Class of 2017 Determined to Leave Legacy

Nov. 18, 2017

by Neil Koepke, MSUSpartans.com Staff Writer When Rachel Minarick, Alyssa Garvelink, Holly Toliver and Abby Monson arrived on campus in the summer of 2014, they had a feeling that Michigan State volleyball was on track for some very successful seasons. But they had no idea how special it would be on and off the court as they developed a tight bond and great chemistry among their group and three other girls that make up this year's senior class.

For sure, it's taken some time and lots of learning about each other, but the Spartans' fourth-year and fifth-year players have been the backbone of two outstanding seasons, one of which is still to play out.

Minarick, Garvelink, Toliver, Monson and red-shirt seniors Brooke Kranda, Megan Tompkins and Autumn Bailey have formed one of the closest classes in MSU volleyball history, and one that is driven to have a strong, successful run in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.

"I think that playing together for four years and going through a lot of things as a team has taught us so much, and for the most part, we've all been through it together,'' said Toliver, a 6-foot-2 outside hitter from Berrien Springs, Mich.

"Everyone has different personalities but we've learned to understand each other and how to work with teammates who are different.''

As a freshman, Toliver was excited about the direction the Spartan program was headed.

"I knew that the class ahead of us was ranked seventh in the country and our class was No. 6,'' she said. "So, I knew we were athletically sound, we just lacked experience. We kept working, improving and building chemistry.

"In my junior year, I saw a lot of sparks in different people. It started to really come together and I felt this team could go somewhere and do something big.''

Minarick said one of the reasons she picked Michigan State was that she knew the skill level of the girls in the recruiting class was high. Another was the family atmosphere she felt during her visit to campus. Three years later, the six other seniors have become her family â€" her sisters.

"There's something about grinding together in practice every day, and you spend so many hours with these girls that you grow close relationships with them,'' said Minarick, a 6-foot-2 setter from Naperville, Ill., a co-captain the last two seasons and MSU's most valuable player in 2015.

"We've bonded through all the good times and the bad. The fact that we go through so many trials and tribulations and the emotions of the game. In such a competitive environment, you need that support from your teammates.

"We developed so much trust in each other on the court. Then there's situations off the court when you build trust. Whether it's somebody coming through for you in an emergency, or just being your support system. These girls have been by my side for four years and they're the first people I call when I'm in trouble, and they will be for a long time.''

In their first three seasons, MSU put together a combined record of 63- 37. Their 25-9 mark in 2016 is the sixth-best in the history of the program. This class is all but guaranteed to extend MSU's NCAA Tournament streak to a seventh straight season, and has made MSU one of just three teams to finish .500 or better in each of the last seven seasons â€" Penn State and Nebraska are the others.

Heading into Senior Night, Michigan State is ranked No. 8 in the nation, with records of 19-7 overall and 12-5 in the Big Ten. To start the conference season, the Spartans got a big confidence boost when they upset No. 5 Wisconsin, 3-0, and No. 1 Minnesota, 3-0, the next night. Both sweeps came on the road.

After their Senior Night match against Indiana and a road trip to Purdue and Indiana, Nov. 24-25, the Spartans can totally focus on their season-long goal â€" the NCAA Tournament and hopefully hosting the first two rounds at Jenison Field House.

Monson remembers that the chemistry among the seniors and overall team took time to click in, but as everyone matured and the program got better, their bond got stronger and stronger.

"It really hit me last season in a game here (on Oct. 15) against No. 3 Minnesota and the majority of (the seniors) were on the court, and right before the fifth game, the seven of us took control of the huddle and went out and beat Minnesota,'' said Monson, a 5-foot-5 defensive specialist/libero from Lakeville, Minn.

"That core group â€" we meant business and we were ready to play - and I think that really brought us together. There's been some ups and downs with the seven of us â€" we're different and have different opinions on things â€" but that game showed us we can all work together, support each other and find a way to win.''

Spartans coach Cathy George said she's had some very close teams during her 31 seasons as a head coach, but noted that the chemistry developed by this year's seniors is very special.

"You want all your teams to have that kind of a bond but not all of them do, and some get close but don't have all of it. I think this team has brought it to a new level,'' George said. "They're very close but don't always get along and disagree on things, which isn't uncommon in a family. But like a family, they ‘get' each other. And they know how to get the best out of each other at times when they need each other the most.''

