The Reeths-Puffer volleyball team opened up the season on Wednesday by posting a 2-2 record at the Whitehall Invitational.
The Rockets defeated Reed City (25-18, 25-19) and Newaygo (25-20, 25-21) in their first two matches.
“Our girls came out firing in the first 2 1/2 matches of the day,” said R-P Coach Justin Birr. “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. We made a lot of smart decisions with the ball, and we had the mentality of winning each point instead of just playing through each point.
Grace Darke
“We were down 1-9 and 3-9 to Newaygo and clawed our way back to win both sets. That is something I did not see from these girls last year. We are more determined and more level-headed. We also served much tougher, which made it easier to score in other areas of our game.”
The Rockets had a more difficult time in the last two matches, falling to Kenowa Hills in a tough three-set affair (25-22, 20-25, 12-25), then losing to Whitehall 21-25, 16-25 .
“I felt that we lost some energy in the latter half of the match against Kenowa,” Birr said. “We got quiet and down on ourselves, and all parts of our game struggled. This carried over into our Whitehall match.
Alissa Klopp
“Overall, it was a valuable first tournament with a lot learned throughout the day. We saw what our potential was on the high and low end, and we have a lot of competitive girls on our team that are hungry for more positive outcomes.”
Alissa Klopp led Reeths-Puffer with 20 kills, Makayla Disselkoen added 17 and Mady Snyder had 13.
Snyder served 13 aces and Grace Darke had 56 assists.
Defensively, Darke had 22 digs and Snyder added 18. Klopp totaled three blocks.