The girls freshman volleyball team is in a unique situation. To start the season, the girls did not have a permanent coach; a parent volunteered to fill the gap until they could find one. This Mom, Coach Gallagher, can’t always be there, though. When the two teams don’t play simultaneously, the varsity coach, Natalie Roelfzema, coaches the team. This oddity brought changes to the team’s conference matchups of Byron Center and East Grand Rapids.

Star player Georgia Miller commented about the coaching change. “It’s nice because when one of us is doing something wrong, she can help us and correct us.”

Despite a tough loss to Byron Center (BC) 0-2, the team is improving, and it’s noticeable. Although the scoreboard may mislead fans, the match was closer than it looked. The points were all extremely tight, the girls have gotten much better about sharing the ball, and the passes are improving. With the tough loss against BC, they were eager to get one back against East.

The girls started off hot against EGR, winning the first set with ease. The second set, however, did not go as planned.

“We got pretty frustrated in the second set; we were not playing as well and were forcing the ball over,” starter Clare Knoester shared.

The girls lost the second set and headed for a third set tiebreaker. One of the multiple tiebreakers of the year, the girls were prepared. Despite their best efforts, the girls fell short in the tiebreaker 11-15. Despite this loss, the girls looked great in the first set, and even with a cool-off for the second two sets, improvement was shown by the girls.

The girls are taking these losses in stride and are looking to improve for their next matchup at Northview on Thursday, September 22. Vital player Malia McKenzie spoke about their improvement-seeking mentality.

“We are working on our serve returns; we are being pretty tentative right now, but we’re working through that.”

These girls have worked hard all season and aren’t stopping now. Utilizing the knowledge of the varsity coach, they are bound for a great second half of their season.