The Montcalm Community College Centurions volleyball team shook off its first conference loss last week by following it up with a three-set win over Grace Christian University Wednesday, Sept. 12.

During MCC’s second home game of the season, the Centurions took care of business, beating the Tigers (Wyoming, Mich.), 26-24, 25-16 and 25-22 to improve their record to 4-6 overall.

Sophomore outside hitter Piper Groesser was a key player for the Centurions, collecting 14 kills and 10 digs – her first collegiate double-double – while sophomore setter Tiana Whitacre finished with 33 assists. Sophomore Maia Sexton had 14 kills and freshman Jaden Gomez had 20 digs to lead the team.

Centurions Head Coach Kara Youngs said her team cleaned up its errors from last week’s play.

“Coming off a conference loss where we had close games but couldn’t finish them, we had a lot of errors on our end,” Youngs said. “So, we really focused on earning our points rather than our errors.”

In the first set, Youngs guided her team to focus on consistency, which her players did. Youngs said she believed this helped the team to squeeze out a tight win.

“We have been inconsistent at times but, this game, we stayed consistent,” Youngs said. “That whole set, we gave up some errors here and there, but we stayed consistent and we stayed in the positives and we were consistent on the service line.”

Groesser believe she and her teammates executed Youngs’ plan well against Grace Christian.

“I know the loss to Muskegon (Community College) hurt us a little bit, especially being our first conference game,” Groesser said. “But our main goal was to be more consistent, especially on offense. We went into this last game with that mindset.”

In the second set, the Centurions played a cleaner game than the Tigers, capitalizing on their opponent’s mistakes for an easier win.

By the third set, MCC’s confidence was high, however, Youngs reminded her team the third win still needed to be earned.

“We knew Grace had quite a bit of errors in the previous games, but I told them our opponent was going to play a cleaner game,” Youngs said, “and we couldn’t expect the same amount of errors. I told them, with each set, the opposing team is mentally going to play cleaner and I wanted to keep them focused.”

To build on its recent success, Groesser said her team has to keep up its consistency.

“One of our biggest goals going into next week’s games is showing that we can do it, that we can be consistent with our play,” she said. “We need to keep that going throughout the rest of the season. If we can do that, then we’ll be in a pretty good spot to make the playoffs. That’s our expectations, to make the postseason.”

The Centurions will go to Bay College Tuesday, Sept. 17, and then host Grand Rapids Community College Thursday, Sept. 19, for its Heroes Night. Both Tuesday and Thursday’s games will begin at 6:30 p.m. On Sept. 19, military veterans, first responders and health care professionals and their families may attend for free with an ID. The game is in the gymnasium in the Activities Building on MCC’s Sidney campus. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and the game starts at 6:30 p.m. Admission is $5; $3 for senior citizens and children aged 12 and younger; MCC students and employees also enter for free with a valid MCC ID.