October 17, 2016

Grand Rapids, Mich. -- Tomorrow's match features the 16^th ranked Raiders and the 19^th ranked Jayhawks. Even though the Raiders have a 23-5 record against MCC during Coach Will's tenure, the Jayhawks have been one of the Raiders toughest opponents year after year.  Ten of those victories against MCC came when the Jayhawks were nationally ranked.  The Raiders swept the Jayhawks during the regular season last year, but Muskegon eliminated the Raiders from Regionals with a 3-2 win; ending a 5 year stretch of National Tournament appearances for GR.  The Jayhawks would end up winning Regionals and advancing to Nationals for the 2^nd time ever...  Earlier this season, the Raiders won 3-2 at Muskegon after dropping the first two sets, 23-25, 15-25, 25-16, 25-23, 15-8.  With a lot on the line tomorrow night, let's take a look at both teams.

 

Muskegon CC – The visitors are the hottest team in the league with a 25-9 overall record and 12-1 in conference play.  They are riding a 10 match win streak and 8 of their 9 losses have come to nationally ranked teams.  They will be looking for their first ever win in Grand Rapids in over a decade...  Sophomores Rachel Brown (384) and Ashly Schuitema (368) are 6^th and 9^th in the nation in total kills.  Brown also leads her team with 110 blocks while Schuitema leads the way with 77 aces.  Sophomore Setter, Lindsey Jacobs, is 2^nd in the nation with 1219 assists, and also has 175 kills, 73 blocks and 53 aces.  Freshman Outside, Robbie Berg is 3^rd on the team with 211 kills… In their first meeting with the Raiders this season, the Jayhawks were held to their 5^th lowest hitting percentage of their season, despite 14 kills from Brown and 11 each from Jacobs and Schuitema.  Jacobs finished with her only triple-double of 2016, adding 36 assists and 17 digs.

 

Grand Rapids CC – The 1^st place Raiders played just one match last week, sweeping Glen Oaks at home, improving their record to 18-5 and 12-0 in the conference.  They have won 13 of their last 14 matches with their only loss coming to 2^nd ranked Owens CC.  Outsides Lauren Wieber (Grand Rapids, MI, Kenowa Hills '15) and Rylee Storms (Grand Rapids, MI, Northview '15) have combined for nearly 500 kills and each average about 4 points/set.  Freshman Setter, Lauren Helsen (Coopersville, MI, Coopersville '16), continues to impress, breaking her career high in assists/match in our match against Glen Oaks.  Freshman Middle, Hannah Sterns (Jenison, MI, Jenison '16), also continues to get better and better.  She had 15 kills and 5 blocks in her last two matches… Against the Jayhawks earlier this year, Storms and Wieber combined for 29 kills while Freshman Outside, Hannah Sterns (Jenison, MI, Jenison '16) had a very solid 8 kills and team high 3 aces.  Janie Bunge (Ottawa Lake, MI, Whiteford '15) led the defensive with a match high 22 digs while Muskegon native, Kennedy Potts (Muskegon, MI, Mona Shores '16), added 11 digs.

 

WHATS AT STAKE:  At the conclusion of the match, the Raiders will have just three matches remaining while the Jayhawks will have two left.  A win for the Raiders, and it almost guarantees them their 6^th conference title in the past 8 years, but most importantly a #1 seed in regionals.  If the Jayhawks win tonight by a final of 3-1 or 3-0, and win their final two matches, they will finish at worst as the co-conference champs, but more importantly they will be the #1 seed in regionals.

The Raiders next game will be at Kellogg CC at 6:30 PM on Thursday, October 20^th.  They will return home for the final time on Tuesday, October 25th, against the Ancilla College Chargers who currently are in 3rd place in the conference.