The Varsity Volleyball team traveled to Owosso High School for their season opening tournament. The Bulldogs started the morning with a 3-0 win in pool play against Dansville before dropping 3 close sets to St. Johns, including a 25-27 final set. Out of the 10 teams in 3 different pools the Bulldogs seeded 6th into bracket play. In the first round Ionia faced cross-town rival Portland. The Bulldogs got out to a strong start and took control of the match in the 2nd set beating the 3rd seed Raiders in 2. Next they faced 2nd seed Pinckney. Again the Bulldogs controlled the game from start to finish downing the Pirates in 2 sets. In the Championship game Ionia faced off against #1 seeded St. Johns. After a back and forth battle the Bulldogs dropped the 1st set before finding their momentum and winning the 2nd set. A slow start in the 3rd set had the Bulldogs behind early before they tied it up midway through the set. Unfortunately they were unable to close it out eventually finishing 2nd with a 10-15 loss in the third set. 

The Bulldogs had a strong showing on offense today with big swings and smart plays. They were led offensively today by Amaya Frias with 26 kills while Logan Thomas contributed 24 and Ireland Brown 22. Grace Droste paced the offense with 83 assists. Ionia served tough today and was led by Grace Droste with 10 aces while Paisley Patterson and Shaylee Bussell each added 8. Defense kept the Bulldogs alive throughout the day with great effort and stellar play. Those standout defensive efforts were led by Alexias Daugherty with 34 digs Logan Thomas added 33, Grace Droste 31, and Paisley Patterson 28. Defensively at the net with some key blocks Ionia was led by Droste and Josie Lee with 3 blocks each while Brown Frias added 2 each. 

The Bulldogs open their volleyball season with a 3-2 record. Next Ionia Varsity travels to Thornapple Kellogg on Tuesday for a quad. Great work ladies!!