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AUG. 21, 2026, GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Grand Rapids Community College athletics officially opened the 2026-27 season this week, with the women's volleyball, women's soccer and men's soccer teams all seeing action Thursday and Friday.

The three programs combined for a busy opening weekend, highlighted by several strong individual performances and plenty of competitive action.

Women's Volleyball Goes 1-3 at Opening Weekend Tournament

The No. 13-ranked GRCC women's volleyball team went 1-3 at the Opening Weekend Tournament in Rockford, Ill., opening the season with four matches against nationally ranked competition and several of the top programs in the country.

The Raiders opened Thursday with a 3-1 loss to Rock Valley College before falling 3-0 to No. 9 Johnson County Community College.

GRCC bounced back Friday with a convincing 3-0 victory over North Iowa Area Community College before suffering a heartbreaking 3-2 loss to No. 11 St. Johns River State College.

The Raiders appeared to be in position to close out the match against St. Johns River State, holding a 14-11 lead in the decisive fifth set. GRCC also had seven match points but was unable to finish, falling in a dramatic final set.

Despite the 1-3 record, the Raiders produced impressive offensive and defensive numbers throughout the weekend, totaling 141 kills, 42 aces, 215 digs and 19 blocks.

Freshman Kirstyn Lothschultz led the Raiders with 36 kills, followed by Kaylee Kranz with 31 and Vanessa Walker with 30. Charlee Cochran added 17 kills, while Zella Hutchings and Avery Powers each recorded 12.

Walker led GRCC with 11 aces, while Olivia Inthout added nine. Garnet Mullet and Payton Taylor each had six aces, with Breslym Zache adding four.

Walker also led the Raiders with 41 assists, followed by Taylor with 39 and Zache with 28.

Defensively, Inthout paced GRCC with 65 digs, while Walker recorded 40 and Ella Thayer added 37. Mullet contributed 21 digs.

At the net, Powers led the Raiders with 11 blocks, followed by Walker with seven, Hutchings with six and Cochran with five.

The Raiders will return home for their first home match of the season on Thursday, Aug. 27, against former conference foe Delta College.

Women's Soccer Opens With Tie, Tough Loss

The GRCC women's soccer team opened its season Thursday with a 1-1 draw at Kankakee Community College before dropping a 5-3 decision at Morton College on Friday.

GRCC controlled much of Thursday's match, outshooting Kankakee 31-13.

The Raiders broke through in the 64th minute when Avery Dekker headed home a cross from Hannah Pleiman to give GRCC a 1-0 advantage.

Kankakee answered in the 76th minute to even the match.

Sophomore Nyleese Bazan-Hernandez started in goal and recorded three saves, while freshman Izabela played the second half, allowing one goal and making one save.

The Raiders returned to action Friday at Morton College and jumped out to an early lead.

Avery Deeker scored in the 17th minute off a cross from Hayley Conrad, and Linde Clark putting GRCC ahead 1-0. Morton tied the match before halftime.

Morton then scored four times in the second half, finding the back of the net in the 47th, 62nd, 70th and 84th minutes.

GRCC continued to battle and got goals from Dekker in the 66th minute, assisted by Pleiman, and Nadia Perez (assist Fessenden) in the 83rd minute.

The Raiders actually finished with a 19-15 advantage in shots, but Morton held a significant advantage in fouls, 9-1.

For the second consecutive match, GRCC split the goalkeeping duties between Bazan-Hernandez and Izabela, with each playing one full half.

The Raiders will make their home debut on Monday, Aug. 24, at 2 p.m. against the University of Windsor.

Men's Soccer Opens With Shutout and Victory

The GRCC men's soccer team also opened its season Friday, playing the University of Olivet twice — once against Olivet's varsity team and once in a scrimmage against its reserves.

The Raiders played Olivet's varsity squad to a 0-0 draw in the first match.

GRCC goalkeeper Ramon Lujano-Salto turned in a strong performance, recording seven saves to preserve the shutout.

The Raiders then faced Olivet's reserve squad in a second contest and came away with a 1-0 victory.

Irvin Hernandez-Cisneros scored the lone goal of the match to give GRCC the victory and cap the opening day of competition.

The Raiders will return to action on Friday, Aug. 28, at 5 p.m. when they host Heartland Community College.

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Interested in supporting GRCC Athletics?  All donations can be done through GRCC Athletic's Scholarship Fund and can specify what scholarship fund the gift is going to, such as the Hofmann scholarship. If you have any questions on how to support Athletics at Grand Rapids Community College, contact the Athletic Department via phone at (616) 234-3883 or email grccathletics@grcc.edu. Any support is appreciated and goes towards assisting our student-athlete scholarship funds.