Rondeau, Hollar have Grace eying league & national titles
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Dale Hubler-dhubler@timesuniononline.com
WINONA LAKE – Four years ago, they played for rival high schools – Mallory Rondeau at Wawasee and Meredith Hollar at Warsaw. Today, they are friends, teammates and the heart and soul of Grace College's women's soccer team. They are a big part of the Lady Lancers’ rise to national prominence. Once the doormat of the Crossroads League – previously called the Mid-Central Conference – Grace is currently ranked 10th in the NAIA national poll and will take a 13-1-3 record into Saturday's opening round of the league tournament. After posting a 5-1-3 record in the league, the Lady Lancers are the No. 2 seed and will host No. 7 seed Mount Vernon Nazarene University (10-6-2, 3-4-2 CL) at 3 p.m. at Miller Athletic Complex. The winner of the league tournament will get an automatic berth in the NAIA National Tournament, and the Lady Lancers believe they can make some postseason noise. “I believe we have the ability to win the national tournament,” said Rondeau, a senior forward. “I feel like if we don't believe in ourselves, other people aren't going to believe in us. I don't feel like winning it all is out of our reach. We beat the No. 2 team in the nation, who has held their spot. It's going to be a hard road, and we're going to have to come into every game and play our best, but I think we can do it.” Rondeau leads the Lancers with eight goals this season. She is also the team leader in assists with four. Hollar, a junior forward, is second on the team with seven goals and has also assisted on another. Combined, the dynamic duo has scored 15 of Grace's 34 goals this season. “I think we’re very close to really making some noise on a national stage,” said Hollar. “Each year I've been here we've grown. Each year we've taken a step up. I think it's cool to see how our team is forming now with the seniors. Mallory's class is a big class and I think they're very important to what we're doing as a team right now. I think our ability go to the national tournament is definitely there this year, more than any other year I've been here.” The Lady Lancers have competed in the NCCAA National Championships in Florida in five of the past six seasons, but there's no doubt Rondeau, Hollar and ninth-year coach Michael Voss have their eye on an NAIA National Tournament berth and championship. “It's like night and day,” said Voss when asked how far the program has come in the nine years of his leadership. “The things we had to do back then just to stay in conference games. We had to pack it in, you know, hold on by our shoe strings at times, and now it's completely different. We are in control of matches. We are dictating our style of play. I mean, it's night and day. “In respect to the Crossroads League, it's completely changed. When I got here, there were one or two Crossroads teams that were in the Top 25, and now we have four teams that legitimately should be in the Top 25, possibly a fifth receiving votes. Not only have we gotten better, but our entire conference has gotten better. So, our conference schedule, and our out-of-conference schedule, has really helped prepare us for the postseason.” The Lady Lancers have given up just eight goals this season, and the dominant force in the net for Grace is also a local product, sophomore Abby Schue, who was a brick wall during her prep career at Warsaw. Other locals on Grace's roster include senior Heather Martin (Bremen), sophomore Carlie Salinas (NorthWood) and freshman Clair Snodgrass (Warsaw). Voss believes recruiting talented local players has been a huge success for Grace. “Dominating local recruiting is huge,” said Voss. “We want the kids in town to come here. We want them here, and we want them to want to come here. That's a big piece, you know, because this is their backyard, and we want to be influential. We want to put a winning product on the field, and we'd love to do that with kids from here.” Following Saturday’s women’s game, the Grace College men will host Huntington University at 6 p.m. in league tournament action. The Lancers are 11-5-1 this season, 6-2-1 in the Crossroads standings, and earned the No. 2 seed in the men’s tournament. Huntington University is the No. 7 seed and sports an overall record of 9-8-1 and a conference mark of 4-5. Kyle Hamlin leads Grace’s men’s team with seven goals and eight assists this season, while Dominic Harris and Damon Binkley have each tallied five goals and three assists. Freshman Peyton Long of Warsaw is the most local player on the Lancers’ roster, which also includes Binkley and Josiah Osborn, both freshman from Argos; and freshmen Roberto Gonzalez (Bremen) and Hector Torres (Goshen).
