Gabby Holyfield is happy to be healthy and playing for the Belding Redskin volleyball team. Her teammates are happy, too.
In mid-September, Holyfield helped her team win its home invitational.
The Redskins defeated Grand Rapids West Catholic 25-17, 25-13 in the championship match. Holyfield, who caught fire at the net with her attacks and blocks, had a kill for the 24th point in the final match.
“There’s five seniors, it’s our last home tournament, and we really wanted to win this,” Holyfield said. “We all had to come together and pick it up, and we did.”
“We got into some big holes that we played out of,” said Belding coach Mikayla Linebaugh. “That’s a big key for us. We have to learn to play strong from point one to 25. We got into a little bit of a hole that first game but got through it and then took control.”
Belding, 12-2-4, was led for the day by Holyfield with 32 kills and seven blocks.
“I thought Gabby stepped up in that last game,” Linebaugh said. “She was touching everything or blocking and started to hit the ball well.”
“I don’t ever want to let my teammates down, so I had to pick it up and help my teammates,” said Holyfield, who is coming off a torn meniscus that kept her out of the entire 2012 season. “I played AAU last year, so it wasn’t like I took a whole year off. It took some getting used to, but I’m [OK].”