George said she saw great potential in the seniors "when I recruited them. I knew they were good."

"They were the sixth-best class in the country and we had Meg (Tompkins) and Brooke (Kranda) redshirting their freshman season, so I knew we were talented, but we were so young,'' she said. "When the seniors were freshmen and sophomores, they took a lot of lumps because we were young and in a difficult league that has five teams in the top 10 in the country. They've been through it all, with ups and downs. But some of your best growth comes from not when things are going smoothly but when you face adversity.''

But year by year, things got better for Minarick, Garvelink, Toliver, Monson, Kranda and Tompkins. Bailey joined the group in 2015 after transferring from Marquette, where she was Big East Player of the Year in 2014. Bailey tore an ACL in her very first match at MSU and missed the rest of the season. She received the medical redshirt waiver for the 2015 season and became part of this year's senior class.

"They've learned to work together and hold each other accountable, ask each other for their best and stay strong in difficult times,'' George said. "You learn to be humble, and this group is. They understand they have to work for everything.''

During the last four seasons, George has watched the seven seniors mature individually and as a group.

"They don't get as offended as they did when they were young, with each other and with us,'' she said with a laugh. "They don't get as upset.''

What's helped the senior class become close is a combination of all the things they've done together, some of it not so pleasant and some very enjoyable.

There's the early morning workouts in the summer where it's less about volleyball and more about conditioning.

"After losing in the second round of the NCAAs last year, it was a different atmosphere in workouts in the spring,'' said Bailey, a 5-foot-10 outside hitter from Burlington, Ontario. "We worked super hard. Every morning it was a different thing. It was going through that grind that pulled us together, knowing what we wanted to accomplish this season.''

In August of 2016, the team took part The Program, a grueling team building experience run by former military personnel.

"We were all here for that. It was one of the toughest things we've ever done,'' Bailey said. "Mentally and physically, it was a challenge and I would say moreso mentally. It revealed leadership and how to be a good follower, and that made us think about buying in and what it could mean. You look back at the tough moments of the season and you say, if we can get through something like The Program, well, this is volleyball and we know what we're doing so we can get through this.''

Kranda, a 6-foot-6 outside hitter from Westfield, Ind., and Tompkins, a 6-foot-4 middle blocker from Petoskey, went through The Program, along with the 2016 seniors, earlier in their careers so they knew what to expect.

"Talking about it and going through it are two different things,'' Kranda said with a laugh. "That was a rough 24 hours and we got our butts kicked. But I think we really came together as a team after that. With The Program, they had some mission statements and so during our season, if we need a reminder, we bring those up. One of the things is ‘mission first, people second.' You're focused on getting done what needs to be done and then you make sure your people are OK.''

Tompkins said going through The Program was very rewarding.

"It was tough but because of all the support and leadership we showed, it wasn't as bad,'' she said. "Everyone would help each other and push each other to get through everything.''

Then there's things that aren't so physically demanding that helped bond, not only the seniors, but the entire 2017 Spartans team.

In late May and into early June, the team took a 10-day trip to Italy and Slovenia where they practiced, played games and saw the sights of different countries.

"So much team bonding went on during the trip,'' said Garvelink, a 6-foot-4 middle blocker from Holland, Mich. "We were together all the time doing a lot of things that weren't volleyball, and that really brought us together. Us older kids had a special bond before but it was so much easier to bring the young kids into it and get them used to being around the team and program.''

The seniors do all sorts of things together, and it helps that they live in the same apartment complex near campus. That makes things convenient for dinners, get-togethers, celebrations, and even bonfires.

"Megan Tompkins bought a bonfire pit and we put it in the back of the apartment complex and had bonfires all summer,'' Monson said. "We'd sit out there for hours. It was so much fun.

"We're able to joke around. Autumn and Megan pick on me all the time but it's obviously joking. I love them to death. We're always playing jokes on each other and keeping it fun and lighthearted.''

Last month, the team dressed up for its practice on Halloween. Bailey's "costume" was her coach, George. She conspired with her George's older son, TJ, to sneak one of of Coach George's gameday outfits to Bailey to pull off her costume with the maximum authenticity.

"We have Halloween parties every year and everybody dresses up in ridiculous costumes,'' Minarick said. "It's stuff like that that I'll always remember. A lot of memories are behind the scenes things.''

