Edwardsburg volleyball team wins Berrien Springs tourney

Published 8:42 pm Wednesday, September 12, 2007

By By SCOTT NOVAK / Edwardsburg Argus
Edwardsburg captured the Berrien Springs Invitational on Saturday with a 25-19 and 25-23 victory over Dowagiac in the title match.
The Lady Eddies reached the finals by defeating the Chieftains (25-15, 25-21), Berrien Springs (25-15, 25-14) and River Valley (25-13, 25-11) in pool play.
The Lady Eddies also defeated Michigan Lutheran 25-7 and 25-9 and then defeated Bridgman 25-21, 23-25 and 15-9.
Dowagiac advanced to the finals by beating River Valley (25-17, 25-10), Eau Claire (25-15 and 25-20) and Berrien Springs (25-15, 25-20).
The Chieftains defeated Bridgman 25-16 and 25-19, before knocking off River Valley again, 25-18 and 25-10.
"I had a funny feeling that it was going to come down to us and Edwardsburg in the finals earlier in the week," Dowagiac coach Ryan Frontczak said. "We were right where we wanted to be at the end of the day, which was the finals. We just came up a little short against a great team. The thing that makes me the happiest is we played our best game the final game of the tournament. As a coach, that's all you can ask for."
Stephanie Koontz led the Lady Eddies with 48 kills, 14 aces, 45 digs and 13 blocks. Evie Tafunai finished with 43 kills, nine aces, 42 digs and six blocks.
Edwardsburg also got 32 kills, 11 aces, 41 digs and four blocks from Elise Mackling, while C.C. Roberts contributed 12 aces, 97 assists and 35 digs. Erin Burks added 10 kills and seven blocks. Emily Kozinski had five kills, five blocks and four assists.
For the Chieftains, Allison Frontczak had 30 kills and 12 blocks, while Emily Primley finished with 29 kills. Sarah Shelton contributed 26 kills and nine blocks, while Katy Stuppy had 14 kills.
Stephanie Barnas finished the tournament with four blocks, 12 aces and 50 assists. Tasia Diaz had 35 digs and seven aces, while Brittany Gnatz finished with 28 digs and five aces.
Dowagiac also got 18 digs from Stephanie Grabemeyer.
"The girls did a great job today," Frontczak said. "I was really happy that we were able to rebound from a disappointing defeat two days ago at home with Vicksburg."
The Chieftains return to action tonight as they travel to Buchanan for a non-conference match. Play is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. for the freshmen and junior varsity teams.
The varsity match will follow the completion of the freshmen and junior varsity matches.
Edwardsburg will travel to Buchanan on Wednesday for a Lakeland Conference match.
Edwardsburg vs. Berrien Springs
The Edwardsburg varsity volleyball team opened up its Lakeland Conference schedule with a 25-6, 25-21 and 25-13 victory over Berrien Springs on Sept. 5.
The Lady Eddies (6-3, 1-0 Lakeland) got 10 kills, two aces, six blocks and seven digs from Stephanie Koontz.
Edwardsburg also got 11 kills, eight digs, one ace and two blocks from Elise Mackling, while Evie Tafunai added two kills, 13 digs and a block.
Callie Brey finished the match with eight assists, 10 digs and a kill, while C.C. Roberts had nine digs and eight assists.
Cassopolis volleyball
The Lady Rangers competed in the Schoolcraft Invitational on Saturday.
Cassopolis split with host Gobles, winning 25-20 and losing 14-25.
The Lady Rangers were then swept by Centreville (25-11, 27-26), Parchment (25-11, 25-18) and Allen Park-Cabrini (25-20, 25-18).
Molly Vite led the Lady Rangers with 11 kills, Symone Pompey finished with five kills, while Reva Ivens and Jessica Biek had four and three kills respectively.
Pompey led Cass in digs with 36. Vite finished with 31 digs and Ivens 26 digs. Sam Vlasciak had 16 assists to lead the Lady Rangers.
Cassopolis returns to the court Wednesday, Sept. 19 when they host Coloma.
Cassopolis vs. Constantine
The Lady Rangers fell to Constantine in three games Monday night.
The Lady Falcons won the non-conference match 25-23, 25-22 and 25-13.
Branna Wyant led Cassopolis with four kills, two blocks and 24 digs.
The Lady Rangers also got three kills and 21 digs from Symone Pompey, while Reva Ivens and Kasey Fosdick both had two kills.
Sam Vlasciak finished the night with four assists and one ace. Kayla Green had three assists, while Molly Vite had one kill, a block and 18 digs.
The junior varsity Lady Rangers were defeated by Constantine 25-5, 25-19 and 15-13.