Local roundup: Lakers volleyball beats Fruitport in thriller
Oct. 20—Spring Lake volleyball had dropped a pair of matches to Fruitport already this fall, which gave the Trojans home-court advantage in Tuesday night's OK Blue conference tournament match.
An intimidating atmosphere inside The Barn didn't faze the Lakers this time around, as they took home a five-set match that featured just about as much volleyball as you can play.
Spring Lake came up with the goods in the deciding fifth set, taking home the match by a 25-21, 29-31, 25-23, 28-30, 15-13.
"Our team has been working on rising to the occasion of the match," Spring Lake coach Cassidy Hazekamp said. "Every match we play brings different adversity, and we have struggled to adapt sometimes. Yesterday, the pieces finally came together, and our girls rose to the opportunity."
The Lakers were led by sophomores Kalli Lewkowski and Ella Andree with 23 and 16 kills, respectively. Kendra Kieft had 32 digs, Meah Bajt added 17, and Brooke Bolthouse and Kyla Kobylak each had 14. Kyla Koylak had 54 assists on the night for the Lakers. Lewkowski added four aces from the end line.
"It was a battle all match long, a battle for every single point," Hazekamp said. "Fruitport played tough and fought hard to keep us out of system. I am proud of the way our Lakers played hard all match, made small adjustments for big outcomes, and never gave up."
The Lakers will head to Hamilton next Tuesday as the conference tournament progresses.
WMC finishes tied atop Lakes Eight XC standings
In their conference championships on Tuesday in Scottville, the Warriors' girls team finished just behind Ludington, which meant a split title between the schools.
Abby VanderKooi completed her high-school career with a victory — she won every conference race she competed in, taking home Tuesday's race in 19 minutes, 14 seconds. Brianna Zuidema was fourth in 21:55 and Ava Rotman was fifth in 22:13 — all three earned first-team all-conference honors.
The boys team finished third — junior Jonathan Clausing was fifth in 19:12 to earn first-team honors. Both teams will compete at regionals next weekend, on Oct. 30 in Allendale. All three of the other local schools will race there on the same day.
Not seeing your team's scores? Encourage coaches to send results to the Tribune sports desk by emailing kturk@grandhaventribune.com.
