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.)
Nine Just Fine for Record-Setting St. Phil
November 22, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
BATTLE CREEK – Emily Schaub has grown up in Battle Creek St. Philip’s volleyball tradition, her mother a member of the Tigers’ 1989 Class D championship team.
The last two seasons, Amy (Nelson) Schaub’s daughter also set St. Philip squads that weren’t supposed to continue the program’s near-decade of MHSAA Finals dominance.
But No. 1 in the regular-season rankings doesn’t mean much compared to number nine in the record book.
St. Philip, ranked No. 3 in Class D at the start of the postseason, defeated No. 2 Mendon in a Quarterfinal and then top-ranked Leland in Saturday’s Final 25-18, 25-18, 23-25, 25-17 to claim a record ninth consecutive MHSAA championship. The Tigers had entered this fall tied with the Marysville teams of 1997-2004 for the longest title streak in MHSAA volleyball history.
“Growing up and watching them, it was always great to say ‘I want to be out there one day.’ And just having that experience, being around that all my life, has pushed me harder to want to be like that,” Schaub said. “Going out there and doing that, … it feels good to prove we’re just as good as the other teams. Just to show we’re a great program, even when considered in a rebuilding year, just to show we’re still a fighting team and we’re here to stay.”
In 40 seasons of MHSAA volleyball, St. Philip has made the Semifinals 32 times, played in 28 championship games and won 20.
The eighth-straight title last season meant something personally to St. Philip coach Vicky Groat, who took over the program from her late mother Sheila Guerra and tied her mom’s career total of nine championships won.
But Saturday’s crowning victory will serve as one of the brightest points of pride for a community that turned out again to celebrate success.
“Ask every single one of these girls if they were in the stands for championship runs or Final Fours. They were in the stands watching, and they want to be part of that team,” Groat said. “That’s what it is. These kids, they have that. They want to play for St. Phil. They want that experience. As a coach, I want to make sure to give every single one of my kids who play for me the chance at a Final Four or to play for a championship.”
And, as Groat added, there was something to be said of claiming number nine “with this group of girls.”
St. Philip graduated all-state hitter and Miss Volleyball winner Amanda McKinzie after the 2012 win, and another all-state hitter and Miss Volleyball candidate Sierra Hubbard-Neil after last fall.
The Tigers this season had only two hitters who saw time in the 2013 Final, when Hubbard-Neil had 19 of the team’s 31 kills.
But on Saturday, junior Abby McKinzie had 13 kills and senior Megan Parker added 12 as seven St. Philip players scored. Schaub had 32 assists and was one of five with at least 14 digs – sophomore libero Kameron Haley led with 21, tied for 11th most in an MHSAA Final during the rally scoring era that began in 2004-05.
St. Philip claimed the first two sets before Leland stormed back in the third. The Comets played the Tigers to 15-15 in the fourth set before St. Philip ended on a 10-2 run.
“She is one of the best coaches I’ve ever had in my life, and to be able top get this record for her is unexplainable,” McKinzie said of Groat. “I’m so happy to have won it for her.”
It came against a program that could be considered a distant part of the St. Phil family. Leland coach Laurie Glass coached against Guerra, and Glass’ players stay with Groat each year when they play in the Tigers’ tournament. Groat’s players stay with Glass each summer during the Comets’ camp.
Leland certainly had the Tigers wary of a comeback. Leland had fallen in its first Semifinal set to Onaway before winning the next two, losing the fourth and then shutting out Onaway 15-0 in the decider.
When Groat and Glass crossed paths after Leland claimed the third set, Groat did mutter a little something about a possible repeat of Thursday.
“We were certainly hoping to give her another run at that time, at least make it go to a fifth,” Glass said. “I thought they really started serving really well at that time (in the fourth), we started making passing errors and got a little tighter. We made a couple hitting errors, unforced errors on our part that gave them the momentum for that 3-4 point swing that put them ahead.”
Junior Maddie Trumbull led the Comets with 16 kills, and senior Jessica Fleis had 37 assists. Senior Miranda Harrison’s 24 digs ranked sixth for an MHSAA Final. The Comets' runner-up finish was their best since 2006, and they finished 43-13-4.
St. Philip finished 53-12-4, with a few more losses than the last couple of seasons. The Tigers finished 1-3 at the Rockford Invitational on Oct. 25, but that day Groat saw a championship-level surge beginning to build.
“At the start of the season, we were doubtful. Ask every single (player), we were doubtful,” Groat said. “(We thought) we’re going to have to do our best as coaches, but it’s not only coaching. It’s players, and they bought into it.
"They believed they could do it, and the power of believing is awesome.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Battle Creek St. Philip players celebrate claiming their ninth straight MHSAA title trophy. (Middle) St. Phil’s Abby McKinzie drive a kill while Leland’s Vianna Hennig (13) and Erica Ongaro prepare to block. (Click for action photos and team photos from Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
HIGHLIGHTS:
COMETS ACE FOR SET THREE VICTORY - Down 2-0, Leland took the third set against Battle Creek St. Philip on this service ace by Eva Grobbel.
WINNER TIMES NINE IS FINE - Battle Creek St. Philip clinched its ninth straight Class D Girls Volleyball title on this kill from Abby McKinzie, which gave the Tigers a 3-1 decision over Leland.
You can watch the whole game and order DVDs by Clicking Here.