Sports

Volleyball team prepares for the Wildcats

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After completing an overall record of 20-17, and a conference record of 5-11, the Lady Pilot volleyball team now prepares for their post-season MCC tournament. The Lady Pilots are the seven seed in the conference and will compete against the two seed Indiana Wesleyan. Overall, Coach Reininga feels very positive about the way the team has played this season and how the freshmen class has stepped up. “We had a major injury this year in Ashley Wagner,” said Reininga. “I’ve seen a lot of the younger players step up.” Reininga believes that this has been building experience for many of the younger players and that their transformation has been very beneficial and will continue to make them better players in the future. She also added that the team has faced adversity very well and that earning 20 wins on the season and staying above .500 is very satisfying. In addition, the team also went 4-0 as they captured the Big Guns Tournament held at Joliet, Illinois. The team is very optimistic about playing Indiana Wesleyan in the first round of the tournament. Although they lost by a score of 3-1 in both contests they played them in, they feel that if they dictate play and force Indiana Wesleyan to come up with great shots anything can happen. Overall, the Lady Pilots could be a very dangerous seven seed and if they would advance against the Wildcats, they would play the winner of Grace and Goshen. Despite a number of freshmen giving significant contributions to the team this season, Reininga feels that the team has had a great deal of leadership from their experienced players. “Junior Emily Henry has taken on a big role this season,” she said. Reininga has also been impressed with a number of other players with experience including sophomore Callie Hartman, senior Karissa Rillema, and senior Holly Graber. The Pilots will travel to Indiana Wesleyan to take on the Wildcats Tuesday, November 9, at 7:00 p.m.
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