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OTSEGO — Defending Wolverine Conference co-champions Edwardsburg and Niles split their matches Thursday.

The Eddies defeated host Otsego in five sets, while the Vikings fell to host Sturgis in five sets.

 

Edwardsburg Volleyball

After winning the first two sets 25-21 and 25-23, the Bulldogs rallied to take the next two sets 25-22 and 25-17.

In the fifth and deciding set, Edwardsburg rolled to an easy 15-8 victory.

Sarah Pippin and Drew Glaser were huge at the net with a combined 42 kills and four blocks. Pippin finished with a team-high 22 kills to go along with three blocks and 16 digs. Glaser finished with 21 kills, nine digs, a block and a pair of aces. Lexi Schimpa had 48 assists, eight digs, three kills and a block, while Danni Purlee finished the night with a team-high 29 digs.

The Eddies are now 12-8-4 overall and 2-1 in the Wolverine Conference.

Niles Volleyball

While Niles continues to struggle to pick up wins, Vikings Coach Samantha Zimmerman said her played well against the Trojans.

“It wasn’t the results we wanted, but it was the best volleyball we’ve played all season,” she said. “This week in practice we had a mindset shift and a total different mentality on how we wanted to play the game. We even changed our lineup and moved some players around to different positions. The total team effort I saw tonight was so rewarding after all the hard work we’ve put in this week. I saw complete selflessness out of players, better attitudes, and a new mindset on the court. Obviously, I want to win, but I couldn’t have asked for a better night of volleyball out of these girls. We are continuing to grow each and every day and it showed tonight.”

After dropping the first set, Niles won sets two and three 28-26 and 25-21 to grab the 2-1 lead. Sturgis took the fourth set 27-15 and then the Trojans won the fifth set 15-10.

Bree Lake had 18 kills and 10 assists, while Nyla Hoover had seven kills and 21 digs. Tanaya Brown also had seven kills to go along with five blocks. Kendall Gerdes finished the match with six kills and eight blocks.

Amelia Florkowski had a team-high 27 digs. Maddie Zache finished with 16 digs. Rylee Grishaber led the Vikings with 26 assists.

Niles is now 10-10-5 overall and 0-3 in conference matches.