As Summer ends, and Fall begins, many of the Lady Squire athletes are suiting up to play the sport they love; volleyball. The season is already in full swing for Varsity volleyball and this team has a brand new look. With only two returning seniors, and 4 sophomores, this is a very young team.
The team consists of returning seniors and team captains: Maddie Velting (hitter) and Catelyn Ilbrink (defensive specialist); Juniors: Nicole Bergsma (hitter), Stephanie Smith (hitter) Emma Pastoor (hitter), Josie Dalrymple (defensive specialist) and Ellie Bouma (setter). The four sophomores are Katie Terborg, who returns to play varsity for her second year as a defensive specialist, Brooklyn Verbeek, and Anika Verbeek, both of them hitters who provide great height and aggressiveness to the front row, and Eleyna Debruin, a setter. The team is coached by Amanda Bremer, who is at Calvin for her second year.
The team started off their season at the WMVOA volleyball tournament. This was the first time these girls would all be playing together in an actual game and would help preview what the season would be like for them. The team played well but did not end up excelling in the tournament, giving Coach Bremer an idea of what the girls would need to work on to better themselves for the rest of the season.
The second game against Newaygo was a nailbiter. After losing the first two sets, the girls had to win the next three in order to take the win. The previous sets had been incredibly close, so everyone knew that it was possible for them to defeat Newaygo. After a good series of back and forth points, Calvin finished strong and made a comeback. They took the next three sets, allowing them to pull off the victory.
Next up was a tournament at Unity. Several big schools meant hard competition. The Squires played hard and the highlight of their day was being able to defeat Unity, a hard feat to accomplish. They ended their day tied for second.
Then, at the team’s fourth match versus Kelloggsville, and the first conference game of the season, the team was able to welcome back returning senior Catelyn Ilbrink. Ilbrink had been out for the previous games after being sidelined until she was cleared to play by her doctors. Ilbrink had suffered a meniscus (the cartilage near the knee) tear and had surgery back in April. After four months without sports, and only a minimum amount of practice, Ilbrink was ready to get back into the sport she loved. She slowly returned to the game as a defensive specialist and was able to help assist her team with a 3-0 win against the Rockets.
Later that same week, the girls competed in the Oiler Invite at Mount Pleasant High school. The girls played hard, but came up short, taking 7th place, one place away from being able to compete in bracket play. They were able to enjoy team bonding though, at Coach Bremer’s family cottage nearby.
As the season continued to progress, the team was starting to head into more conference games, the second one being against the Lee Rebels. The game offered a few comedic laughs when there was a miscommunication between Anika Verbeek and Coach Bremer. Anika was serving and Coach wanted her to do a topspin, so she made a weird motion with her hand that Anika interpreted as serving underhand. So Anika served the ball underhand and even ended up getting an ace off of it. Coach Bremer burst into laughter as did the audience, impressed by Anika. The team as a whole played strong and defeated the Rebels easily, 3-0.
That upcoming Saturday, the team had a big tournament taking place at Calvin. The competition they had to face would no doubt be incredible, several of them being much bigger schools in comparison. The first team that the Squires would have to face that day was the Norseman from North Muskegon. The game was in full swing with the Norseman leading when the unexpected happened. The stand that one of the referees was standing on collapsed, causing the ref to fall from a great height, knocking him out cold. The girls immediately stopped play on both courts in the gym as the audience let out a collective gasp of surprise. People immediately scampered over to help as parents rushed to their phones to dial 911.
However, despite the craziness of the whole situation, something wonderful happened. One of the girls from North Muskegon came over to our team and asked us if we would like to join them in prayer. Our team quickly agreed and the invitation was offered to the other two teams who were in the gym. The four teams got in a huge circle, hand in hand, and a prayer for the ref was spoken. It was a beautiful moment in an ugly and terrifying situation. Thankfully, the referee returned to consciousness and was brought to the hospital. The games were able to continue. Unfortunately, Calvin lost to Muskegon.
They continued playing against several others teams, including Zeeland East, Montague, and Covenant. They were able to beat Montague in a game which allowed them to just eke into bracket play. First up was Covenant, who had already beaten them earlier in the day. The girls were able to play extremely well though, allowing them to win and advance to the final round of the silver bracket. In the final round, the girls would have to face Byron Center. The girls played well but barely came up short, ending the day in second place in the silver bracket.
The lady Squires next game was a big one. It was against Calvin’s biggest rivals: the Covenant Chargers, a team they just previously played at their tournament. After Covenant defeated Calvin in a numerous amount of sports last year, almost everyone on the team had a reason to want revenge. Everyone knew that this would not be an easy game to win, so both teams came out on fire. After back and forth matches, the sets were tied 2-2. It was time for the fifth and final game. This game was only going to be played to 15, win by two, meaning that every single point mattered. The game was drawing to a close with Covenant leading, 14-11 when the Squires knew they had to kick it into full gear. They ended up coming back, forcing Covenant to fight harder. Despite the Squires’ valiant efforts, they fell short, ultimately losing the last set 18-20. Even though the team was unable to deliver the final blow to the Chargers, Coach Bremer was very proud of how her girl’s played, and the audience was given a match that they would not forget about quickly.
Two days after the exhausting fight against Covenant, Calvin had yet another tough competition: Hopkins. Hopkins could have very well been the best volleyball team in our conference and the girls would need to start off on top if they wanted a chance at winning. However, even with Middle Hitters Emma Pastor and Anika Verbeek’s strong hands up at the net, Hopkins wasn’t letting anything hit the ground and they were able to return almost every ball, resulting in Calvin losing 0-3.
Now at about the midpoint of the season, the Calvin Christian volleyball team has been able to fight hard and win many games that no one believed they could win. There are still many hurdles they will have to overcome, including playing Northpointe Christian, a team in the conference that has always been a challenge for Calvin, and the end of the year conference tournament, where hopefully the Squires will be able to play Hopkins again and this time take the win. This team still has a long way to go, but, by the end of the season, they could definitely be a force to be reckoned with.
