Plainwell didn’t make things easy for the Vicksburg varsity volleyball team. The Bulldogs managed to scrap out a win in four sets that were much closer than they looked on paper.
“Our goal is always to control the flow of the match because volleyball is such a momentum game,” Head Coach Jennifer Buikema said. “I feel like we did that in three out of the four sets, which helped us out.”
Vicksburg had control of most of set one, maintaining a three-to-four-point advantage for most of it. However, the Trojans came back in the middle of the set, cutting the score difference to one. The Bulldogs regained momentum on a big kill by Addison Naplin. She led the team with 22 kills for the night. Naplin was also responsible for 14 digs. Vicksburg took set one 25-22.
Set two was the wildest of the night as the two teams traded ties and the lead back and forth seemingly every serve. Every time the Bulldogs started getting momentum, it felt like Trojans had an answer. Buikema said she had to slow things down and make the team re-focus to regain control.
The set eventually ended up tied 25-25, but neither team could pull two points ahead of the other. Vicksburg eventually pulled off the win 30-28 after both teams had game point multiple times. Plainwell handily won set three 25-18, which forced the Bulldogs to reevaluate and come up with a new game plan for set four.
“We really focus on our first contact, making sure that our first pass is something that we can run a good offense out of, so we kind of went back to that,” Buikema said.
Vicksburg played much better defense in the fourth set. Jenna Schramer led the team with 20 digs on the night. Livia Kline was also often in the center of things, coming up with 14 key digs in the contest. She also accounted for four aces while serving.
Set four was another close back-and-forth affair until MaKenzie Rooney came in to serve and helped the Bulldogs pull ahead by four. She led the team with19 assists on the night. Brynn Swetz also had a strong evening serving, leading the team with six aces and knocking down seven kills. Vicksburg took the final point of the night on an overserved ball by Plainwell.
The team is currently 13-8 through the early part of their schedule. The girls still have some tough Conference matchups on their schedule. Buikema credited Plainwell for playing a tough match. She expects Otsego and Edwardsburg to be tough Wolverine Conference foes. Buikema said the team is still young, even with six seniors. Some of this year is going to be a trial by fire for the underclassmen. She is hoping the younger players step up with more confidence and aggressiveness as the season progresses. Buikema thanked her seniors for being an influence on the younger players.
“Our senior leadership is impeccable, I’m lucky to have six seniors who are giving of their time to the program but also willing to mentor the younger players and just pass on this legacy that we’ve built over the last four years since I’ve been here, of really competitive volleyball,” Buikema said. “But also, the sense of family. I’m proud to coach them, it’s going to be a tough year seeing them leave, because they’ve put so much time in, but I just appreciate their leadership.”
