Volleyball team 4-1 at Gull Lake, but 1-4 at Portage Central tourney

Published 8:48 am Monday, August 26, 2019

RICHLAND — For veteran Niles volleyball coach Jenny Nate, playing back-to-back tournaments against some extremely tough competition gives her a good sense of how good the Vikings can be.

Nate and Niles had mixed results this weekend as it opened 4-1 at the Gull Lake Invitational in Richmond on Friday, but followed that up with a 1-4 performance at the Portage Central Invitational on Saturday.

Between the two days, the Vikings faced volleyball powerhouses Rockford, which lost in the Division I state finals last year in five sets, ranked Battle Creek Lakeview, ranked Schoolcraft and Division II state champions, Grand Rapids Christian.

Despite coming away with a 5-4-1 record, Nate and her team are undaunted.

“I want my players to be challenged and to play the best of the best right out of the gate to prepare for our season and our SMAC Conference,” Nate said. “We always open our season with two of the toughest tournaments that we play the entire year.”

At Gull Lake, the Vikings defeated SMAC opponent Kalamazoo Central 25-17 and 25-15 and Wolverine Conference powerhouse Vicksburg 25-11 and 25-18. Niles wrapped up pool play by splitting with Rockford 9-25 and 25-20.

Niles headed into Gold Bracket play and defeated Lakeview 18-25, 25-11 and 15-10 and Vicksburg 25-16 and 25-22 before falling to Schoolcraft, which lost to eventual state champion Bronson 3-2 in the regional semifinals last year, 25-7 and 25-21.

Less than 24 hours later, the Vikings were back on the court in Portage and taking on Grand Rapids Christian right out of the gate.

Niles fell 25-18 and 25-18 before facing and beating former SMAC member Marshall 25-16 and 25-17.

The Vikings fell to Cadillac 25-17 and 25-15 before falling to Bedford 25-24 and 25-9. Niles wrapped up its day with a 23-25, 25-18 and 15-11 loss to Rockford.

“This is my favorite tournament of the year,” Nate said. “We are challenged to play against the top teams in the state. I like to start our opening weekend with this tournament because I want my girls to compete against the best of the best and to know exactly what it takes to win at that level. I am willing to possibly take some hits to our record as a tradeoff for this experience.”

Niles heads back to the court on Tuesday when it travels to Vicksburg for their annual Six Pack.