MUSKEGON — The bumps in the road are still coming for Reeths-Puffer, but the Rockets’ improvement from last fall is still plain to see. Wednesday was just the latest example, as R-P went 2-1 at a home quad meet and left it feeling like the third match got away.
The Rockets opened the night with a tough defeat to Fruitport, which went on to go 3-0 at the quad. R-P held a big lead in game one before the Trojans rallied to win it 27-25 on the way to a two-game sweep.
“I wish I could pinpoint what it was, whether it was X rotation...but I don’t know what it was,” R-P coach Justin Birr said. “Fruitport is a good team and they just went 3-0 tonight, and that says something, but we were up 18-9 or 18-10 in that first set. You’ve got to finish when you only have to score seven to their 15.”
Despite that setback - and despite letting another lead get away in game one against Ludington in their second match - the Rockets (4-3) persevered. R-P rallied to beat the Orioles, 22-25, 25-23, 15-10, and then cruised past Ravenna, 25-7, 25-11.
In game two against Ludington, the O’s were on the verge of a sweep until R-P scored four straight points, including two aces by Grace Darke, to steal the game en route to a win. Makayla Disselkoen then capped the outburst with a game-clinching kill.
It was only the latest sign that while the Rockets aren’t yet physically the team they want to be, they are well ahead of a year ago mentally. R-P went 0-2 at this same event last year when it was a tri against Fruitport and Ravenna.
“These girls can overcome that frustration,” Birr said. “They don’t feel defeated like last season. We feel like we can figure that out and work at our level, stay at our level longer, if that makes sense.”
It helps to have a more dynamic attack offensively, and the Rockets are enjoying that. Middle hitters Disselkoen and Mairyn Peterson led the team with 14 and 10 kills respectively, and having them as options takes pressure off outside hitters Mady Snyder and Alissa Klopp.
“Our first thought when we get a good pass is, let’s run the middle,” Birr said. “It’s more efficient. We probably kill the ball 50-60 percent of the time on a good pass to the middle, while on the outside, we’ll kill the ball 40 percent of the time on a really good pass. It’s nice to have options.”
Setters Madilynn Dyer and Darke had some success running the two-setter offense, with Dyer posting 24 assists and Darke adding 19. The duo were also strong on defense; Dyer had 17 digs and Darke 11.
The Rockets will have some time off competing before their next meet, the Fruitport Invitational Sept. 7. That will give them some much-needed time to continue to improve. After that, it’s the grueling O-K Green Conference slate, which will give Birr an idea of how successful his scheduling move to play mostly smaller schools - and give his team some confidence - worked.
Early returns, certainly in the mental game that’s so important for any athlete, are positive.
“I think there’s a different Intensity about it, a ‘win every point’ mentality, instead of trying to hang on or scrape by,” Birr said. “I think a lot of times last year, we kind of broke even when we were serving, and when it came to serve receive we’d lose a few in a row. If you play a negative game like that, it’s really hard to win. I think our all-around game, our serving game has gotten stronger so that’s helped us in other areas.”
