A look back at the season that defined a program
By Avery Veen
The 2018 Hamilton Varsity Volleyball team accomplished something special: they became regional champions. They finished the season with an impressive 39-9 overall record and an even more impressive 11-1 league record. According to Coach Mikolajczyk, the team’s biggest issue all season was a couple of injuries, but they stepped up when needed.
On November 8, 2018, at Vicksburg High School, Hamilton won the game 3-2 in a tough match, with the scores of each set being 25-15, 22-25, 25-19, 21-25, 15-6. While Set Two and Four were tight battles that Edwardsburg won to extend the match, Set Five was where the championship was on the line. Typically, a team carrying momentum from a hard-fought fourth-set victory has the upper hand, but Hamilton completely flipped the script. The turning point came when Edwardsburg suddenly started committing unforced errors and service errors right out of the gate.
“This team never felt out of a match. Even when they got behind a set, they kept grinding and pushing forward. They believed in themselves and each other. It was a selfless group that enjoyed figuring out what was going to win it for us each night.” – James Mikolajczyk
The match was a closely contested win, going back and forth before reaching five sets. They had a dominant front row that was crucial; sophomore AJ Edigar led the team with 22 kills and 3 blocks in that one game. Senior Tori Folkert did an outstanding job distributing the ball to all the players and running a fast-tempo offense, helping her team get kills. Folkert recorded 58 assists out of 59 kills in the battle against Edwardsburg.
With all the suspense filling the room, the game was worth it. The volleyball team made the game exciting and full of competition. The Championship was a big win for the team, giving them high hopes for future games, such as the state quarterfinals, and for next year, when they won regionals back-to-back. Coach James Mikolajczyk described the volleyball season in a few words: rewarding, exhilarating, and memorable.
