Local Sports Journal

The Grand Haven volleyball team is living up to its lofty ranking so far in the state tournament.

The Bucs defeated Fruitport 3-0 Wednesday in Class A district semifinal action at Kenowa Hills High School.

Grand Haven advances to Thursday’s district championship match against Mona Shores, which defeated Kenowa Hills in the other semifinal.

Grand Haven, which is ranked third in the state, beat Fruitport by scores of 25-12, 25-15, 25-20.

“I thought the entire match we served really well,” said Grand Haven Coach Aaron Smaka, whose team improved to 48-8. “It gave us a chance to run our offense. We had five girls with at least five kills tonight.”

Autumn Monsma led Grand Haven with 12 kills and seven digs. Emily Lachmann added seven kills, seven aces and 10 digs; Ally Knoll had six kills and five blocks and Amy Kober chipped in five kills and six digs.

Katie Cole helped drive the Grand Haven attack with 35 assists, seven digs and three aces.

Mona Shores 3, Kenowa Hills 1 – The Sailors had to fight to advance to the Class A district finals, winning the first game by only two points and losing the fourth before sealing the win in the fifth game. The scores were 28-26, 25-15, 19-25, 25-17. Courtney Brewer led the Sailors with 27 kills, 12 digs and three blocks while Kelsey Wolffis added 14 kills. Jordyn Vilneff added 45 assists and Kennedy Potts had 24 digs.