Whitehall got in the victory column for the first time in 2025 at Saturday's home invitational, posting a 2-2 record. Reeths-Puffer went 3-1, topping the Vikings in an area showdown.
The Vikings defeated Shelby (25-21, 21-25, 15-8) and West Michigan Aviation (24-26, 25-23, 15-6) in tight three-game matches to shake the monkey off their back and give coach Claire McGrew her first wins as varsity coach. Whitehall lost another three-game match to Reeths-Puffer (23-25, 25-10, 15-8) and fell to Newaygo (25-8, 25-13).
The Vikings showed improvement offensively, hitting for a .106 average as a team over four matches. Delaney Kramer led the way with 17 kills, Clare Westerlund had 15 and Kaylin Skuse added 11 on a .346 hitting percentage. Westerlund also had eight blocks at the net.
Kramer posted nine aces without a service error, and Lou Mulder had 27 assists and 18 digs.
The Rockets enjoyed a good overall day, thumping West Michigan Aviation 25-8, 25-4 before defeating the Vikings. A 25-18, 25-23 loss to Newaygo "stung a little," said R-P coach Justin Birr, but the team did bounce back with a 25-23, 25-22 win over Kent City. Their season record improved to 15-11.
Kate Tindall continued her strong season at the setter position with 71 assists. Mairyn Peterson posted 21 kills to lead the Rocket attackers, and Lexi Danz added 20.
On defense, Carlee Bowen had 28 digs and tied with Abby Machinski and Nola Hower for the team lead in aces, with eight.
"I am so proud of
how our girls play when it comes down to the wire," Birr said. "Where other teams
start to tense up, we continue to play aggressive and we continue to
have fun. We dug ourselves into some holes today, and for the most part,
we were able to come back and win."
Birr added that senior leadership has been strong on the team, shouting out Peterson, Machinski and Bowen specifically.
"We have some up and coming young stars for
sure, but these seniors are helping to push the entire team to the next
level," Birr said.
