HARRIS---Lexi Gussert is good. But in the spirit of Halloween, she is scary good.
The Crystal Falls Forest Park senior put on a show Thursday night in her regular season high school volleyball match, leading her Trojans to a 3-0 win over the Bark River-Harris Broncos. The scores were 25-3, 25-12, and 25-11.
Gussert led the way offensively with 13 kills, and Forest Park ended up a perfect 12-0 in the Skyline Conference. The Trojans finished with a 26-1-5 overall record.
"That was one of our goals to start the season," Forest Park Coach Kim Bjork said of the perfect Skyline season. "We have a lot of work to do yet. We're still not consistent on our passes all of the time. Just some things that we need to fine-tune and work to get better at."
"It's going to be a higher level of competition the further we get down the road," Birk continued. "If we keep working hard, we'll hopefully improve and be able to make a good showing in the tournament."
Gussert dominated in the first set as the Trojans took a 14-1 lead, and eventually won the set, 25-3.
The Trojans also raced to a big lead in the second set (12-2), before winning 25-12. And Forest Park was on cruise control in the third set, 25-11.
Bark River-Harris Coach John Jorasz says his girls did the best they could. But he also admitted that Gussert is a talented athlete that very few in the U.P. can contain.
"My game plan for slowing down Lexi was simple," Jorasz said, "just get a blocker up there for her. Whether it was effective or not as being able to block her, we just needed someone up there just to take some of the flow away from her. We had that, but we weren't consistent enough with that all night."
Basketball is Gussert's best sport, as she has signed to play at Michigan State University.
But as was witnessed by everyone in Harris Thursday night, she's pretty darn good at volleyball, too. Birk says that coaching Gussert in v0lleyball has been a treat.
"It's kind of a privilege," Birk said. "You don't see athletes like that come through your school very often. This is the first athlete of her caliber that I've seen come through Forest Park. It's just fun. She's so smart.
"She's got so much 'court-sense'," Birk continued. "She really works hard, and she pushes the girls to get better because she wants to win."
Gussert aside, Jorasz thought his BR-H girls also had trouble on the serve-receive.
"It was one area, that every once in a while, certain rotations, our side, their side, it just seems to plague us," Jorasz said. "It's plagued us all year."
Both teams wore pink uniforms in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Forest Park opens the MHSAA Class D District tournament next Wednesday, Nov. 6, in Ewen, against Watersmeet. Bark River-Harris, meanwhile, will be on the road at either Stephenson or North Dickinson...also on Wednesday the 6th.
Click the above headline to see photos and videos from the match, and to hear the full interviews with Coaches Birk and Jorasz.
The Crystal Falls Forest Park senior put on a show Thursday night in her regular season high school volleyball match, leading her Trojans to a 3-0 win over the Bark River-Harris Broncos. The scores were 25-3, 25-12, and 25-11.
"That was one of our goals to start the season," Forest Park Coach Kim Bjork said of the perfect Skyline season. "We have a lot of work to do yet. We're still not consistent on our passes all of the time. Just some things that we need to fine-tune and work to get better at."
"It's going to be a higher level of competition the further we get down the road," Birk continued. "If we keep working hard, we'll hopefully improve and be able to make a good showing in the tournament."
CFFP's Lexi Gussert with the powerful spike.
The Trojans also raced to a big lead in the second set (12-2), before winning 25-12. And Forest Park was on cruise control in the third set, 25-11.
Bark River-Harris Coach John Jorasz says his girls did the best they could. But he also admitted that Gussert is a talented athlete that very few in the U.P. can contain.
BR-H senior Sydney Victorson serves.
Basketball is Gussert's best sport, as she has signed to play at Michigan State University.
But as was witnessed by everyone in Harris Thursday night, she's pretty darn good at volleyball, too. Birk says that coaching Gussert in v0lleyball has been a treat.
"It's kind of a privilege," Birk said. "You don't see athletes like that come through your school very often. This is the first athlete of her caliber that I've seen come through Forest Park. It's just fun. She's so smart.
"She's got so much 'court-sense'," Birk continued. "She really works hard, and she pushes the girls to get better because she wants to win."
CFFP's Kendra Campbell with the service ace.
"It was one area, that every once in a while, certain rotations, our side, their side, it just seems to plague us," Jorasz said. "It's plagued us all year."
Both teams wore pink uniforms in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Forest Park opens the MHSAA Class D District tournament next Wednesday, Nov. 6, in Ewen, against Watersmeet. Bark River-Harris, meanwhile, will be on the road at either Stephenson or North Dickinson...also on Wednesday the 6th.
Click the above headline to see photos and videos from the match, and to hear the full interviews with Coaches Birk and Jorasz.
