Reeths-Puffer had a very good day at Saturday's West Ottawa Invitational, going 3-1 - a big improvement from its 1-2 mark at the same meet a year ago.
The Rockets split their two initial pool play matches, including a dramatic win over Traverse City West, 22-25, 25-22, 15-13. Coach Justin Birr noted that last year, the Titans easily defeated his Rockets at last year's meet.
"What an impressive and gritty win from our girls," Birr said. "Due to personal
commitments, we were missing one of our defensive specialists all day,
and another DS had to leave after the first match. Even with that
adversity, our team stepped up and competed."
R-P lost to Hamilton in its second match of the day, 25-12, 25-18. Everyone in the pool went 1-1, but the Rockets (11-10) lost a tiebreaker on point differential, so were sent to the bronze pool for their final two matches.
There, R-P easily romped past Benton Harbor, 25-4, 25-4, and edged Hopkins in a tight match, 25-18, 18-25, 18-16.
"I am very proud of how we handled ourselves under pressure today," Birr said. "We
were in some very tight sets against TC West and Hopkins, and we found a
way to come out on top both times."
Kate Tindall was a major factor on offense and defense, setting up 58 assists and leading the team with 26 digs. Lexie Danz had 24 digs, and Carlee Bowen added 23.
On offense, Danz had a team-high 19 kills. Mairyn Peterson was great at the net, with nine blocks, and also served eight aces. Wren Tryska led the team with 11 aces.
"Wren stepped into the right back DS role today, and I was very impressed with how well she did," Birr said.
