VOLLEYBALL
For the Love of the Game!
This section is dedicated to volleyball. Volleyball was something she loved and something she worked hard at and something she never got tired of. She loved the competition and loved the relationships that revolved around it.
We invite you to browse around and take it all in. Please note that all the quotes that you will see are ones that we found after Emily went “home”. They were found in our scanner and ones that she had found to inspire her.
Cameron Rowland
Where the love of the game and the friendship all started
Cam and posse.. aka ballgirls, that came up through the ranks of Lakewood Volleyball
FarOut Represents
Play For the Love of the Game....Rain or Shine
Cam and some of his heavy hitters
Lakewood and FarOut come together
Set, Spike, Kill
Ball Girl Days
Emily’s love for volleyball began in the 5th grade when a friend of hers asked if she might be willing to help out being a ball girl. She immediately loved the game! She would be surrounded by high school girls with amazing talent and be with a coach who believed in discipline with a no-nonsense approach and hard work and dedication.
Miss Rowland”, as Em called her, and Clair would instill in her the importance of her role. Em took her role very seriously and would attend the 5 a.m. practices as “she was a part of the team and HAD to be there”. Being a ball girl was no easy feat under the direction of the Rowlands. You were an important part of the team, you were to be on time, have all the volleyballs accounted for, retrieve balls and have the water bottles filled at all times. If you happened to not be busy, you best be setting balls against the wall and practicing your own skills. This environment generated several years of incredible talent under their direction.
Em lived for the times when she would be told to get into rotation with the Varsity…an opportunity to play with the Varsity girls. When you are 10 years old and try to return a Seniors spike at you, it was a thrill for Em, never an intimidation. After several years of this, I can remember her being so excited that she actually was able to return one of those spikes back over the net. She usually would say that she “shanked them but was getting better”. Being in the gym with talented athletes and having a volleyball constantly in her hands naturally increased her ability.
Em was a ballgirl during some of the glory days at Lakewood. When the team would leave early for big events like when they went to Quarter-Finals and Semi State Finals, was asked to go along too. She was able to ride the bus with the team and be a part of the all the fanfare that came along with it. Let alone the fact that she got to sit on the bench with them and be in the locker room for those awesome pre-game talks. All of these opportunities increased Em’s love for the game and instilled in her the hard work that was involved to reach such a milestone. She absolutely LOVED being a ball girl!
Jr. High and high school years
Yay!! Junior High arrived and made possible the opportunity to play organized sports and finally she would be on a real team and not just a ballgirl. Emily played at the middle position on her 7th and 8th grade team. The Mason coach, who would have many competitive years trying to get past Lakewood at the Varsity level, would ask "who is the stud playing middle and how does Lakewood grow them like this year after year?" She thought Emily reminded her of a young Heather Mitchell that went through the system in previous years and would play for a Final Four ring while at Michigan State.
After Emily's 7th grade season, Em was asked to be apart of an AAU team put together by the Varsity Volleyball Coaches (the Rowlands) who saw much potential in a group of Jr. High athletes. What a thrill for Em! Not only would she ballgirl for them, she would be under their direction as a "real" player. This Blue Power team would prove to be very talented and Emily would now be playing right side. (After Emily's 8th grade year, the Rowlands would resign from years at the Varsity Volleyball helm as they had a talented son who would be coming up through athletics of his own and they wanted to be devoted to him.) These girls would become very successful and would also become very close as friends. They not only competed together week in and week out, but they had many get-togethers after tournaments. They also would travel to Chicago with their families and compete at an Asics tournament. It was kinda the big time for such young girls from our small community. They also vacationed together when the team and their families would go to Cedar Point for a few days for a year end wrap up trip. Emily would play Blue Power with this group while in the 7th, 8th and 9th grades.
Emily would make the Varsity Volleyball team as a freshman and how incredibly honored she felt. She would now be a teammate with her other Blue Power teammates and many of those that she looked up to. She worked hard with the hope of possible playing time the next year. Em always said her most favorite game ever was when she was a bench/practice player her freshman year when Lakewood beat a talented East Grand Rapids team. Lakewood was a huge underdog and would win their Regional before going on to the Quarter-finals with all the fun and fan fair it provided. The medal she received that day would be her most prized possession (and is with her now along with other treasured volleyball memorabilia). ***
Emily's sophomore season with volleyball would be a year that allowed her to play right side and also left side. She excelled that year athletically and at age 15 was awarded 1st team Barry County and, more importantly, 1st Team All-Conference. She would wear the #5 uniform. It was the number she loved and many predecessors that she had ballgirled for and looked up to had worn that beloved number. That year Lakewood would lose to a talented South Christian team in the Regionals. Em would maintain her focus and continue weight lifting as she had alot of excitement about what was yet to be achieved and looked forward with anticipation of what 2 more additional years of competition could bring her, her teammates and her beloved Lakewood community (volleyball is a big deal here). Emily decided to try out for an USAV team after her sophomore season. There would be extensive traveling and sacrifices to make. She was willing to do this with the hope of more exposure and the possibility of playing at the college level. She achieved that goal and made the National Team. She was thrilled!!
