By By SCOTT NOVAK / Niles Daily Star
First-year Dowagiac coach Carl Greulich was coaching for a five-game match Monday night against visiting Buchanan.
However, due to weather conditions and the fact that the Lady Bucks were a non-conference opponent, the match was a best of three.
That spelled bad news for the Chieftains, who were defeated by Buchanan, 25-23 and 25-20.
While the first game was nip and tuck, the second game featured a couple of runs by both teams.
Buchanan rolled up a 13-8 lead before the Chieftains caught fire and rallied back.
Dowagiac cut the lead to 17-14 and then tied the match at 18 behind the serving of senior Brittney Reist.
In the end, though, Buchanan was able to contain the Chieftains' offense with outstanding defense.
Greulich felt that Dowagiac again struggled with the fundamentals of the game.
Stacy Borr led the Lady Bucks with eight kills. Jaclyn Mummaw finished with 25 assists, while Heather Lenzt had eight digs. Leslie Miemier led the team with three aces.
Dowagiac got 13 kills and seven digs from Reist. Kim Luthringer finished with three kills and three blocks. Joylnn Hawkins finished with three kills and Jill Billingham two kills.
Ashley Urbanski had nine assists on the night and four aces. Amy Wood also had two aces.
Dowagiac returns to action Wednesday when it travels to Benton Harbor to take on the Lady Tigers in its Big 16 Conference West Division opener.
Freshmen volleyball
The Dowagiac freshman volleyball team picked up its second win of the season on Monday with a 26-24 and 25-22 win over visiting Buchanan.
Kathleen Lindt led Dowagiac with five assists and seven points. Lori Key had five kills, three assists and four points.
Dowagiac is now 2-3 on the year.
On Saturday the freshmen finished third in their pool to advance to the playoff round.
Dowagiac (1-3) was defeated in the quarterfinals by Bridgman, 25-9 and 25-18.
JV volleyball
The Dowagiac junior varsity volleyball team lost in three games to Buchanan Monday night.
The Lady Bucks defeated the Chieftains, 26-28, 25-10 and 15-8.
Sarah Shelton led Dowagiac with three kills and one ace.
The Chieftains also got two assists and three aces from Katy Stuppy and two assists from Jill Wiesemes.
Dowagiac is now 1-2-1 on the season.