Cards sweep Trojans in conference opener
by Angie Asam–Staff Writer
The Onaway Cardinals varsity volleyball team traveled to Central Lake Tuesday to open the Ski Valley Conference season and came away with a sweep. The Cards defeated the Trojans in three straight, 25-17, 25-14 and 25-22.
Coach Steve Watson said that in a preseason poll the coaches of the Ski Valley picked Onaway and Central Lake to battle it out for second in the league behind Pellston.
“I think at the end of the day Saturday our ball control came around. That continued Tuesday and in practice Wednesday. It was a solid effort all the way around. We took them in three and they really started to battle us in the third game. Earning a win in the conference opener is huge,” said coach Watson.
Watson said that the teams kill to error ratio was better. “It was much more acceptable. I was pleased with it,” said coach Watson.
Lexi Szymoniak had 11 kills, two aces and 10 digs in the match. Taylor Ehrke had four kills, 18 set assists, two aces and four digs.
Alison LaFave had four kills and three digs and Elise Arkwood added four kills and four digs.
SATURDAY THE Cardinals were in Rogers City for an invitational featuring seven teams. The tournament was set up in a round-robin format with the top four teams moving on to bracket play.
Onaway started the day splitting with Alpena 25-18 and 21-25. Next up was Rogers City and the Cards dropped both games 10-25 and 18-25.
The Cards then defeated Mio 25-20 and 25-21 before losing to Cheboygan 13-25 and 18-25.
Next up was Hillman who the Cards defeated 25-14 and 25-14 before splitting with Gaylord 23-25 and 25-21. With a 6-6 record the Cardinals came out of the round-robin in fourth place to move on to bracket play.
In the first round of bracket play the Cardinals took on Cheboygan and lost game one 21-25 before battling to win game two 25-21 and push it to a third game. In game three the Cardinals battled for every point and lost 18-20 in a game that was supposed to be a race to 15 win by two.
“We had a really good match against Cheboygan. We had times we could have put the game away. We had chances to win but we just didn’t have the offensive firepower to put them away,” said coach W
Szymoniak finished the day with 58 kills, four aces, 48 digs and two blocks. Ehrke had nine kills, 52 assists, six aces and 26 digs.
Arkwood had 13 kills, nine aces and 24 digs. Morganne Badgero had 10 kills and 36 digs. LaFave added 10 kills, eight aces and 17 digs.
“I look back at our scorebook and we have quality losses; every game we have lost has been to a good team,” said coach Watson.
The Cardinals travel to the Petoskey Invitational Saturday looking to defend the title they won there a year ago. It will be another tournament featuring tough competition for the Cards.