Hurons end season with regional loss

by Angie Asam, Staff Writer

After winning a second consecutive district title the Rogers City Hurons volleyball team traveled to Pellston Tuesday for a regional semi-final match with the Mio Thunderbolts. The Hurons would take game one 25-23 before dropping the next three 16-25, 22-25 and 19-25 to end their season. Mio will move on to the regional title game Thursday against Pellston. Pellston defeated Pickford in three games 25-19, 26-24 and 25-22 in the earlier semifinal match.

?I am very proud of them. I couldn?t be prouder than them. There has to be a winner and their has to be a loser. We would have like to have brought home a win tonight but we beat ourselves. I think we were a stronger team than they are all the way around, we have much stronger hitters but we played down,? said coach Kristy Smolinski. With a large crowd of support cheering them on all the way, the Hurons fought hard in the match. Game one started with both teams neck and neck. Mio would build a 9-6 lead capitalizing on a few Rogers City errors before a Becca Peacock kill gave Rogers City the serve. Peacock then stepped to the service line and notched three straight aces to give the Hurons a 10-9 lead.

After trading points to the 13-13 mark Mio was able to build a 18-13 lead over the Hurons when a Lindsey Claus kill followed by two straight Amanda Smolinski kills and a Linnea Brege ace brought the score to 17-18 and forced Mio to call a timeout. Brege would then serve two aces to give the Hurons a 19-18 lead. A Mio error later and a Thunderbolt in the net built the lead to 21-18. At the 23-23 mark with Mio tying the game on an ace of their own, Rogers City called a timeout followed by a Smolinski kill giving her the serve to set up the ace for the game winner.

In game two, Rogers City struggled with serve receive and setting up their offense and trailed much of the early going. The Hurons were able to get as close as 12-13 before Mio went on a run and Rogers City could not answer as they fell 16-25. Rogers City built an early 6-3 lead in game three before the teams swapped points. At the 10-4 mark, a Peacock kill and a Shelby Schleben ace built the Hurons lead to 12-4 and had Mio calling a second timeout in the game. With Rogers City struggling in the serving game Mio was able to bring the score to 14-11. A Mio ace and an error at the net by the Hurons made the score 14-13.

After a timeout, the Hurons struggles continued as Mio surged back to take a 15-14 lead. A Claus block tied the score but a Mio kill gave the Thunderbolts the lead back. Rogers City would trail by as much as five as the score went to 18-23 before a Peacock kill and Smolinski ace made it 20-23. Mio would then be called for being in the net and Peacock would notch another kill to bring it to 22-23. A Rogers City error gave Mio the ball and the serve for game point. After a long rally Rogers City was unable to keep a free ball in bounds and fell 22-25.

DOWN 2-1 in the match with their backs against the wall, the Rogers City fans remained behind their team a

nd the Hurons continued to fight. Rogers City took an early 2-0 lead in game four and built it to a 6-3 lead before Mio surged back to tie it at seven. The teams then traded points twice before Mio was able to take a 11-9 lead. Rogers City would claw back as they took the score to 11-12 before Mio surged to a 17-15 lead. Rogers City kept fighting but could not get the breaks and ended up dropping the game to end their season 19-25. Smolinski finished the match with 17 kills, nine digs and four aces. Peacock had nine kills while Claus had ten. Schleben had four aces in the match as did Brege who also had 11 digs.

Senior libero Emily Marx, who at many times during the match kept play alive for the Hurons with great digs ended the match with 19 digs. THE MATCH was the last for seniors Taylor Darling, Schleben, Peacock and Marx. ?I am going to miss my seniors. They are a very unique group and we have a lot of fun. We are really going to miss them,? said a tear-filled coach Smolinski after the match.