Addie Schumacher had a phenomenal volleyball season for the Beal City Aggies, but the 5’11” senior middle blocker had problems holding back the tears after her team lost 3-1 to Covenant Christian in the Class C state volleyball final.
The Aggies and Schumacher were runners-up last season. They wanted the title badly this year but fell short.
“As disappointed as I am right now, I’m more proud to be on this team with this great group of girls,” said a very emotional Schumacher. “You do wish something different would have happened. But you can’t change anything.”
Against a team like Beal City, “[o]ur strategy was play our game. It was our strategy all along,” said Covenant Christian coach Denise Uittenbogaard. “I have a determined group of volleyball players. They were determined to win and got the job done. They were not going to go home without the trophy.”
Beal City had the same type of determination but not the result the Aggies obviously wanted.
“It’s definitely an empty feeling for the girls,” coach Kelly David said. “They’re a great group of girls. We want to look at the positive things we have going for us. We have to hold our heads up high and walk out of here knowing we did everything we could to win.”
The Aggies had defeated Oakland Christian in the semifinals and watched Covenant Christian take care of Mendon.
“We knew we had to spread the ball, since they had big blockers and play good defense, because they’re big,” David said. “Our serve receive struggled at times which hurt us.”
“We knew they had a big block, and we’d have to hit around it and be aggressive,” Schumacher said. “We knew we had to be tough on defense. It just didn’t work out today.”
“I thought we were gong to have to put up a good block, and in the third game we got there, but in the second game we didn’t,” said Beal City outside hitter Melanie Schafer. “We needed to tip on them. I thought we needed to tip more.
Beal City trailed 2-1, but after winning the third game, David thought her team had captured the momentum.
“We got into a hole that fourth game, and it was hard to get out of after that,” she sad.
In the third game, “when we got our passes up, we put it down,” Schafer said.
In the semifinal, the Aggies prevailed 25-22, 25-15, 25-18 and took a 56-3-1 record into the title match.
“That was pretty special, because we got to stay with the team overnight,” Schafer said. “We had a good bond. I thought this team meshed well together compared to other teams.”
The Aggies graduate only four seniors, but they’re all key players – Anna Reihl, Schafer, Schumacher, and Chloe Steffke.
“We learned from last year,” Schafer said. “Everyone wants to win. But I’m proud we got the chance to get here again.”
“I couldn’t have asked for a better team my senior year,” Schumacher said. “The whole season has been a joy ride.”
“Every year, there’s always girls that step up,” David said. “We’re looking forward to next year.”