Talk about distractions.
Last Thursday, before playing in a four-team match at Mona Shores, the Reeths-Puffer volleyball team lost head coach Justin Birr for the night, after his young son had a medical emergency at school and required treatment.
Assistant coach Riley Hughes led the Rockets on Thursday, and the entire team was happy to learn that Birr’s son was resting and recovering after suffering a broke clavicle.
The Rockets were back in action at Saturday’s Fruitport Invitational, with Birr on the sidelines, as least for part of the day. But Hughes was getting married on Saturday, so she was missing, and Birr left midway through the tournament to attend the wedding.
Mairyn Peterson
Junior varsity coach Emily Leestma led the team for the rest of the tournament.
The whirlwind changes in leadership did not phase the young Rockets, however. They continued to be impressive by posting a 3-2 record at Fruitport and taking first place in the Silver Bracket.
The Rockets started the day with a loss to Mona Shores 12-25, 19-25, beat Montague 28-26, 25-21 and lost to North Muskegon 13-25, 22-25.
That put R-P in Silver Division bracket play, where they came out on top with a 24-14, 25-9 win over Whitehall and an exciting, come-from-behind 18-25, 25-17, 18-16 victory over Coopersville.
Lexie Danz
Mairyn Peterson led R-P with 27 kills and served five aces. Lexie Danz had 24 kills.
Kate Tindall piled up 87 assists.
Defensively, Peterson had six blocks and Tindall added four. Carlee Bowen had 42 digs, Tindall added 27 and Danz totaled 19.
The young Rockets, who only returned three starters this year and depend a lot on first-year varsity players, continue to impress with an 8-8 record.
Kate Tindall
“Three different acting head coaches in three days, and our girls still owned it,” Coach Birr said. “They embraced the adversity, and they are now better for it.
“I thought we battled hard all day, and all 11 of our girls contributed in meaningful ways. We do not have a ‘superstar’ on this team, and sometimes that may hurt us offensively. With that said, this is the most complete team I have coached in several years. It is visible during our practices, which helps us win close games.
“We came back to beat Montague 28-26 in pool play. We came back from being down 14-13 in the third set against Coopersville to come out on top 18-16. We are winning more 50-50 balls this year - those points that can go either way are going our way more often.”