The JV Volleyball girls traveled to Reeths Puffer for a tournament this past Saturday, where they advanced to the semifinals and finished 3-2 on the day. While they were defeated in the semifinals match against Reeths Puffer, they greatly improved their team play by supporting each other on the court and communicating, elements that had been lacking prior to the tournament.

With the team suffering from injuries, all players stepped up to contribute their best effort. Defensive specialist Kaitlyn Coons led the team in digs with 48, while outside hitter Brooke Morris led the team in kills with 7. Setter Sienna Wight provided 17 set assists and defensive specialists Lindsay Lehman and Cassie Rivard provided solid defense and passes to target throughout each match. Middle hitters Carlee Mouthaan and Holly Scheer led the team in solo blocks with 3 each. Right side hitters Sydnee Jager and Anna Behrenwald stepped in to provide much needed defensive coverage and court awareness.

According to head coach Ashley Fisher, “the girls came together and played as a team, which has been our main goal all season. I am proud of the way they supported each other on the court and the energy they played with throughout each game.”

The next game for the team is an invitational this Saturday, September 20th at Sparta. Their first home game of the season will be Tuesday, September 23rd against Wyoming Park at 5:00pm. Come out and support your Red Hawk Volleyball players!

Freshman volleyball

The season started off with a 5th place finish at the Sparta Invitational where the freshman team lost to Wayland 21-25, 20-25, defeated Kelloggsville 25-9, 25-9 and Fremont 25-17, 25-9 in pool play.  Northview was the opponent in the Gold Bracket quarterfinals and was the winner by scores of 25-13, 25-17 in a close match. The CS freshman team finished 5th out of 12 teams.

The Grand Haven and East Kentwood quads found the Red Hawks coming up short in each of the games against Grand Haven, East Grand Rapids, Grant, East Kentwood, Byron Center and Forest Hills Northern.

The team participated in the Thornapple-Kelloggsville quad and lost to T-K and Byron Center in close matches.  Calvin Christian quad saw the Red Hawks playing Holland West Ottawa, host Calvin Christian and Hamilton. Scores were close and the team is improving each match.

On Saturday, September 6, the team was at the Muskegon Reeths Puffer Tournament. In pool play Grand Haven defeated the Red Hawks 25-14 and 25-16. Zeeland East also defeated the Hawks by scores of 25-19 and 26-24 in very close matches. The Red Hawks were placed in the semifinals of the Silver Bracket and defeated Union by scores of 25-15 and 25-19. Kenowa Hills was the opponent in the finals and ended up winning by close scores of 26-24 and 25-17.

The following week, the Red Hawks traveled to Kenowa Hills and defeated the Knights 25-22 and 25-20.

Scoring leaders include Carly Hyder with 31 aces and 21 kills followed by Emilee Pastoor with 25 aces, 25 assists and 10 kills. Maddie Nichols has served up 17 aces and Rachel Bowers has 17 kills to date.  Other players have contributed with solid defense and serving when called upon.

League action starts on Tuesday September 23, at home against Wyoming, with the action starting at 5:00 for freshman and JV teams followed by the varsity action.

By Kendra Coons 

JV Red Hawk Anthony Topolski runs with the ball during their 38-6 win over Northview last Thursday. Photo by Kelly Alvesteffer.

On Thursday, October 3, the JV football team took on the Wildcats of Northview high school at Red Hawk stadium. The JV team combined with the Freshmen team to play Northview because that is how Northview has their team set up. With both of the teams on the sidelines, the Red Hawks then went to work against the Wildcats. Cedar Springs defeated Northview 38-6 making their record 5-1 overall and 2-0 in conference play.

The Red Hawks offense was strong with Keenan Gosselin scoring three touchdowns and rushing 116 yards. Anthony Topolski also rushed 83 yards for the Red Hawks.

The team’s defense was also solid with Leo Rios, Damarcus Barnett, Anthony Topolski, and Lane Gott all recovering fumbles from the Wildcats. The defense also was balanced with 15 different players registering tackles.

“A great team win against an athletic Northview team,” stated Coach Streeter. “We were able to capitalize on some of their mistakes and relied on what we have relied on all season…ball security and hustle.”

On Thursday, October 10, the JV Red Hawks travel to West Catholic to play the Falcons. Kickoff is at 6:30 pm, so make the trip to Falcon stadium to support your Cedar Springs Red Hawks as they look for their third conference win.

