GRANDVILLE – The Fruitport volleyball team needed a bounce-back after a bitter loss on Tuesday, and that’s exactly what the Trojans got with a convincing three-set road victory over Calvin Christian on Thursday night in a key O-K Silver conference match.
The win came just two days after the Trojans fell to archrival Spring Lake in an exhausting five-set marathon, and they were clearly in the mood to get back on track.
The Trojans won by set scores of 25-14, 26-24 and 25-17.
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They are now 20-5-4 overall on the season and 5-0 in O-K Silver Conference play. They are tied for first place in the conference with NorthPointe Christian, while Calvin Christian is now 2-3 in the standings.
“This was a big win for us,” said Fruitport head coach Samantha Fehler. “We’ve been talking about working so hard that we look boring. I thought we did an awesome job with that tonight.”
The Trojans took control of the match from the start, jumped out to a 14-4 lead in Set 1. The two teams split the next 21 points, 11-10 in favor of Fruitport, resulting in the 25-14 win.
The second set started out a bit rough and was back-and-forth all the way.
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Fruitport fell behind 6-1 and trailed 14-8 before a big run evened out the score. After trailing 14-8, the Trojans won the next seven points and take a 15-14 lead.
“It was really fun,” said senior Emma Fecher, who had a nice service run in the set. “I was just serving to little zones and hitting them. It seemed to really bring all of our energy up, and I really enjoyed that.”
The two teams battled the rest of the set, with each team taking small leads, before Calvin Christian reached the edge of victory with a 24-23 lead.
Fruitport responded once again, this time winning the final three points to steal an exciting 26-24 victory.
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“We talked about how the second set is important to win,” Fehler said about the important comeback. “Regardless of the deficit, the girls really fought back and used their energy and desire to win.”
In set 3, Fruitport was strong from the start, jumping out to a quick 10-4 lead before coasting to the 25-17 victory that sealed up the match.
Izzy Hanson-Wilbur led the Trojans with 12 kills and 10 digs on the night while Aristyn Thorns, Addi Bordeaux and Fecher all had four kills
.Porter Johnson had 16 digs while Regan Wilson added 13.
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Fecher and Josalynn Nowicki each had three blocks for Fruitport.
“Our goal is to win the conference outright,” Fehler said. “So we’re continuing to work hard every day like we did tonight. We’re just worrying about our side and achieving our goals, regardless of who we are playing.”
Fruitport will next be in action on Saturday at Mona Shores in the Best of the West Invitational.
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