Niles senior Sarah Ferguson serves against Benton Harbor Wednesday night. The Vikings swept the Tigers 3-0 in Big 16 West Division play. (Daily Star photo/SCOTT NOVAK)

By SCOTT NOVAK

Niles Daily Star

The Niles volleyball team honored its seniors and then went out and swept visiting Benton Harbor 3-0 in a Big 16 Conference West Division match.

The Vikings defeated the Tigers 25-13, 25-14 and 25-7.

Honored prior to the start of the match were seniors Sarah Ferguson, Charissa Spear and Rachel Zeider.

“I am so pleased with the seniors,” Niles coach Linda Goodrich said. “Not just as volleyball players, but as people. I can’t wait to see where they go from here.”

The Vikings dominated the opening game, grabbing a 4-1 lead after three consecutive service winners from Lashonda Green.

The lead reached 8-3 after Cortney Shirrell served up back-to-back aces. A kill by Abby McKeel made it 17-9 and a big kill by Zeider increased the Vikings’ advantage to 19-10.

The Vikings slowly, but surely pulled away from Benton Harbor in the second set, leading 10-5 early and building it to 19-9.

Zeider served up the winner as the Vikings took a 25-14 victory.

Niles didn’t waste any time in the final set as it rolled to a 13-4 advantage and never looked back.

Green served up five straight, including an ace, to open up a 9-2 lead for the Vikings. Zeider had a pair of kills during her run. Another Zeider kill made it 10-3 and when Shirrell added an ace, the lead was 11-4.

McKeel then took over and 12 serves later, Niles was at match point, 24-4.

The Tigers were able to score a couple of points to stave off defeat, but an Ashley Love kill ended the match 25-7.

Niles and Benton Harbor will meet again in a few weeks as the Vikings drew the Tigers for the opening round of the Class A District Tournament. (See related story page 9)

JV volleyball

The Niles JV volleyball team swept visiting Benton Harbor 25-5 and 25-8.

Brooke Wilson had eight aces, while Tala Gentry had six aces and two assists.

Olivia Jordan had six aces and two assists, Karon Nichols two blocks and Maggie Hoff two kills.

Freshmen volleyball

The Niles freshmen team team swept the Tigers 25-7 and 25-15.

Jordan Rank had 16 assists and five aces, while Morgan McZeal had eight kills. Abigail Rzepka finished the night with seven digs and Taylor Glenn seven aces.