The freshmen volleyball team 2018
#4 Heidi Thomasma
#5 Lauren Steenstra
#6 Olivia Alcumbrack
#7 Abby Riddering
#8 Jasmine Bos
#9 Ella Staal
#10 Alexis Kiekover
#11 Abby Perkin
#12 Brooke Hunderman
#13 Anna Hekman
#14 Abby Hekman
#15 Katie Smith
Calvin’s freshmen volleyball team has faced some difficult competition in their games. The team has many strengths along with having people who are talented at both front row and back row. They have a set rotation giving each person a chance to work on what they do best or what the coach needs. The start of the season wasn’t that good but they have grown in many ways and will continue to grow throughout the season.
Saturday the 22nd they placed 2nd in their tournament at Lowell. They played very well and should be proud. They have played many teams and are excited for the season to continue. They lost to Covenant in their very first game and second game beat Hamilton High School and they played very well. The third game was a quad which means four schools are at one school and they’ll all play each other. The freshmen team lost to Holland and Unity but won against West Catholic. The fourth game was against Western Michigan Christian and Calvin won. The fifth game against Kelloggsville they won. Their sixth game was against Covenant Christian which they won as well as their seventh game against Hopkins, which they also won. The eighth game was part of their tournament at Lowell. For pool play, Calvin was put in Pool A (which typically is made up of larger schools) with Grandville, Lowell, and Forest Hills Eastern. In Pool B was Kenowa Hills, Dewitt, Thornapple Kellogg, and East Kentwood. Calvin tied against Grandville, Forest Hills Eastern, and Lowell. After that, they then played Dewitt to see if they could get into the championship and they won. Lowell and Grandville had to play to see who would get in the championship and Grandville won. Calvin and Grandville had to play in the championship and unfortunately, Calvin lost. They still received a runner-up plaque and they are very proud of how they played. Their record is 6-4-3. (Six wins, Four loses, and Three ties.)
The season had some harder times when one player got a concussion, another hurt her back, and yet another with ankle problems. The team has learned to deal with many things including losing hard games, injuries, and trying to become a team in practices.
The team has to deal with stress and pulling up from those low points in the game. They also have had to go through cycles of people swapping for each other and for some learning a new position, and others a new type of hit. The team has grown in many ways and give them the best of luck for the rest of the season!
