Duysen, Focht athletic foes in H.S., college

Playing sports in Southwest Iowa allows athletes to make friends with others from neighboring towns. Stanton’s Ally Focht and East Mills’ Emmy Duysen are a prime example of that. However, these two have kept their friendship throughout their college years, as well as kept the competition alive.
Focht attended Central College in Pella, while Duysen attended Grand View College; both contined playing volleyball.
“I started playing volleyball in third grade and started club volleyball in junior high,” Duysen said. “Club volleyball season was easily the busiest time of the year. I think it’s more common to do now than it was when I first started participating, but at one point, there would be an overlap of basketball, AAU club volleyball, and USAVB club volleyball. And then when basketball would end, track would replace it.”
Focht began playing volleyball the same time Duysen did.
“I have played volleyball a total of 12 years, or since third grade,” Focht said. “I have completed three years at Central College and am looking forward to my final season.”
Duysen just completed her final year of playing volleyball competitively.
“I came in with college credits from high school and was able to graduate in three years,” Duysen said. “I played JV volleyball all three years, and I will graduate in May.”
Duysen comes from an athletic family, and fell in love with volleyball early in her life.
“My mom and older sister both played volleyball, so I felt like I needed to give it a chance,” Duysen said. “I remember watching my sister when I was younger ,and that’s probably when I fell in love with the sport. I love the challenges the sport brings and the high level of intensity throughout the matches.”
Like Duysen, Focht was a four-year, four-sport athlete in high school, but was not ready to give up volleyball upon graduation.
“All of my Stanton coaches who I had through the years, as well as club volleyball coaches, have each had their own unique ways of helping me along the way,” Focht said. “I knew my final game of my senior year of high school that I wasn’t done yet, and I wanted to continue playing the game I love at the college level.”
Focht is a right side hitter for Central Dutch, and to date, her most memorable game came in the 2018 season.
“Taking Wartburg to five sets in the 2018 season at home was one of the best games, in my opinion,” Focht said. “We were the underdogs, and Wartburg was ranked number one in the American Rivers Conference. Everyone played with their hearts, and it truly showed that night. It was the most exciting game I have ever been a part of. Even though we came up short, I have never been more proud to be a part of the Central volleyball team as I was that night.”
Focht and the Central volleyball team have made many memories.
“Our head coach, Jeanne Czipri, HATES hair scrunchies, and she thinks they belong in the past and should stay in the past,” Focht said. “Because of this, we are discouraged from wearing them at any volleyball games or activities. However, we all decided to wear them to one practice to see how she would react; let’s just say we had very little time for everyone to take them out of their hair before we had to run numerous sprints as a punishment. The volleyball parents got the last laugh by shooting hair scrunchies from the bleachers onto the gym floor at the last home volleyball game.
“Because of volleyball, I have made the best friendships that will last a lifetime. These friendships have made my time at Central College be better than I could ever imagine and have given me memories that I will truly never forget.”
Duysen shared some memories from her time at Grand View.
“We had a Halloween practice every season where everybody dresses in costumes,” Duysen said. “My go-to costume was a basketball player; one girl dressed as a pig, and my personal favorite was a girl who dressed as our head coach. It was put together very accurately!
“Winning the JV Heart of America Conference Tournament was my proudest accomplishment.
“I played on the JV team all three years and we had a winning record every year. I loved getting to know my teammates and will definitely keep in touch with a lot of them after college.
“One of the most notable things I’ve learned from volleyball is that it doesn’t matter what personalities or habits everyone has; we all have something we can contribute to the team.
“Participating in the weight-lifting program at Grand View was one of the most memorable experiences in my time there. The lifting coaches have very high expectations for their athletes and push them to perform at their highest level. I learned a lot about fitness and about what my body can do when I’m pushed to my limits.”
Duysen also talked about the difference in the speed of the game on the college level.
“One of the biggest adjustments for me going from high school to college was the pace of the game,” Duysen said. “In high school when I would approach for a ball, it would have some height so I would have plenty of time to take my approach. When I came to college and received my first set, it came twice as fast and I really had to speed up my approach. The game in general sped up a lot more compared to what I was used to in the Corner Conference. Participating in club volleyball helped make that transition a little smoother.”
Focht said time management was another big adjustment.
“The most difficult adjustment would be finding the balance between academics and volleyball,” Focht said. “We often miss classes on Fridays due to long bus rides several hours away for tournaments and have to do our assignments on the bus.”
Duysen and Focht competed against each other in all sports throughout high school, and the girls found themselves on opposite sides of the court in college as Central and Grand View are close enough to play several times a season.
“I would like to note that we played Central more than 10 times this last season,” Duysen said. “It was the team we played the most every season, so Ally and I got to see each other quite a bit. Ally and I played every sport against each other in high school; we were competitive but we always greeted each other and never had any hard feelings after games. Playing against Central and knowing someone on the other side of the net made it more fun.
“I also got to play against a friend and high school teammate, Jess Doyle. We always enjoyed seeing and playing against each other.”
Focht has one more year at Central and is using this time to continue to work out at home with Stanton junior Tara Peterson.
“This past season we grew stronger as a team mentally and physically on and off the court,” Focht said. “Team chemistry found us coming out more on top this year, and I am excited for what my senior season will bring.”
Both athletes look fondly back to the memories they created with their respective teams in high school and college, and both agree that the hard work was well worth it.
“The lessons learned from volleyball that I use in my daily life are irreplaceable,” Focht said. “I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”