By By SCOTT NOVAK / Niles Daily Star
NILES – Niles, Brandywine and Buchanan all played well in the Lakeshore Invitational on Saturday in Stevensville.
The Lady Vikings reached the semifinals, while the Lady Bucks were eliminated in the quarterfinals.
Niles fell to St. Joseph in the semifinals, 25-23 and 25-20.
In reaching the semifinals, the Lady Vikings beat the Lady Bears 25-21, 25-19, split with Buchanan 24-26, 25-16, beat Three Rivers 25-20, 25-1, beat Brandywine 27-25, 25-21 and was defeated by Hamilton 25-15 and 25-13.
In the quarterfinals, Niles defeated Three Rivers 25-18 and 25-20.
"We had a strong showing at the Lakeshore tournament this weekend," Niles coach Linda Goodrich said. "We are still trying to find our rhythm on offense. We are looking for someone to really step out and put the ball away."
Katie Bourbonnais had a good day as she led the Lady Vikings in both kills and blocks. Bourbonnais finished with 31 kills, 12 blocks and six aces.
Kaylynn Stephenson added 26 kills and a team-high 73 digs, while Patricia Anton and Brittney Wolverton finished with 24 and 18 digs respectively.
"Katie Bourbonnais had an excellent day," Goodrich said. "We decided to take her out of the back row and save her for the long rallies at middle blocker. She responded by leading the team in both kills and blocks.
"Kaylynn Stephenson has been struggling with an off-season injury and is getting closer to playing at her expected level. Her efforts in practice and today (Saturday) have been inspiring our team. I hope to see more from her in the coming weeks," she added.
Karly Kennedy finished the tournament with 45 digs, while Samantha Brawley had 26 digs, four aces and 73 assists.
"Samantha Brawley has made the transition from libero to setter and Maddy Peterak has been excellent off the bench as a utility player," Goodrich said. "We are excited about the level we are competing at. We just need to sustain that level of high play from the first point to the last."
Hamilton ousted Buchanan in the quarterfinals 25-22 and 25-23.
In reaching the quarterfinals, the Lady Bucks split with Niles 26-24, 16-25 and Three Rivers, 27-26, 21-25. Buchanan was defeated by St. Joseph 25-15 and 25-23, while it lost to Parchment 25-23, 25-18 and split with Lakeshore 14-25, 27-26.
Emily Ross finished the tournament with 101 assists, 13 blocks, three aces, 17 kills and 25 digs.
The Lady Bucks also got 30 kills four aces and 22 blocks from Anna Callahan, while Jayme O'Bryant had 33 kills and 54 digs. Rachel Downs finished the tournament with 75 digs. Courtney Miller added 22 kills, eight blocks and 37 digs to the Buchanan totals.
Alexis Lenox had seven kills, 11 blocks and 21 digs for the Lady Bucks, who also got eight kills and 12 blocks from Taylor Henry.
Brandywine went 4-2 in pool play before being defeated by both Niles and St. Joseph in power pool matches.
The Lady Bobcats were seeded fourth for bracket play and were defeated in the quarterfinals by Lakeshore 25-20 and 25-9.
In pool play, Brandywine lost to Hamilton 25-14, 25-13 before defeating Lakeshore 25-20 and 25-20. The Lady Bobcats also defeated Parchment 25-15 and 25-18.
In power pool play, Niles defeated Brandywine 27-25 and 25-21. St. Joseph then handed the Lady Bobcats a 25-16 and 25-20 setback.
"My girls played well considering we were short our two seniors Kendra Zache and Julie Barnett until bracket play," first-year coach Sarah Eaton said. "Emily Low did a good job setting and my better hitters of the day were Missy Cooper and Jenna Harris. Alexa Perry did a great job defensively."
The Lady Vikings are back in action tonight as they travel to Dowagiac for a non-conference match. The freshmen and junior varsity matches are slated to begin at 5:30 p.m. with the varsity match to follow at approximately 6:30 p.m.
Brandywine will return to the court on Wednesday as they travel to Edwardsburg for a Lakeland Conference match.
Buchanan will host Bridgman on Wednesday in a league match.