There was never a question about the high degree of talent and experience on this year’s Fruitport volleyball team.

Now there’s really no question about the Trojans’ determination to succeed, either.

Fruitport has been great again, for the third straight season, posting a 28-8-2 record as the regular season nears its end.

But there have been letdowns here and there throughout the season, that perhaps made some people wonder if the Trojans were really that good, after all.

The latest came last weekend at the Greater Muskegon Athletic Association Tournament. Fruitport went into the event as one of the favorites, but lost two of three matches and finished in fourth place.

Instead of folding up after that disappointment, however, the Trojans bounced back in a very big way, capturing the championship of the O-K Silver Conference Tournament on Saturday at Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian High School, and in the process sealing up their third consecutive conference title.

They beat NorthPointe Christian in the finals, but had to show some real bounce-back ability to do that, as well.

Fruitport won the first two sets 25-22 and 25-18, but lost the second two, both by 21-25 scores. That set up a decisive fifth set tie-breaker for the title, and NorthPointe had all the momentum.

But the Trojans dug deep, jumped out to an early 5-0 lead, cruised to a 15-10 victory and claimed the tournament title for themselves.

“I wasn’t concerned, just because we knew what we needed to do,” said Samantha Fehler, Fruitport’s first-year head coach. “We knew we had to stop their number one and number two hitters and control our errors and put the ball where their weaknesses were. We did all that, and we were able to get back on track in the fifth set.

“One of our goals was to win the conference. We’ve been working on it all year in practice, and we were able to pull through mentally today when we had to. I was definitely very impressed and proud of the girls.”

Bouncing back from occasional disappointing finishes has been a pattern for the Trojans all year.

Their first disappointment came on the very first day of the season back in August, when they posted an 0-2-1 record at the Coopersville Invitational.

After that they responded by winning 10 straight matches.

On Sept. 19 they lost two of three matches at the Christi Curtis Memorial Tournament.

They responded to that by winning eight of their next nine matches.

Last weekend, at the local GMAA tournament, they lost a close match to a very good Mona Shores team, then were upset by an up-and-coming Reeths-Puffer squad.

“We had a really great game against Mona Shores, going back and forth with them, and it left us feeling kind of defeated because we thought we could have won,” Fehler said. “Then losing to Puffer was hard on us. But the girls came back to practice on Monday ready and focused.

“They definitely respond well to adversity, which is incredibly impressive at the high school level. They are able to set aside negative things that happen.”

Senior standout Izzy Hanson-Wilbur had another great all-around day for the Trojans, leading the offense with 27 kills and the defense with 45 digs.

Porter Johnson was also on her game defensively, picking up 44 digs. Regan Wilson contributed 18 kills and 42 digs.

Emma Fecher had 14 kills and dished out 43 assists, while Alexa Sweet had 18 assists.

Rowynn Miller and Josalynn Nowicki each had four blocks for the Trojans.

Now Fruitport will turn its attention to the state tournament, starting with districts, which begin in a little over a week

The Trojans will be extra motivated this year, after advancing all the way to the regional finals last year before falling in a five-set marathon to Fremont.

“Our goal is to go as far as possible,” Fehler said. “We definitely have the leadership to do well. A lot of these girls have been in big games. They are level-headed in the big matches. After losing in the regional championship last year, they want to prove a point.

“But we are going to focus on districts first. There is going to be some tough competition there.”