FRUITPORT – Imagine if the Detroit Lions, coming off two straight playoff seasons and a division championship, had announced in July that their star quarterback, Jared Goff, was injured and was going to be out for the season, with no quality replacement in sight.
Preseason predictions for the Lions would have been a lot gloomier, and justifiably so.
The Fruitport volleyball team was in that type of situation this summer when All-State setter Gracelynn Olson, heading into her senior year, was injured playing for an elite travel team and learned she would miss the entire high school season.
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That put everything in jeopardy for the Trojans. They had a lot of talent returning from a great 2024 team that won conference, district and regional titles and advanced all the way to the state quarterfinals, but suddenly their star setter was gone, with no obvious backup to take over.
A volleyball team without a good setter is like a football team without a good quarterback. It just doesn’t work out so great.
Luckily for the Trojans, Emma Fecher and Alexa Sweet, two returners with no experience as varsity setters, stepped up at the last minute over the summer, learned the position and polished their skills quickly. They have shared the duties and performed well all season, allowing the Trojans to have another championship year.
On Saturday they wrapped up the regular season with a 30-10-1 record after winning a second consecutive O-K Silver conference title.
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This week they will try to win another Division 2 district title, starting on Wednesday night against Montague or Oakridge. A victory in that match would put them in Thursday’s district championship match.
The team’s continued success has a great deal to do with the way Fecher and Sweet have stepped into the setter role and kept the offense rolling, according to Fruitport head coach Nicole Bayle.
“If they hadn’t been able to step into that role for us, we would have really been scrambling,” Bayle said. “The setting position is that important.”
‘That’s the person in charge’
Most volleyball fans know that the setter’s most obvious duty is to loft the ball high in the air for the hitters to pound over the net. But there is a lot more to it than that, according to Bayle.
“It’s like a quarterback in football or a point guard in basketball,” Bayle said. “That’s the person in charge. They have to understand and run the offense and call plays. They have to be very thick-skinned. When those times come when they don’t put up a perfect ball for the hitters, they have to move on quickly and be ready to make the next play.
“They have to make decisions about where the ball is going to go in a split second. It carries a lot of weight. They have to be fearless, selfless leaders and keep things going even when the going gets hard.”
Those words describe the way Olson played. But there was no obvious replacement for Olson, just weeks before the start of the season, and that was a very big problem.
“I was like ‘Yikes, what are we going to do for a setter?’” Bayle said. “We had some in the program, but none of them were ready for varsity.”
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After several weeks of trying out potential setters, Bayle finally turned to Fecher and Sweet, both juniors, despite their limited experience.
Fecher had been a setter in middle school, but had not played the position in high school. Sweet had spent a little time as a junior varsity setter, but never settled into the position.
Coach Bayle decided to have them share the load. Under the system she devised, Fecher starts as the setter for the first three lineup rotations, then moves to the front row as a capable attacker. Sweet then becomes the setter for the next three rotations.
The two girls had a lot of learning to do, very quickly, but it’s all worked out incredibly well.
Assists are the statistical measure of a really good setter, and they both have a lot of them. Fecher enters districts with 541 assists while Sweet has recorded 376.
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“Alexa and Emma kept rising to the top in the summer, and that helped me make my decision,” the coach said. “I had seen the two of them work hard in practice to face various challenges, and I knew they would both do anything to help the team.
“They are doing a great job. They are always craving corrective feedback and wanting to improve. Over a few recent weeks, Alexa was feeling a little stagnant and wasn’t improving, then we made some adjustments and she’s improved immensely.
“Emma was a libero (defensive specialist) the last two years, and they have to be able to set, so her starting point was a little higher, and she’s continued to grow.
“They have both been working on more complex attacking routes, and we’re seeing great success as they take more risks. I feel great about those two girls who rose to the top for the team this year.”
‘We have to keep fighting’
Sweet said the setter responsibilities were a little scary at first, but she thinks she’s adjusted pretty well.
“I’m still learning and growing, but I think I have improved a lot since the beginning of the season,” Sweet said. “It’s definitely a bigger role. You have to touch and place the ball every rally and every point. It’s intimidating for sure.
“The first game was pretty nerve-wracking, but I knew my teammates believed in me and they would adjust with me.”
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Fecher said she had quietly hoped to be a setter again one day, perhaps after Olson graduated, but that opportunity came much sooner than she anticipated.
“There was always something deep down in me that really wanted to be a setter again and see how I could impact the team,” she said. “It’s a big role and I wanted to try it out and see what I could do.
”During summer training I had to relearn everything, but (Olson) was an amazing mentor to me. She helped me feel more confident, and helped me understand what I needed to do.
“I think I am doing pretty good, but there is room for improvement with communication. The team has been super supportive and understanding.”
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The Trojans experienced another key personnel loss recently, when senior Ellie Stroup was injured during the conference tournament and lost for the rest of the season.
Fecher said all of the girls are heartbroken for Stroup, one of the top players on the team, but they have learned from experience that injuries do not have to ruin a season.
“Ellie is a very smart player and one of the top leaders on our team, but every team has challenges, and we just have to rise above it and keep going,” Fecher said. “Our injured teammates would not want us to just go down. We have to keep fighting.”
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