnessed as their team dropped from #5 to out of the Top 20.

By the end of the match last night, GRCC’s Raiders proved their rank was no fluke, but the competition Phoenix delivered resembled the play of a top ten team, not of one who simply received a few votes.

Following GRCC’s 3-2 win over Phoenix, Head Coach Chip Will was thrilled about the performance of his team.
“This was a gut check match.”  Phoenix is phenomenal defensively, but our team stepped up and got it done in the end,” said Will.

Phoenix, having returned much of their starting lineup from last year’s team which made a trip to the NJCAA Nationals, nearly pulled off the upset win, but fell to the Raiders in the 5^th set, 12-15.

While official stats are not yet available, Coach Will was quick to point out a few players who stepped up their game to help pull of the win.

“Kourtney Wolters had 11 kills playing six rotations.  She gave us a huge spark in serve-receive and defense.”

Kaitlyn Wolters delivered some big-time play for GRCC with 58 assists while Nicole Czehowski came through with big kills in crunch time according to Coach Will.

 Middle blockers Molly Maynard, Hannah Geelhoed and Amy Vander Wal made their presence known.

“Those three did a great job controlling the net with their blocking and quick attacks. Each stepped up during this match.”

The opportunity to savor this win is certainly tempting for this Raider team, but tomorrow’s contest against now #6 Glendale CC is expected to be equally challenging.

Since the initial polls came out in August, Glendale jumped from outside of the top 20 to #6 as of yesterday morning.
Today’s meeting between the #2 Raiders and #6 Guachos takes place at 1:00PM EST.