WHITEHALL — Whitehall got its season off to a strong start Wednesday at a five-team home invitational, posting a 3-1 record.
The Vikings earned all three of their wins in two straight games apiece. They dispatched Reed City (25-14, 25-22) and Reeths-Puffer (25-21, 25-18), fending off a late charge by the Rockets in game one of the latter match. Whitehall also scored a win over Newaygo (25-21, 25-20). Kenowa Hills beat Whitehall, also in two games, by a 25-19, 25-11 score.
The Viking seniors led the offensive attack, with Bella Fogus scoring 21 kills and Sidney Shepherd adding 16. Fogus also paced Whitehall’s serving efforts, posting nine aces. Aaliyah Jamison chipped in seven. Jamison was the day’s top defender, racking up 39 digs, with Fogus adding 21. Shepherd had 33 assists and Lou Mulder added 23 as Whitehall tried out its new two-setter formation.
Reeths-Puffer split its four matches, earning two-game wins in the first two before losing the final two. The Rockets beat Reed City (25-18, 25-19) and Newaygo (25-20, 25-21), and lost to Kenowa Hills in a three-game battle (22-25, 25-20, 25-12) before closing with the defeat to Whitehall.
“Our girls came out firing in the first two and a half matches of the day,” R-P coach Justin Birr said. “I feel that we clicked well as a team, which means our hitters were strong because our defense and passing were strong behind our hitters.”
Birr added that he saw impressive fight from his team, which battled back from big early deficits in both games against Newaygo and did so again in game one against Whitehall, albeit falling short.
“We have a lot of competitive girls on our team that are hungry for more positive outcomes,” Birr said. “We will definitely go into practice tomorrow with the mentality that if we play those same four teams a month from now, we go 4-0.”
Alissa Klopp led a balanced offensive attack for R-P with 20 kills; Makayla Disselkoen had 17. Grace Darke passed out 56 assists. On defense, Darke posted 22 digs. Mady Snyder served 13 aces and added 18 digs.
