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.)
Performance: Buchanan's Franki Strefling
September 16, 2016
Franki Strefling
Buchanan senior – Volleyball
Strefling has served as a captain of Buchanan’s volleyball team all four years of high school as the Bucks have risen to join the state’s elite. Buchanan is ranked No. 3 in Class B this week coming off a championship at the Battle Creek Lakeview Invitational, where the Bucks downed among others reigning Class C champion Bronson, annual Class A power Temperance Bedford and Class B No. 9 Harper Creek – the team that ended Buchanan’s last two seasons at MHSAA Regionals. Strefling earned the Michigan National Guard “Performance of the Week” after totaling 89 kills, eight blocks, 16 aces and 63 digs during Saturday's tournament, the second this season where she was named Most Valuable Player of the event.
The 5-foot-10 outside hitter has 350 kills, 220 digs, 30 blocks and a .520 hitting percentage this season after setting a school single-season kill record with more than 800 a year ago in making the Class B all-state third team. Buchanan is 21-1 after Wednesday’s win over Comstock, and Strefling helped the Bucks break their program record for wins during both the 2014 and then 2015 seasons. The Bucks have lost only 23 matches total during her four years.
Strefling grew up in the gym, thanks in large part to her father Vince Strefling, currently the volleyball coach at Glen Oaks Community College and previously the coach at five high schools including Niles Brandywine, Dowagiac and Coloma. Franki has committed to sign with Eastern Michigan University, where she’ll study to become a nurse practitioner – she carries a 3.57 grade-point average. Strefling also participated in track & field for a season, as a sophomore, competing in the 800, 1,600, pole vault and long jump.
Coach Lisa Holok said: “Since Franki walked into the gym freshman year, I knew she was going to be a special athlete. She has been a dominant leading force for this program for four years and is having a fantastic senior season. Without a doubt, she is one of the best players in the state and she has proved that time and time again. Franki's high level of play dominates opponents with her powerful arm swing and jumping ability; she also has the ability to pick apart a team’s defense with her court awareness. Franki is a really aggressive server and through the years has also brought her defense up to another level. Her overall ball control and knowledge on the court is bar none. Franki makes everyone around her better and raises their games by her intense play and passion for the game. She is a work horse and has spent countless hours in the gym training her whole life for a sport which she loves. We are so proud of the leader that she is on and off the court and the joy of the game and intensity she brings to our practices, our games, to this team and program. She is so deserving of all her success.”
Performance Point: “Saturday was a very long, exhausting day,” Strefling said. “Honestly, with the training we do during practice, I think we’ve gotten a lot more intense during practice. We’re doing more mental strengthening. We’re doing a lot more conditioning. That’s what helped us more. After 12 hours, teams were exhausted, but I think we were more in shape. ... Throughout the whole day, I think I played pretty consistently, and I’m proud of that being it was such a long day.”
Seasoned veteran: “I think the biggest thing I’ve learned is how to be a better leader, connect with my team. How to be more than just teammates; how to become a family. I’ve learned their strengths and weaknesses, how they like to be told what they’re doing wrong. I’ve just learned about them individually, just learned with them. We have seven seniors who have been up (on varsity) for four years now, and that helps a lot.”
Serving notice: "Our community has started to appreciate (our success) more. We’re getting more people at games, and it means more personally that the work we’re putting in is finally getting recognized. On social media, lots of people have started sharing everything. It kinda started last year … usually we’re the small school; nobody pays attention to us. But we’re making a name for ourselves and people are recognizing us. It’s awesome."
Following Dad: "My dad is really everything I’ve become. Ever since I could walk, I’ve been in the gym with his teams. Sometimes I’ll look up in the stands and he’ll be telling me what I’m doing wrong, what I need to fix. It’s a reminder constantly of what I need to be doing – (and) I always love it. When I’m struggling especially, when he’s there cheering it’s such a great feeling, that I’m making him proud."
Strefling sharp: “I think the best part of my game would be my mental stability. We can get down in games, like this weekend we were down 15-2 and came all the way back. Just being mentally strong, against a team that took from us three years now, I told (my teammates) we need to stop. We need to get back in the groove, and don’t worry about the score. Do the basics. Do what we train for.”
- Geoff Kimmerly, Second Half editor
Every week during the 2016-17 school year, Second Half and the Michigan National Guard will recognize a “Performance of the Week" from among the MHSAA's 750 member high schools.
The Michigan Army National Guard provides trained and ready forces in support of the National Military Strategy, and responds as needed to state, local, and regional emergencies to ensure peace, order, and public safety. The Guard adds value to our communities through continuous interaction. National Guard soldiers are part of the local community. Guardsmen typically train one weekend per month and two weeks in the summer. This training maintains readiness when needed, be it either to defend our nation's freedom or protect lives and property of Michigan citizens during a local natural disaster.
Previous 2016-17 honorees:
Sept. 8: Noah Jacobs, Corunna cross country – Read
PHOTOS: (Top) Franki Strefling and her Buchanan teammates are ranked No. 3 in Class B this week. (Middle) Strefling watches as a spike falls for a point during a recent match. (Photos courtesy of the South Bend Tribune/Michael Caterina.)