Zeeland East High School

Zeeland East varsity volleyball took the long trip north up 131 to Cadillac High School for a varsity invitational. The Chix finished first in their pool, earning a top seed in one side of bracket play with wins over Cass City, Calumet and Manton. The Chix got huge games in pool play from seniors, Oli Valenzuela and Camille Louwerse. Freshman middle, Elise Hoeksema and Sophomore setter, Samantha Murphy, also contributed vital rotations against some first-class front row talent. The long break led to a slow start in the first match against Ubley and the Chix lost a set for the first time in the 2026 season. Despite that setback, they immediately came out motivated and ready to flip the script. They rode a gigantic run on the serving arm of junior, Madison Bailey, that put the second set out of reach. Zeeland East jumped out to a commanding lead in the third set as well and didn't look back, taking the match 2-1. The Chix then met a formidable squad from Forest Hills Eastern, that produced a challenge at every position on the court and a crafty squad that could find a lot of ways to score. The Chix rode their first game of bracket play energy to a strong first set win in game two, before faltering for the middle stretch in the second set and eventually finding themselves in their second third set showdown of the afternoon. With their backs against the wall, the Chix leaned on aggressive front row contributions from juniors Ava Geerlings and Fenna Gruppen and perhaps most heavily on senior outside, Lizzie Risdon. Despite mounting pressure, junior DS, Jordyn Grassmid (fresh off a birthday the day before) stepped in and stepped up for three dynamite rotations in the back row against the powerful Hawk serve during a crucial period of the set. Zeeland East rose to the occasion once again and found a way to outscore the Hawks in an absolute semifinal battle with a 2-1 win. That put the Chix up against host, Cadillac, in the championship game in front of a crowd that managed to brave the long hours and finish the evening with a championship match. Cadillac was aided by some incredible talent in their 6-rotation outside and a setter that was able to take advantage of front row rotations. However, Zeeland East, dug deep after a long day of volleyball (and a bus drive to match) and finish the day with a 2-0 win over the Vikings. The setter/middle connection between juniors Kyla Kuiper and Lily Huizenga, as well as senior, Bri Cole, under the tutelage of Asst Coach, Ali Bastianelli, helped stretch the Viking defense thin and open up pin attackers in the process. All that was made possible by an incredible showing by junior libero, Leah Keur, who dominated serve receive and routinely got freeballs or roll shots returned in system. Zeeland East improved to 8-0 on the season and celebrated a great tournament victory that took an entire team to step up at different parts of a long day to ensure the Chix didn't come home emptyhanded.