Everything has been just a little more difficult for the Fruitport volleyball team this season.

After losing two big stars from last year’s team, the Trojans knew they would have to roll up their sleeves and work a little harder to meet their goals, and that’s exactly what they have done.

A good example was Saturday’s O-K Silver Conference Tournament. Last year the Trojans cruised to three easy straight-set victories and claimed the tournament and overall conference championship with little trouble.

This time around they had to work harder, going four sets with two of the three opponents, but the outcome was still the same. The Trojans posted a 3-0 record and won the tournament and the O-K Silver crown for the second straight year.

Fruitport pounded Kelloggsville by scores of 25-2, 25-17, 25-9, in the first round, then broke a tie and beat Calvin Christian 25-13, 24-26, 25-15, 25-13 in the semifinals.

The Trojans lost the first set of the championship match to Hopkins 20-25, then rallied hard and won the last three sets 25-21, 26-24, 25-14. Fruitport finished with a 10-0 conference record and is 26-11-1 overall.

It all became a little more challenging on Saturday when standout outside hitter Ellie Stroup went down with an injury in the semifinal round. But the Trojans pulled together, filled in the gaps and got the job done by the end of the day.

“Today really showed the heart of this team,” said Fruitport head coach Nicole Bayle. “When Ellie went down, we were rattled and it would have been really easy to make excuses about why we wouldn’t win. After a couple points we got right back into the swing of things, however, and started playing like a championship team.

“This group has worked hard all season to earn this. They’ve trusted each other, grown together, and it’s been amazing to see their effort pay off in such a big way.”

The Trojans were led by Izzy Hanson-Wilbur, who had a very big day offensively and defensively. She led the attack with 46 kills, which was more than twice as many as any of her teammates, and totaled 57 digs to prevent opponents from scoring.

Emma Danicek added 20 kills for Fruitport while Alexa Sweet served 10 aces. Emma Fecher and Sweet had 66 and 45 assists, respectively.

Porter Johnson had 55 digs and Rowan Miller had six blocks.