Michael Smith Jr., 15, the son of Mike and Betty Smith, shot this nice 8-point buck with his bow on Nov. 5. He was hunting behind his house in Solon Township. He is a freshman at Cedar Springs High School. Congratulations Michael!

Aly Hamilton goes up for two. Hamilton led the freshmen Red Hawks in rebounding, steals and blocked shots this season.

The Cedar Springs girl’s freshmen basketball team wrapped up their season with a thrilling overtime victory over a very good West Catholic team. The game was close from start to finish, and the Red Hawks trailed by 3 with only 8 seconds to go. The ball was inbounded to Mary Monterusso, who dribbled to the 3-point line, but the defender was too close and she could not get a shot off. Mary passed to Nikki Matzke, who drained a game tying last second 3-pointer to send the game in to overtime.

In the overtime period, Mikenzie Francis penetrated the lane several times and drew fouls. Francis made enough free throws to ice the game for the Red Hawks. Cedar Springs came away with a 47-41 victory to end the season on a high note. Francis led the Red Hawks with 15 points and Monterusso had 13. Matzke had 5 points. Aly Hamilton had 5 points and a team high 10 rebounds. Taylor Baker had 4 points, Sayge Wight 3, and Kate Miller two.

The Red Hawks finished the season with a fine 10-6 record, and were 7-3 in the OK Blue conference. Coach Emily Sorensen noted that opposing coaches complimented the Red Hawks on their defense, teamwork, attitude and passing skills.

Mary Monterusso goes over the West Cathloic player. Mary led the Cedar Springs freshmen girls in scoring this season.

Monterusso led the team in scoring with 133 points, and in 3-pointers made with 12. Francis was second with 118 points, and led the team in assists with 37. Aly Hamilton was third with 91 points and led the team in rebounds (134), steals (54), and blocked shots (23).

Nikki Matzke scored 69 points and was third on the team with 66 rebounds. Taylor Baker also had 69 points and led the team by shooting 36 percent from the floor. Sayge Wight was next with 39 points and was second on the team with 69 rebounds. Jessica Kriekaard had 28 points and 29 steals for the Red Hawks, while Kate Miller had 18 points and led the team shooting 75 percent from the free throw line.

Alysha Chaney had 13 points, 14 steals and shot 40 percent from 3-point range. Bre Burns had 5 points and 14 rebounds, and Ally Rohacz had 3 points and 6 rebounds.

Allison Hamilton (14) goes for the steal while Jessica Kriekaard plays defense.

The Cedar Springs girls freshmen basketball team started the season with a fine 4-1 record. However, last week they suffered two tough losses by a total of 3 points. After a one-point loss to Kenowa Hills, the Red Hawks played the undefeated Coopersville Broncos last Thursday, January 6. Coopersville had won every game this year by a margin of 13 points or more. Cedar Springs led after one quarter, but Coopersville controlled the second and third quarters to take the lead. The Red Hawks fought back, responding with 17 fourth quarter points to tie the game in the last minute, but the Broncos scored with less than 10 seconds left to defeat the Red Hawks 36-34.
The Cedar Springs freshmen girls have victories over Greenville, Lowell, Sparta and Forest Hills Eastern this season. They are coached by former Cedar Springs basketball player Emily Sorensen. The Freshmen are playing without their top player, Brittney Todd, who is playing on the varsity this season, and led the varsity in scoring last Friday in a win over Coopersville.
The freshmen team scoring leader this season is Mary Monterusso with 59 points (8.43 average per game). Mary also leads the team in steals with 26, and 3-pointers, making four of 11 attempts (36.4 percent). Mikenzie Francis is second in scoring with 46 points and leads the team in assists with 15. Nikki Matzke is third in scoring with 40 points and she leads the team in shooting percentage from the floor (18-48 for 37.5 percent) and is second in rebounding with 29.
Allison Hamilton leads the Red Hawks in rebounds with 40 (5.71 per game) and also leads in blocked shots. She is fourth on the team in scoring with 26 points. Taylor Baker is next with 24 points and 21 rebounds. Sayge Wight has 19 points and 23 rebounds. Kate Miller has 19 points and 11 rebounds. Jessica Kriekaard has 9 points and 10 rebounds for the season, while Alysha Chaney has 4 points and 6 rebounds. Bre Burns has 2 points and 8 rebounds, and Alli Rohacz has 2 points and 3 rebounds.
The Red Hawk freshmen girls continue their season against Forest Hills Northern on Thursday, January 13 at Cedar Springs High School. Game time is 4 p.m.