Hurons host Oscoda in first home action of season

by Angie Asam, Staff Writer

The Rogers City volleyball team will see their first home action of the season tonight (Thursday) against Oscoda with the junior varsity match scheduled for 6 p.m. and the varsity match to follow. Last Thursday, the Hurons traveled to the 16-team New Lothrop Invitational where they went 2-1 in pool play before falling in the first round of bracket play. The Hurons defeated Atherton 25-13 and 25-23 to start the day before defeating Laingsburg 25-6 and 25-16. Up against Mt. Morris in the final match of pool play Rogers City fell 15-25 and 9-25.

With a 2-1 record the Hurons were second in their pool and moved on to the gold division bracket. The top two teams in each pool were put into the gold division and the bottom two went to the silver division for a single-elimination bracket play. ?We performed really well in pool play. We took the win in our first two matches but fell short against Mt. Morris. They had some big blockers and hitters and we are still working on our blocking. It was a really hot day and it was fun to see teams that we do not normally play against. Other than our blocking we showed improvement all around,? said coach Kristy Smolinski.

IN GOLD division bracket play the Hurons went up against Duran and fell 14-25 and 17-25 to end their tournament. ?

We played pretty tough but again with them (Duran) having some big hitters our blocking needed to be on. Overall we had a good day and had fun, we are looking forward to our first home game this week,? said coach Smolinski. Junior Amanda Smolinski led the team in kills with 21; she also added eight set assists, 16 digs, five aces and five blocks. Senior Emily Marx led the team in digs with 21. Sophomore Lindsey Claus had six kills, three digs, 12 blocks and five ace serves. Senior Shelby Schleben had nine kills, eight digs and 10 ace serves on the day while senior Taylor Darling had three kills and eight digs.

Junior Linnea Brege had four kills, 17 set assists and eight digs while sophomore Rebecca Meredith had three blocks and two kills on the day. The Hurons are in action tonight (Thursday) at home against Oscoda and will be at Alcona on Tuesday. The Hurons will then be on the road until Sept. 28 when they host Sault Ste. Marie.