Holland Christian volleyball holds off rival Hamilton in five sets with stunning ace
HAMILTON - Holland Christian's Callie Keizer was ready to serve for match point with rival Hamilton took a timeout.
It is the typical move to calm a team down and also put the pressure on the server.
Keizer was ready.
She served an ace on match point to lead the Maroons to a 26-24, 25-17, 17-25, 20-25, 15-10 win on Tuesday in typical fashion of the rivalry, a full five sets.
"It is just a mental reset. You can't get in your head too much. You just have to go out there and see what you can do. I always like to take a breath and say a positive thing to myself. It helps me a lot to perform well," Keizer said. "We are super glad. We have high goals this year. Every win is a great win for us. Hamilton is a great team and it makes it so much better knowing we can take the win."
In the fifth, the Maroons led 4-0 before the Hawkeyes rallied.
Josilyn Potter and Alissa Hulst each had a couple of kills to keep the Maroons up a couple and Keizer finished the match with an ace, 15-10.
The Maroons improved to 27-2 and 8-1 in the OK Blue, first place in the conference.
"As a captain, Callie's strength is mental toughness. She is born with it and that is what you want out of athletes. She brings it in high-pressure situations every night - and she nailed it. You never expect it, but it is a beautiful thing," Holland Christian coach Gerrit VanKlaveren said. "Hamilton always has the tenacity and we knew they were going to fight. They were fighting for revenge. We are playing at a high level, but we know nothing comes easy. I am impressed with how we fought to the end."
Tied 18-18, Hamilton's Emma O'Connor had two straight blocks, but the Maroons rallied to tie it once again at 20-20.
Tied 21-21, Joelle Boeskool dumped one past the front line to put the Hawkeyes up 22-21, only to have the Maroons tie it once again.
A strong serve by Keizer was not returned and the Maroons led before Hamilton's Ally Kragt tied it 23-23 with a kill.
Kragt put down another kill and it was 24-23 before a service error tied it 24-24.
A tip by Keizer and another Hamilton error and the Maroons won the first set 26-24.
In the second set, the Maroons played sharp and took advantage of some service errors by Hawkeyes and won 25-17.
In the third set, it was the Hawkeyes that were off to a fast start, leading 8-2 before Maroons rallied to make it close the rest of the way. O'Connor had a couple of big blocks that led to a 20-15 lead for the Hawkeyes.
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O'Connor put down a kill to make it 21-16 and the Hawkeyes won 25-17 to force a fourth set.
In the fourth, the Hawkeyes built a small lead and held it until the Maroons tied it 17-17.
Ally Kragt put the Hawkeyes up 20-19 with a kill on a free ball above the net. Kragt and Kaitlyn Geurink teamed up for a block and it was 21-19. Geurink put down a kill and then slammed another on set point to force a fifth set 25-20.
Hulst had 13 kills to lead the Maroons. Kierea Smits had 11 kills and 13 digs. Josilyn Potter had 15 digs. Reese Steenwyk had eight kills and hit .500.
O'Connor had 16 kills. Boeskool had 46 assists. Hannah Glupker had 21 digs for the Hawkeyes (12-8-1, 4-5 OK Blue).
"We got a lot more block touches and were able to get Holland Christian out of system, which really played to our benefit," Hamilton coach Britney Fogerty said. "We missed a couple serves in the fifth and our serve receive wasn't as strong as it usually is. But I saw our kids give it their all."
Contact sports editor Dan D’Addona at Dan.D’Addona@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @DanDAddona or Facebook @HollandSentinelSports.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Holland Christian volleyball holds off rival Hamilton in five sets
