Sometimes a painful loss can turn out to be a really big win in the long run.
About a week and a half ago, the Fruitport volleyball team lost a tough five-set match to Calvin Christian, ruining the Trojans’ perfect conference record.
That turned out to be a wake-up call for the Trojans, who had a conference championship very much on their minds.
They made up for it in a big way on Saturday, posting four dominant victories and winning the championship at the O-K Silver conference tournament at Kelloggsville High School.
[1]Fruitport ended the day with a decisive 25-15, 25-10 victory in the finals over Comstock Park.
In the process the Trojans also won the outright conference championship that they wanted so badly.
They needed a little extra luck to win the overall title on their own, and it came their way during the tournament.
The overall championship is based on a point system for the regular season and the conference tournament. Calvin Christian finished in first place in the regular season and earned eight points while Fruitport, in second place, earned seven.
The Trojans turned around and earned eight points by winning the tournament title. Calvin Christian lost two matches on Saturday – to Fruitport and Comstock Park – and finished third with six points.
[2]So Fruitport finished with 15 points, Calvin Christian totaled 14 and the Trojans got the trophy.
None of it might have happened if it hadn’t been for that useful loss to Calvin Christian, according to Fruitport Coach Nicole Bayle.
“It was a good fire to be lit under our butts,” said Bayle, whose team is now 29-11 overall and finished 11-1 in conference play. “We went through a chunk of the season when we didn’t get pressed too hard. We needed to be in some high pressure situations so we could respond to them and grow.”
The loss forced the Trojans to address parts of their game that were still lagging, according to Bayle.
[3]
[4]
“A big thing we’ve done is learn how to score more points when we are a little out of system, when our passes or our sets aren’t perfect,” the coach said. “We really struggled with that early on, and in the last few weeks we’ve been working on that specifically in practice – still being smart and still being able to score a point. On Saturday they did that so well.”
Fruitport was dominant all day, beating Godwin Heights 25-12, 25-3, NorthPointe Christian 25-5, 25-17, Calvin Christian 25-22, 25-18 and then Comstock Park in the finals.
Sadie Haase paced Fruitport with 44 kills, Ellie Stroup added 14 and Ellie Stroup, Gracelynn Olson and Izzy Hanson-Wilbur had 14, 13 and 12, respectively.
Olson had 78 assists. Hasse, Stroup and Wilbur each served seven aces.
[5]
[6]
Defensively, Stroup and Emma Fecher had 38 and 36 digs, respectively, while Hanson-Wilbur added 21.
The conference title marked a big turnaround for the Trojans, who were 1-13 last season and finished at the bottom of the brutally-tough O-K Blue.
“I am really happy for our seniors and juniors who were part of that struggle,” Bayle said. “It was great to see them come out and respond to a challenge.”
The Trojans will host a quad meet at home on Tuesday against North Muskegon, Grant and Allendale before heading into Division 2 districts next week.
[7]
[8]
[9]
[10]
[11]
[12]