The Bulmahn family will be wearing special shirts supporting both Ceci and Victoria at Saturday’s volleyball match.
Submitted photo
The reunion will be sweet, but there will be some bitter-sweetness, too.
Saturday, Oct. 22 had been highlighted and circled on all family calendars since the 2022 Missouri Valley Conference volleyball schedule was released.
They knew the day was coming once Ceci Bulmahn, a 2022 Mt. Vernon High School grad and star volleyball player, committed to play Division I volleyball at Southern Illinois University.
Older sister Victoria Bulmahn is a junior setter at Valparaiso University, another member of the MVC.
Teammates as Marauders, Saturday’s match in Carbondale, Ill., was going to be the first time they were on opposite sides of the net.
“They have never played against each other,” father and former Mt. Vernon High School head volleyball coach Eric Bulmahn said. “They’ve been talking smack ever since (Ceci) committed to Southern Illinois. Being in the same conference, they knew they were going to be playing each other.”
Leading up to the anticipation, both were having great seasons for two of the league’s top programs.
Southern Illinois, after going winless in MVC matches last season, is 7-2 and tied for second. Valparaiso won its first 12 matches this season and are 17-4 overall and 5-4 in the MVC.
Ceci looked to be well on her way of a possible Freshman of the Year honor, she had already won weekly awards for being the league’s top rookie twice. But, in a match against Belmont Friday, she went down with an injury and won’t be able to play in Saturday’s Bulmahn Bowl.
“It is a bummer not being able to play,” Ceci said. “I don’t really know too much (yet on the injury). I’m still so excited to see everybody. I haven’t seen (Victoria) in a long time. A lot of our family is coming to watch us. I’ve been pumped for it. My whole team has been excited to see the sister rivalry.”
Eric said he and wife, Monica, and family members have enjoyed watching the girls play this season. Monica was Eric’s assistant coach at Mt. Vernon. This is their first season out of high school coaching and they alternate weekends watching their girls play.
This Saturday’s trip will not just include parents, but also grandparents, sister Jaclyn (who played volleyball at Valparaiso and Ball State) and cousins. Also included will be the family dogs, Reynolds and Zuno, who proved to be Ceci’s emotional support animal when she was injured in last week’s match against Belmont.
“I haven’t seen Ceci, since July,” Victoria said. “I’m really excited to see her especially in her element down there with her teammates. Hopefully I will get to see her room and she’ll give me a little tour. I’m just excited the family will be reunited again.”
Ceci, an outside hitter, was having a great match against Belmont. It was just mid-first set when she got hurt, landing awkwardly on one leg after going up for a kill. She had five kills and five digs in the game’s first 10 points.
“I was really looking forward to playing her,” Victoria said. “We’re both pretty competitive, so we’ve had that pretty competitive joking banter going on. She’s been doing really well and I’ve been so proud how she’s been performing this season. I’m sad I can’t see her out on the court, but I know she’ll be back before we know it and I’ll get to see her (at Valpo) next year.”
Ceci is ranked No. 25 in the MVC in kills averaging 2.43 per set and No. 20 in digs at 2.7. Victoria is one of the MVC’s top servers. She’s No. 13 in service aces at .29 per set.
“They both love their teams and are enjoying the college experience,” Eric said. “That’s all we could ask for.”
For this weekend’s special occasion, the parents made “House Divided” t-shirts.
The shirt depicts, on the front, a volleyball split in half with Valparaiso colors and logo on one side and Southern Illinois colors and logo on the other. The back has the girls jersey numbers (Victoria is No. 3 and Ceci is No. 2) and last name with ‘Bul’ spelled in Valparaiso gold and ‘mahn’ in SIU maroon.
“Our family is so supportive of each other,” Victoria said. “Our grandparents have been great showing up. My parents, mom’s parents have been alternating going to Valpo and SIU. I’ve seen most of them. A cousin, and our other grandparents (will be there). It will be fun to have them around and to reunite with Ceci. I’m excited to see everyone and spend some family time together.”
