The Fruitport volleyball team is a young squad this season, but the Trojans have already shown that, win or lose, they are going to put up a scrap.

They showed that fight on Thursday night in their O-K Blue conference opener against a good Allendale team.

Fruitport battled to a hard-earned victory in the first set and made the Falcons work in the fourth, but ultimately lost 3-1 by set scores of 25-20, 14-25, 9-25 and 22-25.

Fruitport is now 6-9 on the season and 0-1 in league play.

Fruitport’s Gracelynn Olson blasts a shot.

“We are working on growing and improving consistently,” said Fruitport Coach Nicole Bayle. “Our core kids who get a lot of touches are ninth- and tenth-graders.”

The young core is led by sophomore Sadie Haase, who displayed some power in front of the net on Thursday.

Haase led the Trojans with 13 kills and had four digs defensively.

“Sadie has already improved since her freshman year,” Bayle said. “She has a lot of firepower, which is something we haven’t had a lot of in recent years, so it will be exciting watching her develop her game”

Hasse is joined by fellow sophomore Tara Sweet, who has also seen a lot of time on the court early on.

Sadie Haase gets ready to serve for the Trojans.

Sweet was second on the team in digs on Thursday with 14, behind senior Kayla Kolberg, who had 15.

“You can already see the stuff I like about her game from how she played tonight,” Bayle said. “She was able to connect a perfect pass despite taking a ball in the face. She will also be fun to watch develop throughout her varsity career.”

The Trojans also have a freshman, Gracelynn Olson, who earned her way onto the varsity roster and has impressed her coach.

Olson had 17 assists to go along with four kills and three digs on Thursday.

“She already is a great setter,” Bayle said. “The great part is she has plenty of time and room to grow in her game.”

The Trojans took the first set of the contest despite losing an early 8-3 lead and trailing 15-13.

Fruitport’s Auebre Johson gets ready to take a shot. 

Fruitport broke a 17-17 tie and closed it out by going on an 8-3 run to win the first set.

The Trojans struggled from the start of the second set, trailing 10-1 early on, and couldn’t get back in it.

The turning point of the match happened early in the third set with the Trojans only trailing by a 5-4 margin. The Falcons took control with a 13-0 run and grabbed a 2-1 lead in the match.

The Trojans fought hard in the fourth set, taking leads of 5-1, 10-7 and 14-10. The score was tied six times, ending at 19-19, before Allendale closed out the match with a 6-3 run.

Olson sets a ball for Johnson.