By By DAN WEISS / Niles Daily Star
NILES -- Strategically-placed serves was all it took to get the Niles varsity volleyball team out of its comfort zone in Wednesday night's Big 16 West Division loss to Lakeshore.
The Lancers served nine aces on the way to wins of 15-6, 15-2 and 15-6.
The loss dropped Niles to 7-10-7 overall and 0-1 in the West Division.
In a non-conference win Monday night against Buchanan, the Vikings passed the ball well off the serve and were able to run their offense with confidence.
Against Lakeshore, however, the serves were tougher and made it difficult for Niles to establish any kind of offensive momentum.
One area Niles pleased its coach was its defense of the Lakeshore hitting attack. The Vikings had 38 digs, led by 17 from junior Amber Peters.
Sarah Dreher and Rachael Every led the Niles hitting attack with three kills apiece. Melissas Olsen added two kills. Olsen and Every each had one block.
The Vikings are off over the weekend and return to action Wednesday night at Benton Harbor for another West Division match.