![An East Grand Rapids hitter puts the ball past a Hopkins block during last week’s “Rally on Reeds” game one EGR’s football field.](/sites/default/files/2024-08/240828_EGR_2H.png)
EGR, Hopkins Take Volleyball Match to Football Field for 'Rally on Reeds'
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
August 28, 2024
EAST GRAND RAPIDS – Memorial Field in late August is typically filled with the sounds of football pads smashing against each other and raucous crowds celebrating touchdowns.
Last week, however, a different environment engulfed East Grand Rapids’ football field.
With picturesque Reeds Lake as the backdrop, an outdoor volleyball match between the Pioneers and visiting Hopkins was played on the 50-yard line.
The first-year event was dubbed “Rally on Reeds,” and it turned out to be a special gathering of the East Grand Rapids community.
“It was electric,” first-year Pioneers coach Bruce Hungerford said. “Like a ruckus football game meets a minor league baseball-type environment. It was very cool."
More than 2,000 people attended the match, which ended with EGR sweeping the Vikings 3-0.
It was a spectacle that included a carnival area, a visit from members of the Grand Rapids Rise professional volleyball team, a band and the opportunity to showcase the sport of high school volleyball in a non-traditional setting.
“It was unreal,” EGR junior captain Sadie Devlaeminck said. “It was just so great to see how much the community showed up for the volleyball team and to see the environment that we played in. It was just crazy.”
Hungerford had an idea for an event like this before being hired for the job. He was eager to implement it.
“I had it in my plan to build a community, and host a lot of home games,” Hungerford said. “EGR has an awesome football setup because there’s no track around the football field and it just sits perfectly.
“I had the idea well before the Nebraska (volleyball) game (last season) and mostly because of Grand Haven. They do the Battle of the Boardwalk, so I knew people did it outside for scrimmages and games. With this being my first game coaching, I thought this would be a cool way to try and get these little kids that I’ve coached to come and see it, and it went from there.”
Nearby Aquinas College rented EGR the court, and the nets and stanchions were supplied by Grand Rapids Community College.
While excitement built, the process of putting together the court on the football field proved to be a challenging and time-consuming task.
It took more than seven hours for the court to be constructed with the finishing touches completed at 6:48 p.m., 12 minutes before the start of the match.
“The turf provided a tougher environment because of the squares, and you can’t just slide them in,” Hungerford said. “We had to restart a few times and I thought we were absolutely dead in the water at one point. But we got the lines down, and it wasn’t going anywhere.”
While anxiety surrounded the installation of the court, that was eased when play started.
“I was a little nervous because the court took so long to set up,” Devlaeminck said. “And I thought it was going to be harder than indoors because of all the different elements like the wind. But I knew it was going to be a lot of fun playing with my team in a football stadium.
“It was nice for the football team to come and sit in the student section and show support and cheer us on. I thought it was great.”
Hungerford said the Hopkins’ players and coaches enjoyed it as well.
“I didn’t want them to think that they were coming to our prom,” he said. “We were in constant contact with them, and their principal participated in the dunk tank. We got one of their kids to be interviewed by the media, and it was a fun community connection. They all loved it, and they said it was super cool. They were glad they came.”
Sophomore Kenzee Stanley-Eldred was overwhelmed by the amount of support the Pioneers received.
“We weren’t used to playing in front of very big crowds and don't usually have much of a student section, but a lot of people from our school came for this,” Stanley-Eldred said. “And also just the environment of playing outside on a sport court instead of being in a gym. Being outside feels a lot different.”
Organizers hope to make it an annual event by having different teams each year play against EGR.
For many in attendance, this was their first glimpse of high school volleyball.
“A lot of people that I knew and I talked to after the game said it was the first time ever having anything to do with the sport, so it was really cool that we let them into that,” Stanley-Eldred said. “I think it had a big impact with just how many people showed up and were willing to support one another, especially when it was doing something so new and different.”
Dean Holzwarth has covered primarily high school sports for Grand Rapids-based WOOD-TV for five years after serving at the Grand Rapids Press and MLive for 16 years along with shorter stints at the Ionia Sentinel and WZZM. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Allegan, Kent and Ottawa counties.
PHOTOS (Top) An East Grand Rapids hitter puts the ball past a Hopkins block during last week’s “Rally on Reeds” game one EGR’s football field. (2) A pair of Pioneers work to get their hands on a kill attempt. (3) East Grand Rapids warms up as fans fill the stands. (4) East Grand Rapids and Hopkins players take a photo together wearing their “Rally on Reeds” shirts. (Photos by Kathy Hoffman/Michigan Sports Photo.)
