NORTON SHORES – The Mona Shores volleyball team is one win away from a very big goal – the team’s first district championship since 2001, and only the second in program history.
But the way the Sailors played on Wednesday, you have to wonder just how far they could advance beyond districts in the coming weeks, with a few lucky bounces.
Mona Shores opened up tournament play on its home court with an impressive 3-0 victory over Reeths-Puffer in the Division 1 district semifinals. The set scores were 25-12, 25-19, 25-19.
The Sailors, 25-11, will now host Traverse City Central on Thursday in the district championship match, an opportunity they’ve had circled on the calendar for some time.
[1]“It’s been a goal every year, obviously, but this year there was some little magic,” Mona Shores coach Kathy Hellmann said about the chance to win a district title. “These girls don’t give up. They have each other’s backs. It’s a different type of team. They want to win, they have the will to win.”
Hellman admitted that districts could just be the beginning of a very nice run for the Sailors, provided they come out on top on Thursday, of course.
The coach believes in her team and the way it’s been playing in recent weeks.
Last week, for instance, Mona Shores beat Zeeland East in straight sets to win the O-K Green conference tournament after losing to the same team 3-0 a few weeks earlier.
[2]“I honestly feel like they are unstoppable.” Hellmann said about her players. “This team has no fear of walking into any gym. They walk in with confidence.”
Mona Shores fell behind 3-1 at the start of the first set on Wednesday, but then controlled the rest of the match.
The Sailors quickly built a 15-5 lead in the first set, allowed R-P to claw back to within 18-11, then finished off the set by winning eight of the last nine points, including six straight on a service run by Mallory Hogston.
Mona Shores jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead in the second set, then the Rockets rallied and tied the score 8-8 on a serve by Megan Barmes that hit the top of the net and trickled over and dropped on the Sailor side.
The Rockets hung around for most of the set and pulled within four points three times – 21-17, 22-18 and 23-19, but the Sailors won the last two points, with the clincher coming on a kill by Ava Dunn.
[3]The final set was similar, with Mona Shores jumping out to a 6-1 lead and R-P battling back and trying to keep its season alive.
The Rockets cut the lead to 21-15, but the Sailors finally finished off the set and match with an ace and a kill by Grace Allen.
Dunn and Allen led the Sailor attack with 11 and 9 kills, respectively, while Jersey VanderWall and Maddie Russell each had six.
Kyann Hellmann navigated the offense with 31 assists. Defensively Hellmann, Mallory Hogston and Ali Trautner each had 10 digs.
Reeths-Puffer finished the season with a 14-23-2 record.
R-P Coach Justin Birr credited his team for fighting hard despite falling behind early. He was particularly pleased with his eight seniors who left everything they had on the court in their final varsity match.
“That second and third set, we played pretty good volleyball,” Birr said. “We were definitely resilient and the seniors led the way. They came in with their game faces.
“I think we were a little too amped up in set 1. Once we settled in we played a lot better.”
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