Volleyball team prepares for districts Tuesday
by Richard Lamb– Advance Editor
If things go well, coach Mary Fairbanks and her team will use Monday?s matches with Boyne City as a preview of what could come in district play. The Hurons matched up with the Ramblers, as well as Gaylord and Pellston, Monday night in Rogers City in preparation for pre-district play, which begins Tuesday at Boyne City. The Ramblers were a late addition Monday after their match at Elk Rapids was cancelled. Rogers City plays Harbor Springs in the 8 p.m. match with the winner to play Boyne City, which drew a bye, Saturday, November 3 in the semifinals. Other teams in the district include Hale, Alcona, and Whittemore-Prescott. ?I think we learned a lot today. We can certainly beat them. We have a few rotations we have to work on,? Fairbanks said. ?It was a fantastic opportunity to see what they are doing in certain rotations.? Although each team had a good look at the other, there is no guarantee things will be played the same way, should they meet again. ?I do know that their coach will shake things up because she is pretty smart and the team is pretty well coached,? Fairbanks said. ?They do have some good options and I?m sure that come district time we will see some people in different positions.?
MONDAY THE Hurons started the night with a convincing win over Gaylord (25-11, 25-19). In the first game, the Hurons led 20-5 before Gaylord rallied. Kaitlin Klingshirn?s tip at the net earned the winning point. An early rally built a 7-2 lead for the Hurons, powered by two Jenny Fleming kills. The teams battled back and forth with several long rallies before Rogers City went on a 4-0 run, capped by Elly Plath?s ace serve, to make the score 18-12. Gaylord pulled to within four points at 23-19, but Rogers City scored the next two to win the game. The second match pitted the Hurons against Boyne City, while Pellston and Gaylord faced off on court two. The score was tied four times in the early going before Boyne rallied for six straight points to make the score 12-6. Then the Hurons got hot, keyed by Fleming?s kill and two ace serves by Moni Cercone, to bring to score to 12-11. Plath set up Klingshirn for a kill down the middle to give the Hurons a 15-14 lead. But again the Ramblers answered, ticking off five points to take over the lead. Boyne held on for a 25-20 win in game one. Ace serves by Plath powered a 10-2 lead for the Hurons in game two, which they won 25-23. Boyne erased a 5-4 Huron lead by blitzing to an 11-5 lead and a 15-9 win in game three. The Hurons defeated Pellston (25-21, 25-16) in the third and final match of the evening.
FLEMING LED the team with 37 kills and added 25 digs, Cercone added 17 kills and 28 digs, and Klingshirn had 12 kills, three blocks and 26 digs. Plath smashed 14 ace serves and had 36 set assists. Lauren Hanson had 19 digs while Ashley Basel added 12 digs and 11 assists. All are seniors and were recognized by the coach on senior night. ?This is a very special group of girls,? Fairbanks said. ?They have been together for a long time. They are very much a pleasure to work with. This group is really together on and off the court. They are good friends and a fantastic group of girls that have really come around. They have worked really hard and wanted to have a good season.?
SATURDAY AT the Straits Area Conference tournament, the Hurons finished second to Cheboygan with Sault Ste. Marie finishing third and Rudyard having a good day to fin
IN A SCHEDULE change, the Hurons and Onaway Cardinals were to face off in Onaway yesterday (Wednesday) and Rogers City (15-19-9) will not participate in Saturday?s tournament at Boyne City.