The gym was packed and the crowd was electric for the last home game in which the seniors were honored for all their hard work and leadership! It was an all out team effort as the Ionia Bulldogs Varsity Volleyball team took on Lansing Catholic to tie for the lead in the CAAC White! The Lady Dawgs got off to a hot start and fed off the energy from a fantastic student and fan section to blaze out to a 25-18 first set win. However, Lansing Catholic was able to rally off some strong service runs to win the second set 14-25. After the set break the Bulldogs stepped back onto the court with a determined mindset. The third set was even throughout until several strong defensive plays capped by great offensive swings powered Ionia through to a 25-23 set win. At the start of the fourth set Ionia was able to take a lead behind a strong service run from Paige Castillo supported by a strong defensive effort. The Bulldogs continued to execute on offense and defense to take a solid lead before finally closing out the set and the match win with a 25-18 finish!

The Bulldogs had a great defensive night to keep the rallies extended and give Ionia opportunities to score. Paige Castillo led the defensive efforts in the back court with 26 digs, followed by GraceMarie Martinez with 11. At the net Danika Fyan and Tess Griffith each had 3 blocks. Offense had a strong night as well with multiple Bulldogs putting away key points for the team. The offensive attack was led by Fyan and Griffith with 7 kills each. Kassidy Casillas kept the offense running smoothly with 23 assists on the night. Offensive leaders from behind the service line were Casillas and Fyan with 4 aces apiece. Coach Wenzel was incredibly proud of the determination, hard work and all out effort the entire team put into the win tonight! Thank you to everyone that came out to support the Lady Dawgs Volleyball tonight!!

The Ionia Varsity Volleyball team moves to 33-5-1 overall and 8-1 in the CAAC. Next up the Bulldogs travel to Lansing Sexton on Thursday at 6pm to play for a share of the CAAC White Conference Title!