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Performance: Hudsonville's Kaylee Maat
October 11, 2019
Kaylee Maat
Hudsonville senior – Volleyball
The fourth-year varsity setter had 35 assists – including the 4,000th of her high school career – to lead the No. 2-ranked Eagles past No. 9 Grand Haven 3-1 in a matchup of top Division 1 teams, earning the MHSAA “Performance of the Week.” Maat became the 12th Michigan athlete to surpass that 4,000 milestone, and with 4,183 she’s up to seventh in state history for career assists since the introduction of rally scoring during the 2004-05 season.
Maat is averaging 7.6 assists per game this season and also has 22 aces for a Hudsonville team that is 36-2 as it pursues its first MHSAA championship in this sport. Two days before the Grand Haven match, Maat and the Eagles got past Division 2 top-ranked Grand Rapids Christian 3-2 to avenge its most recent of two defeats this fall. (Hudsonville also has twice avenged its first loss of this season, to Division 1 No. 3 Lowell). In addition to joining the varsity lineup as a freshman, Maat is a three-time team captain and earned all-state honorable mention last season to go with a number of other accolades during her career.
After growing up playing softball as well, Maat turned her full athletic attention to volleyball in high school and has helped the Eagles to District titles the last two seasons. She also carries a 3.3 grade-point average and will continue her academic and athletic careers at Ferris State University, where she plans to study sports communications in pursuit of a career in event planning for a sports franchise or athletic program.
Coach Teresa VanDerSchaaf said: “It has been a true honor to coach Kaylee over the last four years. She has developed into such an amazing leader that genuinely cares for her teammates and their success. She shares credit with her team and loves watching them succeed. Kaylee has time and time again stepped up in big matches as well as stepped up in leadership roles. She handles pressure situations really well. We place a lot of ownership on our captains, and for Kaylee to rise to that opportunity and care about her development, as well as her team’s, is something that is so amazing to see.”
Performance Point: “I've put a lot of work in. But my team gives so much back to me, whether it be feedback or great passes; it comes mostly from them,” Maat said. “I had kind of an idea (I was close to 4,000). Some of my favorite teachers were chirping about it, but I didn't know exactly where I was at. I think it's a milestone. … It's something I've been striving for for a while.”
A better way: “When I was a freshman, I was kind of a hot head. … That comes from just being super passionate about what I do. I want to win in everything that I do in life, whether it's in school – like I want to beat someone else out for a better grade – I'm always competitive about everything, and that's kinda where that came from. But it's directed in a better way now that I've grown up. Learning not everyone responds well to someone jumping in their shoes about something – through the coaches, through Hudsonville, I've learned that.”
Learning to lead: “When I was a sophomore, we went through a leadership book, all the different keys of leadership, and I think I really bought into that and every aspect of it. My sophomore year, I really grew that year because of going through that with my coaches and the other captains. … At the beginning of the year, it’s always a little rocky getting to know the new girls and talking about seeing how people respond to different things – that’s always something to learn. Always giving other people what they want is my top priority.”
More than a game: “I've gained so many friendships through (volleyball). Like yeah, we all love the game, but the relationships you gain through it is what I feel keeps everyone together and supporting each other. That's what I love – the game brings so many people together. Through high school, in my community, and other high schools, and during club I've met a lot of girls from different states. They're people that are exactly like me and love what they do every day.
Creative outlet: “I've always been super-organized – that's my thing – and creating stuff. I've always been into crafts, like when I was a kid I was always making something with my dad outside or in the kitchen with my mom or doing something fun with papers and crafts with my grandma. In my free time, I do a lot of journaling. … Writing all this stuff down in a creative way helps me process all of this stuff.”
– Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Past honorees
Oct. 3: Emily Paupore, Negaunee cross country - Report
Sept. 26: Josh Mason, South Lyon soccer - Report
Sept. 19: Ariel Chang, Utica Eisenhower golf - Report
Sept. 12: Jordyn Shipps, DeWitt swimming - Report
PHOTOS: (Top) Hudsonville setter Kaylee Maat (5) celebrates with her teammates. (Middle) Maat, in her fourth season starting for the Eagles' varsity, sets for one her team's hitters. (Photos by Robert McCulfor Photography.)