VBall Tourney: Panthers Win First District, Tiger Streak Stops At 7

Panthers celebrate historic moment

Hesperia 3 White Cloud 1
The Panthers defeated the Indians in the finals Thursday night and  delivered on a goal they set for themselves before the season began. The school’s first ever district crown in volleyball.  
Game 1 went to White Cloud 25-21, as Hesperia worked through some nerves and crowd noise.  The Panthers came back strong in game 2 and 3 winning 25-15 and 25-22. Game 4, started off shaky for the Panthers, however they fought hard coming back to win the set and the match 25-23.
 It was a hard fought battle in front of a large crowd from both schools.  Alyssa Miller led the offense with 16 kills. Emily Bayle, Rachel Romero, and Ally Bayle added 12, 11, and 8 kills respectively.  Isabelle Rumsey led from the service line with 4 aces, Ally and Emily Bayle each had 2 aces. Emily Bayle led the team defensively with 15 digs and Miller added 11 digs.  Rumsey had 2 blocks on the night and E. Bayle added a single block. Kyra Sayer and Aria Thomas had 22 and 18 assists respectively.
The Panthers (36-16-2) move on to the regional semi-finals on Tuesday, November 6th at 5:30, in Kent City, against GR Northpointe Christian.

Coopersville 3 Grant 0
The state ranked Broncos ended a 7 year run of district titles for the Tigers.
Coach Kristen Keelean:
We had a very successful season that unfortunately ended too early for us. Our strength rested in a large group of seniors who led this team all year through adversity and triumph. I am so proud of their efforts and so thankful to have coached them. They will leave a lasting legacy with this program. We were looking for a win that would have made this Grant’s 8th district title in a row. The defeat last night came at the hands of the Broncos who are ranked 5th in the state in Division 2. Coopersville made very few errors and they were able to get us out of system and take away some of our offensive power that we rely on in matches. The pride that I felt watching our team fight until the very last point speaks volumes about the athletes in this program. No one gave up, no one backed down, everyone fought for the final point. It is always hard to walk away at the end with a loss, and sometimes hard to remember that the season itself is more than that last match. These girls can stand proud on their accomplishments and on their season as a whole.”

​