FREMONT – Winning is supposed to become much more difficult as you advance deeper into the state tournament.

But the Fruitport volleyball team made it look pretty easy on Tuesday night in the first round of regionals at Fremont High School – after getting the really hard part out of the way, that is.

The Trojans went back and forth with Ionia through an incredibly close, nerve-wracking first set, but Fruitport finally pulled out the win by a 30-28 score.

The rest of the path was relatively painless for the Trojans, who won the next two sets 25-16 and 25-15 to claim the victory and advance to the regional finals.

Fruitport, now 33-13-1 on the season, will play Fremont on the Packers’ home court on Thursday night for a Division 2 regional title. The Trojans beat the Packers in two straight sets in early October.

The winner will advance to the state’s Elite 8 and a date in the Division 2 quarterfinal round. For Fruitport, a victory would also mean a complete repeat of last year’s accomplishments – conference, district and regional championships.

The really amazing part is that Fruitport has reached this point again with a significantly different lineup than last year, due to graduation and season-ending injuries to several important players.

But after gutting their way through a lot of challenges this season, the Trojans are playing with a great deal of confidence, regardless of who their opponent might be.

Part of that comes from solid preparation, according to Fruitport head coach Nicole Bayle.

“I don’t want to take anything away from Ionia – they are a very good team – but we spent a good amount of time watching film, forming a strategy and getting ready for this,” Bayle said. “We knew their number 2 was a go-to kid, and our blockers and defenders neutralized her pretty well.

“These girls are learning how to win, how to dominate, how to execute a scouting report and take care of business.”

The Trojans do a lot of things well on the court, particularly on defense. In districts, they stopped Montague and Spring Lake from landing a lot of hard shots for points, and that trend continued against Ionia.

Fruitport totaled 71 digs, with sophomore Porter Johnson leading the defensive effort with 21, Izzy Hanson-Wilbur and Emma Fecher adding 14 apiece and freshman Regan Wilson chipping in 12.

Fruitport’s service game has also been a real highlight in the three postseason matches.

The Trojans served 15 aces on Tuesday, including eight in the marathon first set, which clearly helped them pull out the very long win.

Wilson served four aces, including three in a row, at a very crucial time in the set, with Ionia leading 14-13. By the time she was done serving in that rotation, Fruitport had an 18-15 lead.

Junior Izzy Hanson-Wilbur served three straight aces a while later, to erase a 22-21 Ionia lead and gave the Trojans a 24-22 edge.

Hanson-Wilbur led the team with seven aces on the night while Wilson totaled five.

“We served like banshees tonight,” Bayle said. “Regan Wilson served awesome as a freshman in the regional semifinals, and Izzy Hanson-Wilbur was exactly the same.”

The first set was kind of a reflection of Fruitport’s season – it started out strong then hit a few bumps, but the determined Trojans triumphed in the end.

They came out hot, building a 6-0 lead, but Ionia fought back, and the score was tied 11 different times, with the final deadlock coming at 28-28.

Sophomore Rowynn Miller hit a soft shot for a point to make the score 29-28, then Ionia hit a shot out of bounds, giving the Trojans the 30-28 win.

Fruitport trailed 2-1 in the second set, then grabbed a 3-2 lead and led the rest of the way. The third set was almost a complete rerun, with the Trojans trailing 2-1 then pulling ahead and pulling away.

“It’s just all about our kids building their confidence,” Bayle said. “Just trusting and believing in the process, and knowing that if we do things for each other, we will do well as a team.”

Hanson-Wilbur led the offense with 10 kills. Miller added seven, Emma Danicek had six and Fecher had five. Alexa Sweet totaled 14 assists while Fecher finished with 13.