Veteran Eagles Soar to 1st Semi since '79
November 18, 2015
By Dean Holzwarth
Special for Second Half
GRAND RAPIDS – The Grand Rapids Christian volleyball team has enjoyed one of its best seasons in school history.
One main reason for the Eagles’ unbridled success: Experience.
Grand Rapids Christian entered this fall with a wealth of it, including one four-year varsity player and a core of three-year varsity players.
“We have six seniors on this team and they have a lot of experience,” Eagles fifth-year coach Tiffanie Gates said. “They have played together for a long time, in club and high school.”
The veteran leadership has been beneficial in their historic run to the Class A Semifinals. Thursday’s match against top-ranked Novi will be No. 3 Grand Rapids Christian’s first at this late round of the MHSAA Tournament since 1979.
Grand Rapids Christian (49-4) defeated No. 2 Mattawan 3-1 (25-21, 18-25, 25-23, 25-21) in Tuesday night’s Class A Quarterfinal at Caledonia High School.
“This season has been a blast,” said senior outside hitter Sam McLean, who’s been on the varsity all four years and earned all-state second-team honors last season. “We’ve been playing so well together as a team, and we’ve been playing some of our best games lately. It’s fun because we’re super close, and we’re friends outside of the court. It’s been a real good time.”
The seniors, which also include returning all-state first-team outside hitter Dylynn Otte, plus Ellen Long, Jessa VanderWeide, Maria Bolt and Megan Noordewier, have provided a calming influence to the underclassmen.
When things have gotten tough, they’ve persevered and proceeded with a confident demeanor.
“Any outside factors that get in our way, like a huge crowd or a team that is good, our seniors have calmed our players down,” McLean said. “We emphasize to our younger players to focus on us, and when we’re down or struggling, our seniors have been huge in helping our team out.”
The biggest evidence of a senior-dominated team has been its ability to not give an inch. They’ve developed a killer instinct, refusing to let other teams gain momentum.
The Eagles didn’t drop a set through 10 conference matches en route to an Ottawa-Kent Conference White championship and have lost only one set during the MHSAA Tournament.
“In this sport, it is whoever finishes and sees matches through,” Gates said. “I attribute that to our senior leadership with not letting up and not riding that rollercoaster that you see sometimes in high school volleyball.”
In last week’s Regional Final against No. 9 Hudsonville, the Eagles were up 2-0, but on the verge of losing the third set down 21-18.
“They rallied and finished it in three,” Gates said. “We’ve had conversations about not expecting it to go that way from here on out and the further you go the harder it gets, so they are prepared for it not to be that way. They have definitely worked hard to finish strong every time.”
Grand Rapids Christian has drawn motivation from two straight years of early exits in District play. They have refused to allow history to repeat itself.
It has changed their mental approach to every match.
“It’s been our theme,” McLean said. “We even break it down to one point at a time and one set at a time. Last year I think we looked ahead too much, and that’s why we ended so early. This year we’ve barely looked at the state finals.
“We’ve only looked at the next game and what we have to do to win the next one and the next one. That’s all we’ve been focusing on, and it helps a ton.”
The seniors have dedicated themselves to making this season a memorable one.
“It’s a special year for all of us, and we want to go as far as we can,” McLean said. “A lot of the seniors won’t play in college, so this is their final games. I love our underclassmen because they want to do well for us. It’s really cool to see.”
Added Gates: “The core group have been playing club together since they were 11 or 12, so it’s been a dream for them since they were little. You see it coming to fruition now, and it’s pretty neat. They are definitely motivated and driven.”
On the court, Grand Rapids Christian doesn’t have a lot of weaknesses. A balanced group of big hitters and solid blocking at the net have paced their attack.
“We have good ball control and defense,” Gates said. “And we’re pretty deep offensively. It’s difficult for teams to camp out on one hitter. We can definitely mix it up. I don’t think there’s a hole in our game so far.”
The Eagles overcame a major hurdle when they swept perennial state powerhouse Grand Haven in the Regional Semifinal.
The Bucs knocked Grand Rapids Christian out in the Quarterfinals in 2012 and entered this postseason ranked No. 5.
“We split with them in the regular season in tournament play so we knew their game and practiced for it,” Gates said. “It’s a fun little rivalry with them because it’s always been back and forth. It was an exciting and emotional match for us.”
Dean Holzwarth covered primarily high school sports for the Grand Rapids Press and MLive for 16 years and more recently served as sports editor of the Ionia Sentinel and as a sports photojournalist for WZZM. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Allegan, Kent and Ottawa counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Grand Rapids Christian players and coaches pose last week with their Class A Regional championship trophy. (Middle) Jessa VanderWeide, one of six seniors, prepares to unload a serve during a match earlier this fall. (Photos courtesy of Grand Rapids Christian High School.)
