By Brendan Samuels
LocalSportsJournal.com

SHELBY – Yet another milestone has been eclipsed by Shelby junior Navea Gauthier on the volleyball court.

This time, Gauthier passed 2,000 career kills in a 3-0 win over Hesperia on Tuesday.

The night didn’t roll as smoothly as Shelby would’ve liked with Hesperia attacking the Tigers early in all three sets, forcing the Tigers to play from behind. Behind 6-0 in the first set, Shelby struggled to gain traction serving.

“We practice that every day, but we missed six serves in the first half (of the first set). Everyone wanted to be perfect tonight to get Navea to her milestone,” Shelby coach Tom Weirich said. “We definitely have to be better earlier. That kind of play won’t get through everybody.”

Navea Gauthier

Shelby recovered quickly, evening things up at 7-7 before pulling ahead and never looking back. The Tigers would finish the first set with a 25-17 lead.

Hesperia’s defense, led by contributors like Kaley Cousineau, Kayla Rumsey, Mia Milner, Abbi Joppich and Alana Nadjokvic, gave Shelby fits. Weirich attributes that to the leadership they have in Coach Alyx Beachum.

“I know Alyx Beachum really well and she’s a friend of the family before she’s a coach I’m facing. I grabbed her right at the end of the game and had to ask where in the world she gets her defense from,” Weirich said. “They’re not super tall, but they’re relentless. It’s not always clean, but there’s always a touch to get the ball up. They did all of that last year.”

In the second set, Shelby rolled to a 25-9 victory without much push back from the Panthers. The third set saw another heated battle, but the Tigers again prevailed 25-18.

That final set provided a moment for the crowd to recognize Gauthier as she surpassed the 2,000 mark for career kills. That mark puts her in the top 30 all-time in the state of Michigan, something she’s expected to continue improving on with close to 2 years of playing time remaining.

“Watch (Navea) play for five minutes and you know exactly what she means to this program,” Weirich said. “She does everything and she’s a Swiss army knife right now. This year, she’s really focused on the defensive side. Teams take a little break when she goes into the back row, but then she just throws lawn darts at them. She’s a once in a lifetime for our program.”

Overall, Shelby received plenty of quality contributions in the win. Gauthier led the way with 23 kills and eight digs. Helping out was Biloxi Lee with three kills, Audrey Horton with four aces and one assist, Molli Schultz with four aces and Hannah Frees with 15 digs.

With the win over Hesperia, Shelby waltzed to an 8-5 overall record and a 2-0 start to WMC Rivers play. The Tigers will play in the Cadillac Invitational on Saturday.

The Panthers (1-6) are now 0-3 in conference action. Hesperia will take on Fruitport Calvary Christian next Tuesday.