Eyes On The Prize: Amber Pleiness
2018 saw a new team emerge to challenge the top teams in the area. Harbor Beach, since the turn of the decade, had been a second-tier Greater Thumb East team. They would struggle to sport a season record with less than 15 losses. From the beginning of the ’18 season, the Beach threw all that out. This, in large part, due to the contributions of Amber Pleiness.
Photo by Paul AdamsPleiness had a breakout season in 2018. She was a do-it-all athlete that showed to have a high ceiling for success. Now a three-year varsity letter earner, Pleiness was steady in her debut her sophomore year but fell under the radar of many opponents. Fast forward to senior year, Amber is well-known and hard to stop. She doubled her numbers in the blocking and serving department while improving her passing and attack, improving her efficiency by over a .100. Not only has Pleiness’ game exploded but so has her teammates. After a successful season, 2018 still left Pleiness and company unsatisfied.
“Falling short was heartbreaking. It sucks to be so close, but not actually having it. We knew that if we wanted to win this year we were going to have to put in work” Pleiness reflected on the season that saw them miss out on a conference and district championship from two teams that made the MHSAA Quarterfinals, Brown City and Unionville-Sebewaing.
With their eye cocked to the 2019 season, there was a fire in their eye. “Falling just short of both the district and conference title did stick with us. Some things that we are doing differently this year is that we have been more dynamic. We are working on being more unified as a team and we use these abilities to lead us to wins.” Pleiness stated this becoming their biggest strength and when unified, the Pirates are unstoppable.
Photo by Paul AdamsWhile the crew around her has stepped up in more ways than one, Amber hasn’t skipped a beat and is still improving.
Coach Stephanie Weiss raved on her returning All-State player. “Amber has grown into a more driven player and uses that to be a great leader on the court this year. She has worked on being more aggressive with her serving specifically. That was one of our goals – to use her jump serve more efficiently and effectively. She’s been succeeding in that this season. She is also very good at finding ways to hit around blocks and get us points on offense. Then mix in her blocks and her back-row defense, she is just a great all-around player.”
Amber was very focused on her serving game in the off-season, stating how she found it hard to serve consistently, this became a priority. Not that her serve was bad at all last season, she was one of the best servers in the area, posting 82 aces on the season and just under a 90% rate. To opposing teams’ dismay, she has found her serve and the confidence behind it. A wicked hybrid jump serve, Pleiness boasts one of the toughest serves in the area. She currently leads all players in the thumb for most aces this season with 69 and counting!
Photo by Paul AdamsAll of this hard work is coming into fruition. The ladies currently sit pretty at number 11 on the Prep Dig Michigan D3 Rankings (Week 7) with a 17-4-4 record. The Beach is also in the driver’s seat of the Greater Thumb East. After wins against Brown City and Ubly this past week, Pleiness and company need one more win for at least a tie. Looking at the fact Harbor Beach has dominated the season series – only dropping a single set. It’s safe to say they’ve secured their first conference championship since 1979.
While this season is cruising to be a historic one for Harbor Beach, Amber Pleiness is capping off one of the best careers in the volleyball program’s history. From start to finish, Amber’s presence has been felt. During her time, she’s accumulated a record of 73-29-12 so far.
Amber has also racked up quite the impressive stat sheet. With a month left in her career, she is closing in on 800 career kills. As well, once all is said and done, Pleiness will have most likely have eclipsed 250 aces, 200 blocks, and 1000 digs within her three years in the program.
With the conference title in the hands of the Pirates, Harbor Beach will soon begin to look towards their first district title in over a decade to continue this historic run.