Niles falls to Mattawan

Published 4:24 am Friday, November 7, 2008

By Staff
MATTAWAN – The Lady Vikings of Niles were no match for host Mattawan in the Class A District Volleyball semifinals on Thursday night.
The Lady Wildcats knocked Niles out of the state tournament with a 25-17, 25-20 and 25-13 victory.
"This was a difficult loss tonight as our seniors took the floor for the last time," Niles coach Linda Martin said. "We struggled to get into any type of offensive rhythm tonight.
"The team was really battling through injury and line up changes at a tough time. We finished with a 28-17 record and hope to improve upon that in future years," she added.
Niles played with Devyn Roberts, who hurt her shoulder in the Big 16 Conference Tournament on Saturday and Melissa Cooper, who hurt her wrist at the league tourney, despite their injuries.
Ashley Allison led Niles with five kills, while Katie Bourbonnais and Patty Anton both finished with four kills. Cooper chipped in with three.
Anton added four blocks to her totals with Cooper contributing seven assists.
Nellie Coquillard finished with 10 digs with both Demi Schrader and Bourbonnais chipping in with seven digs apiece.
Coquillard led the team in aces with two. Schrader topped the Lady Vikings in assists with 10.
Mattawan will now face Portage Central, which was a 25-16, 25-21 and 25-18 winner over Kalamazoo Central.
The finals will be played on Saturday at 11 a.m.