ROCKFORD – The Rockford volleyball team is in the midst of an impressive postseason run, and just two wins away from a Division 1 championship.

Senior Layla Visser is beyond grateful for the opportunity to be a part of it after an injury derailed her junior season.

Visser missed it entirely after having shoulder surgery. She didn’t return to the court until midway through this fall, but has been a major contributor in the team’s success as the Rams enter Thursday’s Division 1 Semifinal against Fenton (30-2) at Battle Creek’s Kellogg Arena.

“It’s amazing to be back,” Visser said. “I love volleyball more now than I ever have.”

Visser started feeling pain in her right shoulder following her sophomore season. Doctors discovered that she had a torn labrum, rotator cuff and biceps tendon.

Being away from the sport she loves took its toll.

“It was a lot harder than I expected it to be, but it really pushed me,” Visser said. “It was really emotionally and mentally hard, unlike anything I’ve ever been through because volleyball is my passion and my identity. So not being able to play or be a part of that was hard.

“All of these girls are really special to me, and I’ve been playing with them for a long time now. To finally be able to be on the court again with them and playing at a high level feels really good and special.”

Rockford junior Liv Hosford is thrilled to have her friend and teammate back on the court, helping the Rams in their pursuit of the program’s first Finals title since 2011.

“It’s definitely huge to have her back, and even when she wasn't playing she was a huge part of our team with her positivity on the bench and keeping the energy up and giving us extra motivation sometimes when we didn't have any,” Hosford said. “She’s been a huge part of our team and our success with her wall of a block, and her hits are becoming so good.” 

Rams coach Kelly Delacher said Visser has been a welcome addition to a team abounding with veteran experience and young talent.

“She didn’t play at all last year and the first month of this season, so it was incredible to get her back,” he said. “We converted her to a middle hitter, which she has never played before, but she has been great as far as leadership and blocking and giving us some offense out of the middle.”

Rockford (39-9), which has dropped only two sets during the MHSAA Tournament, swept Traverse City Central 3-0 in a Division 1 Quarterfinal. 

A grueling and lengthy third set saw the Rams prevail, 36-34. 

“That was the longest single set I’ve been a part of, but they were a very solid team with some scary hitters and our kids came out and were focused from point one,” Delacher said. “We did a good job of exploiting a couple of matchups, and our outside hitter Mallory Wandel had a big night with 27 kills.”

Depth and talent, combined with a tight-knit bond, have been staples for the Rams.

“I knew right from the beginning that we had something special,” Delacher said. “We had a great mix of seniors with some young talented players, and I give a lot of credit to our captains and our seniors for creating a great chemistry and bond where they are not worried about their individual goals. They just want to win and support each other in the process.”

Hosford echoed those sentiments:

“One of the biggest things is our team chemistry,” she said. “I feel like we are a big family, and we’ve clicked from the first practice and we've continued to build that. We just have so much trust in each other, and we are all working toward the same goal. 

The Rams, who won the Ottawa-Kent Conference Red title this year, have appeared in the Finals twice since that championship run in 2011. They were Division 1 runners-up in 2018 after a loss to Lake Orion, and Class A runner-up in 2016 after falling to Novi.

“There are very good teams left in Fenton, which has had a great season with only a couple of losses, and Northville and Marian on the other side of the bracket are very good teams,” Delacher said. “It’s going to take us playing our best volleyball, and I believe our kids our starting to believe that. We’ve matched up against four straight ranked opponents, and we’ve played pretty well so I feel like our confidence is pretty high. We feel like we have as good a chance as anybody.”

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) Rockford celebrates its Quarterfinal win over Traverse City Central on Tuesday at Big Rapids High School. (Middle) Layla Visser (1) winds up for a kill attempt with Izzie Delacher setting and Liz Hosford (14) also approaching the net. (Photos by Miles Postema.)