Mona Shores HS volleyball team enjoying successful season
NORTON SHORES, Mich. — Two years removed from the inaugural OK Green title, the Mona Shores varsity volleyball team is enjoying a tremendous 2022 season. The Sailors’ season started with a tournament championship at Traverse City West on the opening weekend on August 20th by beating Traverse City Central, Traverse City West, Traverse City St. Francis, and Byron Center.
A week later, the ladies won their third-consecutive “Battle on the Boardwalk” championship in Grand Haven’s outdoor tournament at the Lynne Sherwood Waterfront Stadium in downtown Grand Haven. This annual event pits Mona Shores against local rivals from Grand Haven, Fruitport, and Spring Lake. For the first time since 2016, the ladies won the Greater Muskegon Athletic Association championship by besting Oakridge and Fruitport in the opening rounds and outlasting Montague in four sets in the championship match.
After a third-place finish in regular-season play in the OK Green, the Sailors have played their way into the tournament championship match at Zeeland East on Tuesday, October 25th. The Sailors will host the MHSAA district tournament the week of Halloween and will take on cross-town rival Reeths-Puffer on November 2nd at 5:00 pm as they look for their first district championship in over twenty years.
Team leaders this season are senior middle-hitter Ava Dunn, junior setter Kyann Hellmann, and sophomore defensive specialist Izzy Sturtevant, but it’s not just success on the court that makes this program exemplary. For over the past twenty years, the volleyball teams from Mona Shores High School have been named Academic All-State by the Michigan Interscholastic Volleyball Coaches Association. This year, all four seniors were named academic all-state by MIVCA as individuals: Ava Dunn, Lauren Morea, Chloe Rose, and Ali Trautner.
Fourth-year head coach Kathy Hellmann also keeps an eye on the future as she leads the varsity program. The middle school teams are in their second year of sponsoring two teams at both the 7th and 8th-grade levels. Previously, each grade had only one team, meaning that over a dozen girls at each grade level were not given the opportunity to play. Furthermore, the varsity program runs a 5th and 6th-grade league in the fall at Mona Shores High School for three Sundays. This year’s league had 45 girls and boys getting an early start to the sport of volleyball.
Contact Coach Hellmann directly at [email protected] if you would like to know how to get your youngster involved in volleyball.
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