Despite all the injuries and setbacks, the Reeths-Puffer volleyball team is still battling and getting some wins, particularly when it competes outside of the brutally difficult O-K Green conference.
The Rockets demonstrated that they still have a lot of life in them on Monday with a 3-1 comeback victory over Grand River Prep.
R-P rallied to get the win after falling 21-25 in the first set. The Rockets won the last three by scores of 25-10, 25-8, 25-16.
Chloe Brainard
They hurt themselves in the first set by making 18 errors on Grand River Prep’s 25 points, but then settled down and took care of business.
“Overall, this team continues to battle in the face of adversity,” said R-P Coach Justin Birr. “Two season-ending injuries, two recovering from injuries, and one player’s season ending due to illness, and we are still putting together competitive matches against quality non-conference opponents.
“I am proud of how this team continues to push forward and improve even when we have to mix things up yet again. Last year, these seniors were learning how to adapt to the speed of the varsity game, and with that we tried several different lineups. This year, we have vastly improved and competed at a much higher level, but we haven't been able to stick with a lineup due to all of the injuries we have suffered.
Hailey Johnsen
“That's not to say that these girls feel bad about themselves or make excuses. They continue to show up and compete no matter what changes are put into place.”
The Rockets lost their other match on Monday, 3-0 to Montague. The set scores were 21-25, 10-25, 21-25.
Alissa Klopp had 17 kills and Hailey Johnsen added eight for R-P. Maddy Dyer set up the offense with 49 assists and Chloe Brainard had a great serving night with 10 aces.
Defensively, Carlee Bowen and Brainard had 15 and eight digs, respectively, while Johnsen totaled four blocks.
The Rockets, now 11-22, will host Muskegon on Wednesday in their final conference match of the season.