KALAMAZOO — The Niles Varsity Volleyball Team took third place out of 14 teams at the Loy Norrix Tournament Saturday.

“We came out strong in pool play and beat Holland 25-10 and 25-10, lost to a tough Mason team 20-25 and 15-25, but then turned it back on harder to beat Kalamazoo Central 27-25 and 25-10 to come out of pool play the second seed and head into the Gold Division bracket play as the fifth seed overall out of the 14 teams,” Niles coach Jenny Nate said.
“We took on Buchanan in quarterfinals and played even tougher and knocked them out 25-15 and 25-19. Next, we faced Sturgis in the semifinals, but fell in a close match 21-25 and 21-25. Finally, we fought for third against Olivet and defeated them 25-17 and 25-22.

“My girls worked hard today and despite sitting for long breaks and playing from 9:30 a.m. until 8 p.m., they were able to keep their intensity up and stay strong all day.  There was a lot of great competition at this tourney and I was proud of my team for finishing third out of 14 teams and bringing home a trophy for their effort.

“We are a work in progress and I believe we will keep getting stronger and stronger.”

 

Loy Norrix Invitational

At Kalamazoo

Niles statistics

Leading scorers

Kelsey Barton 45 points, 17 aces

Holly Walker 28 points, 2 aces

Bella Rasler 26 points, 5 aces

Bre Love 25 points

Megan Kohler 19 points, 5 aces

Courtney Nixon 10 points

 

Kills

Rasler 41

Lexi Smith 36

Jazmin Brann 23

Barton 12

Kohler 10

Nixon 3

 

Blocks

Brann 8

Barton 7

Kohler 5

Rasler 2

 

Digs

Love 36

Rasler 30

Walker 29

Nixon 17

Barton 15

 

Assists

Barton 86