John Raffel
Sports Scene
Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart’s volleyball program had an impressive season. It ended to defending state champion Leland in the Class D state quarterfinals.
The Irish had a 34-15-5 record.
“Overall it was a good season,” Sacred Heart coach Krista Davis said.
The Irish also took Mid-State Athletic Conference district and regional titles.
“We were pretty happy with that,” Davis said.
A 3-2 win over McBain Northern Michigan Christian in the district finals was a highlight.
“Our two opponents (Holland Calvary and Pentwater) in regionals were very formidable,” Davis said. “We beat Pentwater and that also went five sets. It was very hard-fought match.”
Whatever obstacles the Irish faced, they were able to overcome them.
Against Leeland, the Irish lost the first game, but bounced back in the second and third sets with scores of 25-19, 25-15 respectively. Leland lost the third set to Sacred Heart 26-24 but took the next one 25-11.
Junior Sophie Ruggles had a strong overall season for the Irish, especially on offense, and had 12 kills, four solo stuff blocks, three aces and nine digs against Leland.
“She’s so much stronger this year than she was last,” Davis said. “She’s quicker. She had 490 kills for the season. Her hitting percentage was up .297. She got kills when we needed her to have kills. She and our setter were a nice combination.”
Against Leland, Sacred Heart setter Jordan Fox had 17 assists and 869 for the season.
“She ran the offense very nicely,” Davis said. “She had so much growth in her court awareness.”
Grace Reetz had 20 digs and four kills for Sacred Heart against Leland, and did a lot of things for the Irish on the court.
“She’s very intense, determined and competitive and she’s a quiet leader,” Davis said. “Offensively, she was a nice complement on the front row to Ruggles.”
Also in the game for Sacred Heart against Leland, Alexis Jackson had one kill and a block. Erikah Cudjoe had eight digs and a kills, McKenna Younger 11 digs, Maggie Yonker seven digs and Bryanna Ganong one kill.