Cardinals sweep Joburg, 6-0 in conference play
by Angie Asam-Staff Writer
The Onaway Cardinals varsity volleyball team is now 6-0 in Ski Valley Conference play after a sweep of Johannesburg Lewiston Tuesday on the road. Onaway won 25-14, 25-14 and 25-15 behind strong net play from Lexi Szymoniak, Morganne Badgero and Elise Arkwood.
“Lexi, Morganne and Elise combined for 23 kills on the night and committed zero errors. Basically every other attack they had was put away for a kill. The team hit .300 on the night, which is really good for a high school team. We were really efficient on the net and did a good job getting in the way defensively at the net as well,” said coach Steve Watson.
Szymoniak had 12 kills, four aces and 16 digs in the match. Badgero had six kills and five digs and Arkwood added five kills, five aces and four digs. Taylor Ehrke had two kills, 19 assists and seven digs.
SATURDAY THE Cardinals hosted an eight-team tournament and finished the day 3-2. The day started for the red and white with a loss to eventual tournament champion Charlevoix, an honorable mention team in Class C, 19-25 and 22-25.
Coach Watson set up the tournament and decided to have Charlevoix in the same pool as his team, and wanted to play them right off the bat. “I was hoping it would get us geared up for the day, which it did, we played pretty well all day. I also thought maybe we could trip them up early in the morning. We scrimmaged them this summer a lot and some times were pretty even with them,” he said.
After dropping the match to the Rayders the Cardinals defeated Newberry 25-12 and 25-15 and Mancelona 25-10 and 26-24 to come out of their pool second behind Charlevoix.
In the quarterfinals the Cardinals defeated Harbor Springs 25-12 in game one before dropping game two 18-25 but rallied to take game three 15-11 to move on to the semifinals.
Waiting in the semifinals was no unfamiliar foe for the Cardinals as they again took on the Cheboygan Chiefs who had won the other pool. Again the Cheifs had Onaway’s number as the Cardinals fell 21-25 and 20-25.
“It marked the first time in at least six years that we didn’t win or make the finals at our home tournament. We beat the teams we thoug
Szymoniak had 45 kills, 10 aces, 79 digs and three blocks on the day. Arkwood added 13 kills, seven aces and 34 digs.
Ehrke had 7 kills, 57 assists, eight aces and 65 digs. Shyanne Corey had eight kills, eight aces and 49 digs.
Badgero had five kills, five aces and 45 digs on the day and Ashley LaLonde added 10 aces, seven assists and 49 digs.
The Cardinals are off this weekend and will host Bellaire in a Ski Valley Conference match on Tuesday with the junior varsity game beginning at 6 p.m.