Support Volleyball Team at Sept. 22 Home Game

The volleyball team at Kalamazoo Valley Community College has its first conference match for the 2022 season on Tuesday, Sept. 13 at Lake Michigan College at 6:30 p.m.

A closer opportunity to cheer on the Lady Cougars will be the home game on Thursday, Sept. 22 against Southwestern Michigan College. Come out and wear your college apparel! Home games are always free. Find the full schedule at athletics.kvcc.edu.

With the Michigan Community College Athletic Association (MCCAA) adding additional teams and a third conference, the Cougars are looking forward to being a top competitor in the Western Conference this season under Head Coach Jennifer Buikema, who is entering her ninth year, and new Assistant Coach Madi Lovell coming onboard.

The Cougar offense looks to rely heavily on the talented skills of returning 2021 All-Western Conference 2nd Team recipient middle blocker and co-captain Madison Lawson and outside hitter and co-captain Hannah Callaway as huge power hitters. Callaway was named MCCAA Academic All-Conference and Academic All-MCCAA.

Also returning to full capacity is middle blocker Kennedy Pilger who sustained a season-ending injury halfway through last season. Pilger also received Academic All-Conference, Academic All-MCCAA, National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA ) All-Academic 3rd Team. Defensively, the Cougars will look to returning defensive specialist Zoie Appleberry to add leadership and consistency to the defense and serve receive. The Cougars also return right-side hitter Kaylin Rogers, an intense blocker who will be adding to the offense.

Kalamazoo Valley adds 10 freshmen to the 2022 roster, including MHSAA All-State 2nd Team outside hitter Sarah Stauffer (Centreville), who helped lead her high school team to the district finals. Also adding to the Cougar power offense are middle blockers Rya VanderKooi (Wayland), who received OK Conference Player of the Year, and Zaniya Dodd (Cassopolis), who, along with VanderKooi, received All-Conference honors. Outside hitters Madison Ater (Sturgis) and Alicia Miller (homeschool) will add depth to the Cougar offense and serve receive as six-rotation players.

The Cougars will also look to freshmen setters 2021 St. Joseph County Volleyball Dream Team recipient Rylie Glass (Three Rivers) and Molly Knapp (Parchment) for leadership on offense, who both received All-Conference honors, with Glass leading her team to the Regional Finals. Adding to Kalamazoo Valley Community College's serve receive and defense are defensive specialists Laci Lutz (Constantine), Rainie Atherton (White Pigeon) and Laurel Barno (Lutheran High North). Lutz is an All-Conference and All-Region player, who helped lead her team to district finals. Atherton is an All-Conference player and All-Time Dig Record Holder (1,671).

You can follow the team on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok @kvccvb.