NORTON SHORES – The Mona Shores volleyball team was eager to end a 20-year district title drought on Thursday night.

Unfortunately a new district opponent from the north, Traverse City Central, got in the way.

The Sailors and Trojans met up in the Division 1 district championship match at Mona Shores, and things started out great for the Sailors, who won the first set.

But TC Central rebounded and won the next three sets, handing Mona Shores a 3-1 loss and ending what was otherwise a great season for the Sailors.

The set scores were 17-25, 26-24, 25-21, 25-21. Mona Shores finished with a 25-12 record.

“Where we expected to do well tonight, we fell short,” said Mona Shores coach Kathy Hellman. “I feel like our confidence was not completely there tonight, and that we played too safe.”

The Sailors head into the offseason with a lot to be proud of. They won the championship at the Greater Muskegon Athletic Association City Tournament, the Traverse City Central Invitational, the Battle on the Boardwalk in Grand Haven, and captured the title in the O-K Green conference tournament.

“We beat Zeeland East in the conference tournament in three sets, just weeks after they beat us in three,” Hellman said. “We were definitely on the right trajectory to be ready, and when our group is on, our opponents can’t beat us.”

That wasn’t the case on Thursday, however. The Sailors took an early lead and played tough in every set, but didn’t have quite enough to pull out the match.

Mona Shores trailed early in the opening set by a 4-2 margin, then went on a 7-0 run with strong serving from Chloe Rose to take a 9-4 lead.

The Trojans cut their deficit to 17-15, but Mona Shores closed out the set with a 10-2 run to take a 1-0 lead in the match.

The second set was close throughout, with the largest separation between the team being three points.

Mona Shores trailed 18-15, then tied the game 20-20, 21-21, 22-22 and 24-24. But the Trojans scored the final two points to tie the match at a set apiece.

The third set had many lead changes. Mona Shores trailed 20-17 before winning four straight points to take a 21-20 lead. But TC Central scored the final five points and took a 2-1 lead in the match.

The fourth set was just as competitive. The Sailors trailed 19-16, then rallied again to tie the score at 20-20. But the Trojans again landed the final punches, scoring five of the last six points to nail down the district title.

Grace Allen led Mona Shores with 17 kills while Ava Dunn added 12 kills and two aces and Jersey VanderWall had 10 kills.

Kyann Hellman directed the Sailor attack with 40 assists.

Izzy Sturtevant led the defense with 24 digs and Ali Trautner had 12.