MONTAGUE – There is a rich rivalry between Whitehall and Montague in all varsity  sports, and the balance of power swings between teams as the years go by.

In recent years, Montague has owned Whitehall in volleyball, but that started to change last winter when the Vikings beat the Wildcats in a huge upset in the district finals.

That trend continued on Tuesday when Whitehall won its fourth straight match against Montague by a 3-0 score, and claimed the regular season West Michigan Conference championship in the process.

The Vikings won by scores of 25-9, 25-23 and 25-19. They are now 20-2 overall on the season and 7-0 in conference play.

Whitehall’s Isabella Fogus (15) and Rayne Thompson (10) go high at the net to prepare for a block. Photo/Tonya Pardon

Whitehall’s only losses came during the Fruitport Invitational a few weeks ago.

“We played really well during the first set, and the last two were more of what I expected,” said Whitehall coach Ted Edsall, whose team also beat Montague in two tournament matchups this season. “Our attacking and setting were great tonight.

“It’s tough to beat a team three times in a season. Shawn (Bectel) does a good job with them,  they play good defense, and this is a tough place to play. The atmosphere here was great, and if we had switched sides it would have been more difficult playing on the same side as their student section.”

The Vikings could still meet up with Montague later this season, in either the Great Muskegon Athletic Association City Volleyball Tournament, the West Michigan Conference tournament, or in districts.

Montague’s Alyssa Wynn (1) backs up the play as teammate Jaelyn Sundberg (3) and another teammate battle Whitehall’s Maggie Evans at the net. Photo/Tonya Pardon

Whitehall dominated during the entire opening set, jumping out to a commanding 15-5 lead on a long service run by Rayne Thompson. The Vikings then closed out the set on a 10-4 run.

Thompson and Charley Klint each scored multiple points at the net for Whitehall.

The second set was close throughout with Whitehall holding the largest lead at 17-11. The Wildcats came back with a 12-6 run on a long service run by Jaelyn Sundberg to tie the set up at 23-23, but Whitehall pulled it out in the end on kills by Thompson and Klint.

The Viking trailed 1-0 early in the third set, then jumped out to a 4-1 lead on a service run by Klint.

Whitehall maintained the lead throughout the rest of the set after going on a 13-4 run to gain a 19-9 advantage.

Montague scored 10 of the final 16 points,  but failed to complete a comeback.

The Vikings were led by Thompson and Klint with 25 and 17 kills, respectively, while Maggie Evans chipped in with 50 assists to go along with three aces.

Ryleigh Mott paced Whitehall defensively with 20 digs while Thompson had 11 to go along with three blocks.

“Obviously we are young this year,” said Montague coach Shawn Bectel, whose team is now 10-22 on the season and 5-7 in conference play. “I felt like we were ready for what they did, but sometimes you just can’t stop things. They are a good team that came to play tonight.”

Anastasia Trevino led Montague with six kills while Sundberg chipped in with 16 assists. Morgan Netcott led defensively with 19 digs.