Atlanta Embracing Pressure of Undefeated Season with League Title On Line
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
October 23, 2025
Losing a volleyball match was something of a welcome possibility a few weeks back for fifth-year Atlanta coach Amy Mullerd.
Now, Mullerd has no place for that thought – and her players are right there with her.
“I kind of was hoping maybe if we took a loss, it would be okay,” Mullerd admitted of much earlier-season thoughts. “Now, you know, if we take a loss, it’s trouble one way or the other, but … I think that they are enjoying the pressure of being undefeated.”
The last time the Huskies lost a set was in last year’s Division 4 Quarterfinal match against Hancock. Atlanta got there by breezing to a District championship and 3-0 wins over Harbor Springs Harbor Light Christian and St. Ignace to claim a Regional title.
Today, the Huskies are 28-0 on the season and undefeated in North Star League play. They’re playing league rival Hillman this evening with a third-straight league title and undefeated season on the line. Hillman is also undefeated in conference play, and likely will play Atlanta again this weekend in the league’s annual tournament, which does not impact the NSL championship race.
Hillman is also likely to be a District opponent in November as the Huskies also host Onaway, Posen, and Rogers City.
Atlanta is not looking past Hillman or the District. But while the Huskies are committed to one game at a time, they do have their sights on an even deeper postseason run this year.
Winning out is on their mind, pressure or not, as the school community is getting behind their possible historic run.
“I like to make sure they focus on one game at a time, because you have to be able to adapt to whatever team you play,” said Mullerd, who previously coached volleyball for 20 years before breaking and then returning to the sidelines at Atlanta. “We're just doing it one game at a time, but they have set their goals and they've seemed to reach most all of them so far. So we'll see.”
The Huskies are facing tonight’s match as just another moment of feeling pressure to remain undefeated.
“There's pressure, but it's not really Hillman that we have pressure against,” pointed out Olivia McSwain, a senior setter, who has topped 3,000 career assists this season to set the school record. “It's the fact that we are undefeated.”
Alliyah Hagemeister, a senior who breaks her own school kills record with every successful swing, downplayed the pressure to win tonight.
“I don't think there's any pressure, but it's just a big day as that's our conference,” she said. “It's make-or-break for a conference win, so it's just a really exciting day.”
Kacie Moldenhauer, one of four sophomores on Atlanta’s nine-player roster, is excited to see how much the team’s hard work will pay off tonight and the rest of the season.
“It’s a big game for us as a team, as in there's a lot of pressure for being undefeated,” she said. “And we have been working very hard to get to this point, and like past years building up to this point, and we also go against our rivals. We're just really excited for this game and ready to give it a roll for the pressure that we have.”
Another of the Huskies’ sophomores, Jyl Larson, has never experienced a loss to Hillman and she’s not ready to do so.
“I think that we just need to be ready for whatever, and just play our best,” acknowledged Larson, who leads the team in digs.
The Huskies also have two freshmen in their lineup, and no juniors. They regularly play three seniors after losing only one major contributor from last season to graduation.
Atlanta players all believe they are the favorites to once again capture the District crown.
“Making it through Districts and Regionals (last season) was definitely a surprise to a bunch of people around us because I don't think they thought we could do it,” Hagemeister said. “To get to where we were last year was a huge accomplishment, and I think this year, we'll definitely go further.”
Mullerd inherited an Atlanta team five years ago that found competing at a varsity level nearly impossible. They were playing mostly junior varsity squads and seldom picking up victories.
That’s not been the case since she took over, although she gives credit to the players for buying into doing the work.
The Huskies won 18 matches in Mullerd’s first season. These days, all kinds of trophies are accumulating because of the team’s strong work ethic.
“All credit goes to the girls buying in that, you know, things just aren't easy. I just gave them the tools,” Mullerd said. “And if you want to have a winning game, you’ve got to put in the work. You have to come to practice, and you have to put the work in. Anything worthwhile is not easy.”
And she loves the team’s winning mindset.
“They bought in and it's just an amazing turn, being a team that won nothing to a team that now never expects to lose,” she said. “We're feeling pretty strong – we feel really good about our chances, but you never know any given night what could happen. So we're ready for anything.”
Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Atlanta players celebrate during a match this season. (Middle) Alliyah Hagemeister elevates for a kill attempt. (Below) The Huskies enjoy a moment with their mascot. (Photos by Jenna McSwain.)