GRC played conference opponent Northview yesterday and won 7-1. Every flight that won, got the win done in straight sets. 1 doubles consisted of Marissa Sullivan and Ella VandenBerg, and it was Ella's first time playing at 1 doubles. Ella and Marissa played so well together and lost in a really close 3 set match. This secures a finish of 4th place in the conference for the Eagles. Next up is a scrimmage against Catholic Central on Wednesday and the Regional tournament on Friday that is home at Gainey. Go Eagles!

Varsity Girls Tennis Against East Grand Rapids GRC played rival EGR on Monday and lost 1-7. The one win on the day came from #2 singles Natalie Poortenga in straight sets. #3 doubles Olivia Cook/Hope Alvesteffer and #4 singles Kaitlyn Schmitt both had close matches and came up just short. The Eagles will have plenty more opportunities to get revenge against EGR as they are in our conference and regional so the team will look to improve every day to be able to do that. Today the Eagles play Holland Christian at home and it is senior day for our 3 seniors Alyssa DeVries, Calista Bremer, and Ainsley Weeber. Come celebrate our seniors and watch the last home match of the season! Go Eagles!

Varsity Girls Tennis Against FHN GRC played a tough conference with both teams being undefeated going into yesterday's match. FHN beat GRC 8-0 but we were still proud of the way our girls competed and their ability to fight and battle until the very end, no matter what the score was. #2 doubles Alyssa DeVries/Calista Bremer gave FHN #2 doubles their first set loss of the year and lost in a good 3-set battle. #3 doubles Olivia Cook/Hope Alvesteffer, #4 singles Kaitlyn Schmitt, and #5 doubles Grace Brandt/Frankie Volkema all had improved 2nd set scores and those players and many others all showed growth in their 2nd sets which is showed their ability to never give up and keep fighting. #1 singles Ainsley Weeber took on the best girl in the state and had 5 aces against her! #6 singles Ella Vandenburg played a really good match and seemed like a natural singles player in her first ever singles match.

GRC took on conference foe Greenville yesterday and 1-4 singles and 1-4 doubles all took care of business and won 6-0, 6-0 in all matches. Greenville went from a team of only 8 players to a team of 18 this season. I can tell they are a growing program and look forward to seeing them continue to grow in the upcoming seasons. Props to 5th doubles of Ella Vandenburg and Grace Brandt for a really good match win, and for #6 singles Frankie Volkema getting her 1st singles win ever! We play conference opponent FHN on Wednesday and look to give them their first loss of the season. Go EAGLES!

GRC took on one of the top teams in the conference in Byron Center yesterday, and came away with an impressive 5-3 victory! The singles lineup consisting of Ainsley Weeber at #1, Natalie Poortenga at #2, Alex Vermeulen at #3, and Kaitlyn Schmitt at #4... all achieved victories and were the first 4 off the court. Alex Vermeulen had a very impressive bounce back after losing the first set, she went on to only lose one game in the next two sets after making a really good adjustment to her opponent's game.  The doubles matches ended up all being very competitive and grind-it-out matches. #3 doubles of Olivia Cook/Hope Alvesteffer were the first to finish and get the win in an impressive fashion. #2 doubles Alyssa DeVries/Calista Bremer lost in a really close 3 set match and gave it their all to the very end. The last match on was #4 doubles Betta Klein/Alexia Meeuswen and they ended up having a match duration time of 3 hours and 15 minutes! Down 4-5 in the third set, Alexia and Betta fended off 5 match points to eventually take that game and the next one. Alexia had the play of the day on match point where a ball was hit on the opposite side of the court from her and she proceeded to unremarkably chase it down and got the ball back in play to where the team was shocked and missed the next shot. The set ended up going into a tie break where they just came up short losing 6-8, but I was proud of the nerves and calmness this team showed with everyone watching and not giving up even when the pressure was on. The Eagles next match day on Saturday may be their toughest match day yet where they will face 3 top 7 division 3 opponents in FHE, Cranbrook, and Chelsea. Go Eagles!

On the second conference match of the year against FHC, the two teams ended in a tie 4-4. #1 doubles Ashley Wolfe/Marissa Sullivan played some really solid tennis winning 6-1, 6-0. #3 doubles Hope Alvesteffer and Olivia Cook started off strong in the first set and were able to hold off the adjustments made from FHC to win 6-1, 7-6. But it was #2 doubles of Alyssa DeVries/Calista Bremer who was the last match on with the team down 3-4 and had a clutch 3rd set win 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 to clinch the tie for the team. #4 doubles Betta Klein/Alexia Meeuwsen and #2 singles Natalie Poortenga all battled hard in 3 set losses as well. GRC faces another tough conference opponent on Wednesday at Byron Center. Go Eagles!

