The Ionia Varsity Volleyball team had a stellar day in their home gym today going undefeated and keeping the Ionia Tournament Champion Plaque in their own trophy case! The Bulldogs got out to a strong start beating Carson City Crystal in the first match of pool play 25-8 & 25-4. After a 2 match break they faced Thornapple Kellogg and got off to a bit of a slow start before winning the first set 26-24. After shaking it off they stepped up to win the second set 25-10. The Bulldogs kept that momentum and finished pool play strong with a 25-9, 25-11 win against Lansing Everett. As number one seed in their pool, Ionia matched up against Lansing Eastern in the first round of playoffs. The Bulldogs had another strong match winning 25-8 & 25-18 to move onto semi-finals. There they faced off again with Carson City Crystal who they beat 25-15 & 25-8 to move onto the finals. The Championship match up against a strong Calvin Christian was a thrilling first set. Calvin got off to a quick start while Ionia struggled to find their rhythm early on. However, behind a strong service run by Emma Scoby & support from a synched up offense and defense, the Bulldogs were able to make up ground & battle out of the back and forth set with 29-27 win. Ionia came out in the second set fired up and with a determined mindset to close out the match and earn the title of Champions with a 25-19 finish. 

Offense had a season high day at the tournament with a combined total of 161 kills! Danika Fyan led the efforts with 49 kills, while Tess Griffith put down 36, Jessa Swinehart 24 & Brynn Reams 22. Kassidy Casillas kept the offense running smoothly with 129 assists. She also led the offensive efforts behind the service line with 11 aces, while Swinehart served up 7 & Londyn Brown 6. Defense did a fantastic job of setting the team up for success with their efforts to keep the ball in play. Paige Castillo led the backline with 32 digs, while Brown kept 17 in play and Drew Wachowksi 13. At the net Griffith led with 8 blocks while Fyan had 5. Great effort and fantastic job today Bulldogs! The Ionia Varsity Volleyball team moves to 29-5-1 overall and 6-1 in CAAC. Next the Bulldogs travel to Portland on Tuesday for a conference match up at 6pm.