BUCHANAN — The Brandywine volleyball team defeated host Buchanan 25-20 and 25-23 to finish third at the Buchanan Invitational Saturday.

New Buffalo defeated White Pigeon 25-13 and 25-18 to claim the championship.

The Bobcats defeated Lawton 2-1 and New Buffalo 2-1 to win Pool A.

The Bucks defeated River Valley 2-0 and White Pigeon 2-0 to capture Pool B.

In the semifinals, New Buffalo defeated Buchanan 2-0 and White Pigeon defeated Brandywine 2-1.

The Bobcats lost one of its top players, senior Jessy Cooper, for part of the semifinal match, which played a key role in the outcome according to coach Carl Greulich.

“Our lineup works,” Greulich said. “This is the lineup we are going to stick with obviously if nobody gets hurt. It hurt us when Jessy went out because we were in control of the match at that point.

“We did come back and beat them the second game, but there were let ups when one of your captains are out of there. But no matter what, other players have to step up in that role. So we talked about that after the match. You have to know every position on the court because you never know when something like that is going to happen.”

Greulich added that he was not happy with the third place finish and said he team should have been playing for the championship.

“But it’s better than losing a player for the season,” he said.

 

Buchanan Invitational

Pool A results

Brandywine d. Lawton 25-17, 22-25, 15-13; Brandywine d. New Buffalo 22-25, 25-21, 15-9; New Buffalo d. Lawton 25-5, 25-13

 

Pool B results

Buchanan d. River Valley 25-15, 25-8; Buchanan d. White Pigeon 25-16, 25-15; White Pigeon d. River Valley 25-17, 25-16

 

Quarterfinals

White Pigeon d. Lawton 25-21, 25-9; New Buffalo defeated River Valley 25-16, 25-16

 

Semifinals

New Buffalo d. Buchanan 25-19, 25-23; White Pigeon d. Brandywine 25-15, 7-25, 15-10

 

Fifth place

River Valley d. Lawton 18-25, 25-21, 15-9

 

Third place

Brandywine d. Buchanan 25-20, 25-23

 

Championship

New Buffalo d. White Pigeon 25-13, 25-18

 

Brandywine statistics

Kill

Mackenzie Shelton 38, Jessy Cooper 19, Alissa Gamble 19
Digs

Abby Cole 39, Shelton 33, Ashley DeJonge 22
Aces

Cooper 9, Mikayla Kemp 6, Cole 6
Blocks

Gamble 6, Brooke Smith 3
Assists

Cooper 55, DeJonge 39