Tompkins said she'll remember all the trips the team has taken and the fun times with her teammates in the summer at her home in Petoskey.

"The past two summers, we're gone up to my house and spent time bonding as a team,'' she said. "We boated, tubed and shopped. That was really fun.''

Before the season, the players and coaches took a personality test that breaks down personality traits into four groups: D for Dominant; C for cautious, I for inspiring and S for supportive.

For the seniors, there were several dominating personalities and a few cautious and supportive ones.

Toliver said she's definitely a ‘D' personality - competitive, demanding, direct, and she had to learn to work those that are different, like the ‘Cs', who are cautious, contemplative and careful, and the ‘S' group, who are stable, steady, shy, and status quo.

"My personality can come off as very abrasive. I'm very competitive and I have several teammates who are the opposite,'' Toliver said. "I had to figure out how to come to them and they had to figure out how to come to me.

"To get a person like me hyped up, all I have to do is yell. To a person who is different, I have to calmly talk to them.''

Monson said she's also a ‘D' personality, along with Toliver and Bailey, and that Garvelink and Minarick are in the ‘C' or ‘S' category.

"It was really interesting to see where everyone was (on the personality scale),'' she said. "We have a lot of ‘D' personalities. We're very dominant, aggressive and competitive. A ‘C' is a person who thinks things through, processes things longer. An ‘S' is one that's supportive.

"After understanding it and being able to see what we need from each other on the court, we had a meeting and discussed what we wanted from this season and to come together on one common goal. That is what's driving us.''

Garvelink said it's good to have a team with different personalities because they can be beneficial in dealing with what happens on the court.

"An ‘S' is more sympathetic in relationships and I'm more like that outside of volleyball and more aggressive with volleyball,'' she said. "I bring out my ‘S' on the court because we need a calming presence, which Rachel does as well.

"It's really special what we have here. Everyone has the same drive and intensity about them and the same goals. We have different personalities but that's good because it balances us out on the court.''

Said Bailey, "I think it helps to have that many different personalities because everyone brings something different. I'm in the dominant, more aggressive category and we need those who are more calming and think things out, and that helps us as a team.

"We've done a good job accepting each other and we get along because we're different.''

As they head into their final matches of the regular season, the Spartans are eager to clean up some things in their play and be at a high level when NCAA Tournament play begins Dec. 1-2.

"We've got to get better at the little things," Garvelink said. "I think we get a little spastic at times and forget some things like passing the ball to the net, passing off the net, execution, and our blocking can get better, too.''

"If everyone focuses on individual skill, you can get that much better and that then the whole team gets better,'' Toliver said. "There's some things we can sharpen up a bit.''

Monson said it's important that the team continues to believe in itself heading into the postseason and bring its talent, chemistry and confidence with it.

"What we need to do is solidify that we are a great team. We're ranked No. 8 in the nation and that is awesome,'' Monson said. "We're up there with everyone else. We can compete with the top teams.

"We have great chemistry as a whole team, not just as seniors, and that's huge.''

The memory of last season's NCAA second-round loss in front of the home fans at Jenison Field House continues to motivate the Spartans. They defeated Fairfield in the first round but were upset by Arizona, 3-2, in the second-round match.

"The NCAA clock is still up there (on the wall at Jenison) and we still have the NCAA balls that we played with, so that's a constant reminder of ‘hey you hosted and lost.''' Toliver said. "We lost and we felt stung â€" and . . . because we should have won.''

Two victories in the first weekend of NCAA play and a trip to the Sweet 16 â€" and then another win to get to the Final 8 - would be especially sweet for a group of seniors who have come a long way and accomplished so much the last four seasons.

"A significant run in the NCAA Tournament is important to us,'' Garvelink said. "We're a team that's capable of some big things and I think we're going to make it happen. We want it that much.''

And when the season comes to an end and their MSU careers are over, a special group of seniors â€" two five-year players, four who've played for four years and one who's been here three seasons â€" will look back with great memories.

"It's been such an amazing opportunity to play at such an elite level every weekend. I know I won't probably play at this level again,'' Minarick said. "So, I'm trying to appreciate that.

"It's been so much fun to play so competitively and be surrounded by girls that I've grown up with through college.''