GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Wednesday's volleyball match between Aquinas College and Cornerstone University gave a whole new meaning to the phrase, "a house divided", as two sisters from opposing teams competed in their first conference game of the season.
When freshman Patsy Morris signed with Cornerstone University her junior year of high school, she knew she would inevitably play against her older sister Karly, a senior at Aquinas College.
However, neither sister expected that during their year of overlap on separate teams, they'd end up sharing a coach.
Patsy was originally recruited to Cornerstone by then Head Coach Ryan Campbell but before she could make it into her first practice, Campbell had signed a contract as Head Coach with Aquinas College.
When he arrived he found another Morris on his team, Patsy's older sister Karly. The senior said she was surprised to hear of Campbell's move to her campus.
"It was kind of a shock at first," she said.
Karly shared a similar fate as Patsy during her freshman year at Aquinas, sharing that the coach who initially recruited her also resigned before she got to campus.
"The coach that recruited me resigned about a week from my signing, so I came in with no coach and wasn’t sure what my career was gonna be like," she explained.
Karly now starts her senior year building a relationship with a coach who originally played against her. Campbell said it's exciting to have her on his side this time.
"We definitely scouted her and we wanted to hit away from her because she was a great passer, and a great digger, she led the conference in digs last year and was the libero for her conference," he said.
The two sisters faced off for the first time in their career on Wednesday night on Cornerstone's home court. Before the game, both joked about their healthy sense of competition and how they're parents planned to support them from the stands.
"They always make comments that they’re going to have Aquinas on the back or Cornerstone on the back, or they’re gonna split their shirts in half," Karly said, adding that a loss to her sister would be something she'd have to remember forever, "I definitely want to beat her. I don’t want her to hold that over me over the course of her life."
Unfortunately, neither sister or team got a chance to taste victory, due to the evening's storms and a tornado watch. The match was postponed halfway through, with Aquinas taking the first set, 25-22. The second match was tied at 18 just before the gym lost power.
The match is rescheduled for Friday at 5 p.m. and will pick up where it left off.
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