Box Score
Charleston, WV -- The 15th ranked Raiders, playing in their eighth national tournament in the past ten years, couldn't take care of the 6th ranked Coffeyville (KS) Ravens in the opening round, falling 23-25, 18-25, 22-25. The loss, puts the Raiders out of contention for their second national championship in five years, but it didn't end their season. The 12th seeded Raiders still could finish with a 3-1 record in Charleston providing they win two tomorrow and then one more on Saturday morning. If that happens, the Raiders will finish in the top ten of the nation for the fifth time in the past seven years.
Offensively the Raiders put up some descent numbers (33 kills and just 14 errors). The trouble for the Grand Rapids attackers was that Coffeyville defense played extremely well, taking away many kills for the Raiders. The Raiders totaled 108 attack attempts in the three set match. The Raider "D" got a lot of balls back themselves totaling 60 digs, surpassing their season average with 20 digs/set. Libero,
Janie Bunge (Ottawa Lake, MI, Whiteford '15), had a team high 16 digs to go along with her team high 25 receptions and 13 serving attempts. The Sophomore, who earned All-Conference 2nd team honors this year, had 0 errors on the night, marking the sixth time that has happened this season. The 16 digs puts her just over 5 digs per set this season.
The Raiders started out strong in the first set of the match, leading 5-2 early. Coffeyville would take their first lead of the set at 7-6, but a 4-0 run put the Raiders in 10-7, forcing the first timeout of the match. Fifth seeded Coffeyville would regain the lead at 19-18 after an ace that just fell on the other side of the net, that forced a Raider time. A solo block by
Emily Farwell (Grand Rapids, MI, Forest Hills Central '15) gave the Raiders again at 22-21, and a
Rylee Storms (Grand Rapids, MI, Northview '15) kill made it 23-22, but the Ravens would score the final three points of the set to win it 25-23. All-Region players,
Lauren Wieber (Grand Rapids, MI, Kenowa Hills '15) and Storms combined for nine of the Raiders 13 total kills.
After a 2-0 Raider lead in set two, the 38-1 team from Kansas went on a 7-1 run and never really looked back. Grand Rapids would get as close as 7 to 9, but the Ravens would end up cruising to a 25-18 second set victory. The Raiders actually had their best set hitting wise with just 2 errors, 9 kills and a .292 hitting percentage. Storms ripped off six of those nine kills.
Besides losing the first point of the third set, the Raiders pretty much controlled the whole set, leading by as much as six after an ace by Freshman setter,
Lauren Helsen (Coopersville, MI, Coopersville '16), that made it 14-9. Coffeyville finally clawed back to tie it at 16. A Reams kill made it 18-16, but the Ravens would score the next three points to take their first lead since the opening point. After it was knotted at 19, the Raiders would serve the ball long (their fifth service error of the set) and Coffeyville would wind up 25-22 winners to win the match.
Storms led all players with 13 kills in the match. Wieber added 11 kills (five in first and third sets) while hitting a solid .280. Helsen nearly finished with a double-double with 23 assists and 7 digs. Defensive Specialist,
Kennedy Potts (Muskegon, MI, Mona Shores '16), was the only other Raider in double figures with 11 total digs.
The Raiders will do battle with 13th seeded Northeast (NE) Community College tomorrow at noon. With the win, they will play again at 4:30 pm against either 9th seeded Central Community College or 16th seeded College of Rhode Island. Follow all the matches live at
NJCAA TV.