Emily's high school years of Varsity Volleyball proved to be short but blessed. She loved the game and loved her teammates and also loved that her dad was her coach. Her home #5 jersey was retired and given to the family and the other jersey would be displayed in the trophy case at the high school. Her teammates would honor her and play for her. They kept her close in thought and in their hearts. With each time out or start to the game, her teammates would shout "Just Du-its" and a t-shirt sporting her name and # would be on the bench to acknowledge her part on the team, if not physically then in spirit and to keep her memory with them.
*** (After Em's passing, Heather Mitchell, who we only knew because of her accomplishments as a volleyball player years before we became involved with volleyball, came and talked to our family. She wanted to give Emily her Final Four ring that she received while playing for Michigan State. She told us that she herself had never really appreciated her own opportunity and took for granted her own athleticism and that Em was worthy and deserving to have this ring because it's one thing that Em wanted to work towards and achieve. Our family was very, very humbled and honored....and so would have Em. The ring was placed on Em's finger and is still with her now.***
FarOut Club Volleyball
Emily tried out for a spot with a club team out of Grand Rapids called FarOut Volleyball Club. It would mean breaking away from her Blue Power teammates to play with complete strangers. Emily was confident in her ability and was excited about the possibilities that FarOut might provide for her. After the tryout, Emily said that she thought she had done a great job and thought she had done well enough to make the Regional team but was really hoping to make the 16's National team. Then the call came...She was cool and collected on the phone as she talked with the club director. She hung up and we were hanging on her every word. She said, "ya know how I told you that I did good enough to make the Regional team? Well, I made the National team!!" and she just started crying. We (Jeff, Selena and Sar) all ran into the kitchen to hug on her and we were crying too because we knew how very much it meant to her. It's such a great memory for us!
Immediately she said, "there's two phone calls I need to make". One would be to the Rowland's and the other would be Denny Frost. The Rowland's were the reason she had become the player that she had and taught her the skills, determination and work ethic and she loved them dearly. Denny Frost did alot for her emotionally, talking to her constantly about confidence and helping her deal with the adversities of playing with older players and the pitfall of being a coach’s child. Denny would instruct her athletically, but it was the emotional part that he really helped her with. (Denny is father to Ashley who Em ballgirled for in Em's younger years and the entire Frost family was always so good to Em.)
The first practice would come and Em felt an immediate connection with her team. It would be the first time Em would play with her own age during the off season. They would have the same desire to play at the college level and volleyball was their sport. Jeff (Em's dad) would drive her 40 miles one way, 3 days a week for practice and her family would go to tournaments on weekends. There were sacrifices and tears as Em would miss seeing Sarah as she went to her Senior prom and would miss Adam's (the brother in her heart) open house. But she was doing what she loved and we continued to support each other because she was living her dream.
Em immediately loved her teammates and they had much in common. They had the same passion for volleyball and they also had a love for Christ. They would pray together, had team buddies for each week where they would encourage each other, and they had Isaiah 40:31 as their motto. They won their Regional bid and would travel to Salt Lake City, Utah for the Jr. Olympics. The team and their families would stay at Park City and see all the sights of the Olympic village and continue bonding and becoming very good friends. It was a very blessed time! After the Jr. Olympics, Em and her FarOut teammates would continue their friendship. They had each other on speed dial and would continue their get togethers. Several of them went to the B-93 birthday bash together.
Then, in October, the accident occurred. During that time, her teammates and their families were very supportive and came to the hospital to see Emily as often as they could. When Em passed away, the team and parents were as devastated as those that we had known a life time. The time with our FarOut families had bonded us in ways that were imaginable to most, but that's what happens when you have the common denominator of Christ in your relationships. At the funeral, the FarOut team was a class act. They came in uniform and wore the hair ribbons that Em had given them in Utah. As a team they prayed and gave pink roses to Em at the cemetery. The entire team would also be present at Lakewood High School when they retired Emily's #5 jersey. They would also retire #15 from FarOut and design a new logo which referenced Emily. (On all uniforms the new logo has "Em" in a heart between the word Far and Out.)
The spring after Em's accident, the girls that played for East Kentwood would find themselves playing for a State championship. There were signs in the arena and outside that said "Just Du-its". Em's FarOut teammates would be successful winning a Class A state championship. Emily's mom was there in Emily's place wearing Em's Lakewood jersey and Em's bracelet that she had gotten in Utah that said "playstrong" on it. ***Em was honored that night and will be forever and always remEMbered. Em loved her FarOut teammates, each and everyone, and would be "pumped" for their successes not only in volleyball but for their happiness in life. ***An official from the MHSAA contacted the Duits family and asked if they could use something of Emily's to reference her and her spirit at the State Championships. The family gave one of Emily's medals to them to flip for the toss of the Class C match....see "Sportsmanship" section.
