FREMONT – Most of the Fruitport volleyball players had tears streaming down their cheeks after Thursday night’s heartbreaking loss to Fremont in a Division 2 regional championship game at Fremont High School.
That was certainly understandable, because the Trojans battled hard for three challenging months and put together another great season, despite the loss of two important teammates to untimely injuries.
They did not want it to end, and felt crushed when it did – particularly the way it did.
The Trojans fell behind early on Thursday and had their backs against the wall on several different occasions. But they never lost confidence and fought all the way to the end of the amazing five-set match that went right down to the wire.
[1]
[2]
Fremont won the first set 25-15 and jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the second, but the Trojans pulled themselves together and won 25-16.
The Packers jumped out to a big lead in the third set, and led 24-14 at one point. The Trojans rallied again and scored six straight points, before Fremont finally sealed a 25-20 victory and went up 2-1.
Fruitport built a big lead in the fourth set, and had a 12-4 advantage, before the Packers took their turn roaring back. The score was tied at 13-13, 14-14, 15-15, 16-16, 19-19, 20-20 and 21-21, before Fremont won three straight points to grab a scary 24-21 lead.
Just one more point would have ended the night, but the Trojans weren’t ready to call it a season just yet. They won three straight points to tie the score at 24-24, and the battle went on.
Fruitport led 25-24, then the score was tied again. Fremont led 26-25, then the score was tied again. The Trojans finally collected very timely kills from Izzy Hanson-Wilbur and Emma Danicek to steal a wild 28-26 victory and send the match to a fifth and final set.
[3]
[4]
Fremont had leads of 4-0, 7-3. 8-5 and 9-6 in the fifth. Fruitport fought back to within one point at 11-10, but the Packers won the last four points and claimed a very hard-fought regional championship.
“That was a battle,” said Fruitport head coach Nicole Bayle. “We train kids to do stuff in tough situations and I’m proud of our kids for doing that tonight.
“Our kids pushed and pushed and pushed and believed in each other. We talk a ton all year about having each other’s backs, communicating and working together, and they did that again tonight.
“That comeback was amazing in the fourth set and I felt sure we were going to keep the momentum on our side.”
Despite the disappointing outcome, the 2025 Trojans certainly left their mark in the program’s history book.
[5]
[6]
They finished with a 33-14-1 record and won their second straight O-K Silver conference championship and their second straight Division 2 district title. They did all that despite the loss of All-State setter Gracelynn Olson last summer to a season-ending injury, and the loss of standout senior Ellie Stroup just before the end of the regular season.
They did it by adjusting on the fly as the season flew by, with upperclassmen like Stroup, Izzy Hanson-Wilbur, Emma Danicek, Emma Fecher, Alexa Sweet, Josalynn Nowicki, Addison Bordeaux and Claire Ludlow stepping up their games and providing crucial leadership.
They did it with huge contributions from sophomores Porter Johnson and Rowynn Miller and freshman Regan Wilson, who played very big roles over the course of the season.
They did it by pulling together and forming a united, confident group that cruised to three straight postseason victories over Montague, Spring Lake and Ionia, and nearly pulled out a win against Fremont.
The top offensive player on Thursday was Danicek, one of three seniors on the team, and the only one who was healthy and playing. She finished with 15 kills, one more than Hanson-Wilbur.
[7]
[8]
Fecher and Sweet set up the offense with 29 and 16 assists, respectively.
“I am upset, but I think we had a great season,” Danicek said after her final varsity match. “We pushed past a lot of challenges.
“I think we just had each other’s backs. We were talking and communicating and pushing each other. We wanted it so bad, and we didn’t want to give up.
“It hurts a little bit, but I am excited for the younger girls and what they are going to be able to do in the future.”
The Trojans were able to make their repeated comebacks on Thursday because of great defense. They piled up an amazing 136 digs, led by Johnson with 38, Hanson-Wilbur with 30 and Wilson with 29.
“Our defense was outstanding tonight,” Bayle said. “It was out of this world.”
[9]
[10]
The silver lining for Fruitport lies in a very exciting future. The Trojans only had three seniors on the roster this year. The other 11 girls will be back next season, including most of the top players. The incredible sense of confidence they developed this year will come in handy in 2026, when they will have the potential to shoot for bigger things than regional championships.“It makes me feel great about our future,” Bayle said. “You win championships with teams that go through something like this and realize they can come back and play like this on the big stage.”
[11]
[12]
[13]
.