Sportsbeat
Marching through the playoffs and improving
There?s some exciting volleyball being played this week in the Rogers City High School gym, and the host school, if they continue their outstanding play of Monday?s district opener, should be one tough nut for an opponent to crack. First thing is first, this Huron squad has improved by leaps and bounds from where they were at the onset of the season. The coach said those vary words after Monday?s post season contest. She must have been reading my mind.
I saw them in a mini-midweek tournament in Alpena in the first week of the season. There were some bigger schools on the floor, so I wasn?t sure what to think of their performance that didn?t go very well, and the thought did creep into my mind that it could be another long season for the Hurons. There?s been a lot of kills and aces under the bridge since then. SAULT STE. MARIE found out how much the Hurons have improved during the end-of-the-season conference tournament last Saturday when they snatched their bid for an outright title from underneath them.
Head coach Kristy Smolinski believes the Soo was a little surprised to the actual extent of Rogers City?s improvement level. ?They really learned to play as a team,? said Smolinski of her girls. ?We work on setting up a lot of different plays to keep the other teams guessing.? That can be a lot of fun to watch. Late in game three, the Hurons went to one of their trick plays where every player leaps up and motions with their arm for a kill, but only one player brings the thunder. I was on the Oscoda side of the court and got a floor side view of what that looks like coming at you. ?Who hit it?? was the first question that came to my mind as the point went on the board for Rogers City. It was sophomore Amanda Smolinski. It looked impressive, and after the match was over, coach Sm
AN IMPORTANT part of making the play work is having the players on the frontline who can execute when the ball is set of for them. Coach Smolinski said Becca Peacock, Logan Schuiteman and her daughter have ?come around. When they are on there is nobody who can stop us.? They are a fun bunch to watch and seem so relaxed on the court at times, joshing with each on the court before a serve gets another play in motion. Coach Smolinski believes they play a little too relaxed at times.
?I get a little concerned when they get too confident,? said Smolinski. At the conference meet over the weekend, ?I think we?let our guard down and lost the first game to St. Ignace. The girls knew I wasn?t happy and they stepped up and took the next one but again let one get away with Rudyard. We go up and down and need to just stay up, keep the momentum, that is our focus going forward.? Playing well, with some challenges, that?s a good position to be in as the playoffs continue. Going forward, the Hurons should be a dominant force in northern Michigan.