Volleyball team measures itself against top competition

The Onaway High School volleyball team has set some lofty goals for itself. In an attempt to meet those goals, the Cardinals are spending the early season going toe-to-toe with top competition.

On Tuesday, the Cards participated in a quad-meet at Alpena that included the host Wildcats, as well as Cheboygan and Tawas. Onaway won two of three matches on the night.

The Cardinals defeated Alpena (19-25, 25-18, 25-18) and Tawas (25-11, 25-8, 25-22), but fell to a talented Cheboygan team they had defeated earlier this year (25-23, 18-25, 21-25).

“We had never played Alpena, and the girls were really up for that one,” said coach Steve Watson. “They played well and beat a tough team that does a great job of keeping the ball off the floor.

“Our next match was against Cheboygan, another good team but a team we know we can beat. We came out a bit flat in that one. We didn’t play our best and they made fewer mistakes than we did.”

Mariah Ehrke had 41 kills, 49 digs, and three aces, Taylor Ehrke had 59 assists, six kills, and 18 digs, Lexi Szymoniak had 11 kills and 30 digs, Devin Bristley had 20 kills, 25 digs, and four aces, and Sara Fullerton had 10 kills and 22 digs.

Last Thursday, the Cardinals competed in a highly-competitive tournament at Cadillac, featuring quality Class A and B competition.

“By far, the toughest, deepest tournament this program has ever been invited to,” said Watson.

In pool play, Onaway fell to Whitehall (25-21, 24-26, and 10-15), defeated Midland (16-25, 32-30, and 15-10), and fell to Chippewa Hills (26-24, 26-28, and 17-19).

The Cards day ended when they fell in bracket play to Cadillac, 15-25 and 18-25.

“Whitehall made it to the Class B state semifinals a year ago, and was way taller than us, but we came within two points of knocking both them and Chip Hills off,” noted Watson.

“We went three sets with all three teams we played in pool play, and

dropped extra-point sets to the two that beat us. We played hard all day, but some bad serving down the stretch cost us, particularly against Cadillac.”

Mariah Ehrke had 51 kills and 52 digs, Szymoniak had 20 kills, four blocks, 41 digs, and five aces, Taylor Ehrke had 89 assists and 35 digs, Bristley had 30 kills, 41 digs, and seven aces, and Fullerton had 11 kills and 22 digs.

The volleyball team will compete Saturday at a competitive tournament at Rogers City, featuring Cheboygan and the state-ranked Hurons among others, and will host Central Lake on Tuesday in the Ski Valley Conference opener.