It was a jam-packed day of action for Oceana teams at Saturday's West Michigan Conference Rivers tournament, hosted by North Muskegon.
The Hart Pirates enjoyed the best results, taking second place. Hart easily swept Holton and then edged Shelby in a tough match, 25-12, 27-25, before falling to North Muskegon in three hard-fought games in the tournament championship, 25-16, 21-25, 15-11.
"We had a great day, finishing second overall in the conference," Hart coach Shawn Bectel said.
Alayna Schiller led a strong defensive day for Hart (20-20-1), with 55 digs. She also tied with teammate Jenna Babbin for the team lead in aces, with five. Babbin added six blocks at the net.
Offensively, Reese Smith led the way. The senior, who recently surpassed the 1,000-kill mark in her career - the feat was celebrated during a home win over Holton last week - posted 21 kills Saturday. Teammates Grace Tucker and Cali Eisenlohr continued their solid work setting Smith and others up for kills, combining for 45 assists. Eisenlohr also contributed 32 digs.
Shelby went 2-2 at the tournament. The Tigers bounced back from a game-one defeat to edge Hesperia in the first round, 23-25, 25-21, 15-9, before the loss to Shelby in the semifinals. In the consolation bracket, the Tigers beat Mason County Central 25-19, 25-11 and then fell to Ravenna in a very close third-place match, 21-25, 25-22, 15-13, settling for fourth at the tournament.
Coach McKenna Peters said she was pleased with the efforts of both her top attackers Saturday. Kylie Brown and Brylee Friedman notched 23 kills apiece. Brown had six kills, five digs, three aces and two blocks in a solid all-around effort in the win over MCC.
"Both have been calm, consistent leaders all season and have done an excellent job guiding the team," Peters said.
Peyton Rapes also contributed to the offense from her setter spot, compiling 69 assists.
On defense, Briar Peters rang up 66 digs and Friedman added 44. Friedman and Hali Hayes each had seven aces.
"Briar Peters was outstanding in the back row, recording double-digit digs in all four matches," coach Peters said.
The coach added that sophomore Annabelle Stark continued her season-long upward trajectory with six digs and three kills in the Hart match alone.
"Annie’s a quick, explosive athlete, and her volleyball skills keep improving every week," Peters said.
After Hesperia's opening loss to Shelby, the Panthers bounced back with a close win over Holton in the consolation bracket, 21-25, 25-14, 15-5. Hesperia closed the day with losses to Ravenna (25-7, 25-18) and, in the fifth-place match, to MCC (22-25, 25-13, 15-12).
Panther statistics had not been reported at press time.
