Volleyball team in action against Sault Ste. Marie
A flurry of games hit the Hurons? volleyball schedule this week and next week looks just as busy. The week started with the three-team Presque Isle County tournament in Onaway, then moved to Big Rapids for a tournament Saturday and finished with a dual against Sault Ste. Marie on the home court Monday evening.
SOO CAME into town Monday and left with a win (25-27, 25-21, 26-28, 23-25) in the best-of-five match. The Hurons looked strong at times, but came out on the short end of the score. ?The key was consistency. We played very well at times, but we couldn?t get the flow going,? said coach Mary Fairbanks. The Hurons? win came in game two, in a game marked by runs from both teams. After leading 9-3 in the first game and then losing 27-25, the Hurons fell behind early in game two before rallying for the win. The Soo scored the first five points of the game before they missed a back-row spike attempt. Many rallies went back-and-forth between the evenly matched teams before points were awarded.
A Soo run ended at 13-7, when junior middle-hitter Jenny Fleming snuffed a kill attempt at the net with a block. The Blue Devils came back to lead 15-8 when left-handed server Elly Plath went to work. The Hurons took the lead at 19-15, scoring scored ten behind her, two of them ace serves before they were finished. THE 18TH point of the game came after Simone Kapala and Dana Fairbanks each made great saves and Kaitlin Klingshirn finished it off with a tip at the net. Plath set up Moni Cercone for a kill and then Lauren Hanson added a Huron point on a serve. The Soo pulled within two at 23-21 before Kapala served for the final Huron points. The Hurons fell to 8-9-1 overall and 0-1 in the Straits Area Conference.
For the night, Fairbanks led the team with 12 kills and had two kills and 15 digs. Cercone had 10 kills and added 15 digs, Fleming had nine kills, three blocks, five aces and 16 digs, while Kapala had 18 digs and six kills.
ROGERS CITY made a good showing in a tournament at Big Rapids Saturday. ?The girls played well in a tough 27 team tournament finishing second in the first round pool and second in the power pool. We then won in the first round of brackets and were matched up with Leland, the 2006 class D state champions, in the semi-final round,? coach Fairbanks said. The best two out of three match went back and forth and finished with the Comets on top 26-24 and 27-25 to end the Hurons? day.
?We get to see some of the top teams in the state at Ferris. It is a great way to start the new year,?
Dana Fairbanks led the team with 31 kills, while adding 33 digs, seven blocks, five assists, and five aces. Kapala had 21 kills, 24 digs, six blocks and five aces. Fleming led the team with eight ace serves while adding 15 kills and six blocks. Klingshirn had 12 kills and 26 digs, Elly Plath notched 38 assists and Ashley Basel added 24 assists.
THE HURONS finished second in a three-team tournament to crown the county volleyball champion in Onaway. The Hurons handled Posen in three straight games (25-20, 25-10, 25-9) but had trouble with Onaway, losing two-of-three to the hosts of the tournament. The fired up Cardinals topped the Hurons in the first two games, 25-23, 25-21, but Rogers City managed to win game three, 25-23. Dana Fairbanks notched 19 kills and added 16 digs. Kapala had nine kills and 25 digs while Fleming led the way with eight service aces. Basel led the team with 20 assists and three blocks. The team travels to Mt. Morris for a tournament Saturday