Niles swept through the Kalamazoo Loy Norrix Invitational to win its sixth straight tournament championship Saturday.

The Vikings (37-3-4) went 5-0 as they defeated Comstock 2-0 and Galesburg-Augusta 2-0 in pool play before knocking off Decatur 2-0 in the quarterfinals.

Niles beat Kalamazoo Hackett 25-17 and 25-15 in the semifinals and then swept the host Knights 25-12 and 25-15 in the championship match.

“My girls are playing harder than they have all season,” Niles coach Jenny Nate said. “They know that this is a critical time of the season and that they are really going to have to dig deep and continuously step up their play and teamwork. They did exactly that today. I had 13 players contributing to the wins today and whoever was on the court had the rest of their teammates cheering them on. Their chemistry is awesome.”

Niles continues a busy stretch of volleyball as it hosts Lakeshore in a key SMAC West Division match Wednesday before heading to St. Joseph for another invitational this weekend.

“I’m looking forward to watching them continue to turn it up and work hard heading into the week when we host Lakeshore for our Senior Night on Wednesday (our final SMAC Conference match of the regular season) and head to the St. Joe Tourney next Saturday.”

 

Buchanan volleyball

The Buchanan team went 2-1 at the Loy Norrix Invitational Saturday.

The Bucks defeated Kalamazoo Hackett and Decatur in pool play, but lost to Hackett in the quarterfinals.

Buchanan is now 37-6 on the season.

 

LOY NORRIX INVITATIONAL

At Kalamazoo

Niles match results

Niles d. Comstock 25-17, 25-14.

Niles d. Galesburg-Augusta 25-13, 25-15.

Quarterfinals

Niles d. Decatur 25-13, 25-12.

Semifinals

Niles d. Kalamazoo Hackett 25-17, 25-15.

Finals

Niles defeated Loy Norrix 25-12, 25-15.

 

Individual statistics

Leading scorers

Carly Barton 29 points, 7 aces

Bre Love 29 points, 1 ace

Bianca Pickens 29 points, 3 aces

Lexi Smith 23 points, 3 aces

Bella Rasler 15 points, 4 aces

Nikki Nate 5 points

Peyton Cavanaugh 5 points

Madison Cavanaugh 4 points

Kills

Bella Rasler 68

Lexi Smith 40

Abbie Harpenau 17

Megan Kohler 10

Nola Wallace 7

Carly Barton 6

Blocks

Megan Kohler 8

Abbie Harpenau 8

Nola Wallace 7

Bella Rasler 3

Carly Barton 2

Lexi Smith 1

Digs

Bre Love 33

Bella  Rasler 31

Lexi Smith 24

Carly Barton 16

Bianca Pickens 13

Assists

Carly Barton 81

Varsity record: Niles 37-3-4.

 

Buchanan match results

Buchanan d. Kalamazoo Hackett.

Buchanan d. Decatur.

Quarterfinals

Kalamazoo Hackett d. Buchanan.

 

Individual statistics

Alex Tobler 5 aces, 45 kills, 18 digs
Anna Tobler 2 kills, 1 dig
Liz Kuntz 19 kills, 4 blocks, 6 digs
Taylor Reed 5 aces, 15 digs
Ali McClaran 2 aces, 8 digs
Andrea Bair 1 ace, 2 blocks, 7 kills, 5 digs
Madison Schau 3 digs, 4 kills, 2 blocks
Britta Mollberg 2 aces, 68 assists, 2 blocks, 7 kills, 10 digs
Megan Adkerson 6 kills, 3 aces, 9 digs

Varsity record: Buchanan 37-6.