Mona Shores claims runner-up spot in Best of the West volleyball tournament

LocalSportsJournal.com

NORTON SHORES – The Mona Shores volleyball team fell short in their annual Best of the West tournament on Saturday.

The Sailors were 5-1 on the day and finished runner-up behind Grand Rapids West Catholic.

The victories were earned against Reeths-Puffer (25-14, 25-10), Forest Hills Eastern (25-16, 25-23), Grand Rapids Catholic Central (25-22, 25-22), Portage Central (25-13, 25-12) and Western Michigan Christian (25-15, 25-17).

The Sailors fell to Grand Rapids West Catholic in a heartbreaking championship match, 21-25, 24-26.

For Mona Shores, Grace Allen had 41 digs, 39 kills and five blocks while Kyann Hellmann chipped in 119 assists, 43 digs, four aces and three blocks. Jersey VanderWall had 32 kills, seven blocks and four aces.

Izzy Sturtevant added 66 digs, 10 assists and six aces. Skyler MacLachlan had 20 kills and 10 blocks.

Western Michigan Christian went 1-5 with a tight win over Reeths-Puffer (30-28, 27-25). The losses came against Portage Central (25-21, 19-25, 16-18), Grand Rapids West Catholic (14-25, 13-25), Grand Rapids Catholic Central (10-25, 16-25), Forest Hills Eastern (15-25, 17-25) and Mona Shores.

Hannah Heiss led the Warriors with 30 kills, five aces and four blocks, while Abby Leffring had 27 kills, 15 blocks and three aces. Ashley Folkema contributed 23 kills, 16 blocks and five aces. Nora Anderson had 10 kills and Bri Warners threw in 93 assists and seven kills.

Reeths-Puffer was winless and finished 0-6.

The Rockets fell to Grand Rapids Catholic Central (17-25, 12-25), Forest Hills Eastern (18-25, 14-25), Grand Rapids West Catholic (10-25, 4-25), Portage Central (9-25, 17-25), Mona Shores and WMC.

Mady Snyder had 17 kills, 11 digs, three aces and two blocks, while Maddi Dyer had 56 assists, 18 digs, six aces and four kills. Megan Barmes made 27 digs and scored four aces. Grace Darke had 17 digs and three aces.

Mona Shores (27-5, 6-1) will open the OK Conference-Green tournament at home against Muskegon on Tuesday.

Western Michigan Christian will play host to Grand River Prep on Tuesday.

Reeths-Puffer (6-23-1, 4-3) will be at home on Tuesday against Wyoming for the first round of the OK Conference-Green tournament.