Varsity Girls Tennis After facing the brutal cold on Saturday, the Eagles faced some more weather adversity yesterday with some on and off rain throughout the match. Like Saturday, the team showed great poise and focus to overcome a couple rain delays to beat Lowell 7-1. #1-4 doubles all took care of business winning it straight sets. The singles matches saw some closer matches. #4 singles Kaitlyn Schmitt ground out a 7-6, 7-6 win and showed some intense focus in two 7-point tie-break wins. After a rain delay and a match totaling close to 3 hours, #3 singles Alex Vermeulen won a close 3 set match in which she showed more grit than her opponent at the end by winning 3 straight games after the rain stop to close out the set and match. Eagles are now 1-0 in conference play and continue conference play against Northview on Friday.

Varsity Girls Tennis After facing the brutal cold on Saturday, the Eagles faced some more weather adversity yesterday with some on and off rain throughout the match. Like Saturday, the team showed great poise and focus to overcome a couple rain delays to beat Lowell 7-1. #1-4 doubles all took care of business winning it straight sets. The singles matches saw some closer matches. #4 singles Kaitlyn Schmitt ground out a 7-6, 7-6 win and showed some intense focus in two 7-point tie-break wins. After a rain delay and a match totaling close to 3 hours, #3 singles Alex Vermeulen won a close 3 set match in which she showed more grit than her opponent at the end by winning 3 straight games after the rain stop to close out the set and match. Eagles are now 1-0 in conference play and continue conference play against Northview on Friday.

After facing the brutal cold on Saturday, the Eagles faced some more weather adversity yesterday with some on and off rain throughout the match. Like Saturday, the team showed great poise and focus to overcome a couple rain delays to beat Lowell 7-1. #1-4 doubles all took care of business winning it straight sets. The singles matches saw some closer matches. #4 singles Kaitlyn Schmidt grinded out a 7-6, 7-6 win and showed some intense focus in two 7 point tie-break wins. After a rain delay and a match totaling close to 3 hours, #3 singles Alex Vermeulen won a close 3 set match in which she showed more grit then her opponent at the end by winning 3 straight games after the rain stop to close out the set and match. Eagles are now 1-0 in conference play and continue conference play against Northview on Friday.

After facing the brutal cold on Saturday, the Eagles faced some more weather adversity yesterday with some on and off rain throughout the match. Like Saturday, the team showed great poise and focus to overcome a couple rain delays to beat Lowell 7-1. #1-4 doubles all took care of business winning it straight sets. The singles matches saw some closer matches. #4 singles Kaitlyn Schmidt grinded out a 7-6, 7-6 win and showed some intense focus in two 7 point tie-break wins. After a rain delay and a match totaling close to 3 hours, #3 singles Alex Vermeulen won a close 3 set match in which she showed more grit then her opponent at the end by winning 3 straight games after the rain stop to close out the set and match. Eagles are now 1-0 in conference play and continue conference play against Northview on Friday.

Varsity Girls Tennis Against Hudsonville On an absolutely beautiful day of tennis (45 degrees and mostly cloudy), GRC edges out Hudsonville 5-4 in one of the closest matches I have ever been a part of. 5 of the 9 matches went into 3 set tie breaks. #2 singles Natalie Poortenga and #2 doubles Calista Bremer/Alyssa DeVries got the first two wins of the day. Then #4 singles Kaitlyn Schmitt and #3 doubles Olivia Cook/Hope Alvesteffer each made comeback wins to win in 3 sets. It then set up a 4-4 tie with #1 doubles Marissa Sullivan/Ashley Wolfe being the last match on and they won a clutch 3 set tiebreak to give GRC the 5-4 win. GRC has started 3-0, beating each a division 3, division 2, and division 1 opponents to start the season. GRC will try to continue their streak after Spring Break when they play Grandville and Parma Western in a tri on 4/12. Go Eagles!

Friday was a hectic but fantastic first day of matchplay! There was a lot of adversity we had to overcome with the decision to go outdoors to start, which was made last second, and then for doubles matches to have to finish back indoors when it started raining. The indoor facility also was crowded and I know players had some distraction issues with all the people watching from the screens. Overall, our team handled this adversity beyond expectations and I was very proud of them. The theme of the day was to be headstrong and the girls definitely were! Beating WO, a very solid division 2 opponent, 5-4, and the Eagles won against Holland Christian 6-3, a division 3 opponent with seeding implications...this was a strong way to start the season. Singles players of Ainsley Weeber, Natalie Poortenga, Alex VerMeulen, and Kaitlyn Schmitt won 6 out of 8 matches. 1-3 Doubles consisting of Marissa Sullivan/Ashley Wolfe, Alyssa DeVries/Calista Bremer, Olivia Cook/Hope Alvesteffer won 5 out of 6 matches. While 4th/5th doubles with different combinations of Alexia Meeuwsen/Betta Klein/Ella VandenBerg/Frankie Volkema/Grace Brandt had some close matches showing a lot of potential after getting their first varsity matches ever under way. Go Eagles!!