The Edwardsburg volleyball team has come a long way for first-year coach Chrissy Breisch.

The Eddies reached the finals of the Chieftain Invitational before falling to Sturgis in the title match 25-21 and 30-28 Saturday.

Breisch said her team is coming together.

“They wanted it,” she said about her team’s effort in the final set against the Trojans. “I’ve never seen them play like that. We always have this joke that they have to pass a three ball, which is a ball that they can set all three hitters off of. We were passing like two and a halves and they were like, ‘dang it.’ Normally they would be like ‘hey, two and a half is okay.’ They wanted to be perfect, and I haven’t seen that out of this team until just now. So I like that.”

Both sets were a battle back and forth with neither team getting the upper hand.

Edwardsburg did lead both sets in the early stages, but Sturgis came back behind its serving and net play.

In the opening set the Eddies trailed 21-19 before tying it up at 21-21. But three straight service winners for the Trojans gave Sturgis the 25-21 victory.

The second set was even more back and forth.

Edwardsburg raced out to a 4-0 lead behind the serving of Lindsay Nunez only to have Sturgis win eight consecutive points to take a 9-4 lead.

It was the Eddies’ turn to rally and they did just that. Back-to-back aces by Nunez gave Edwardsburg a brief 17-14 advantage.

From there it was nip and tuck with 11 ties.

A couple of late hitting errors by the Eddies helped the Trojans seal the victory.

Breisch has an extremely young squad as she has nine juniors, one sophomore and two freshmen on the roster. Consistent play has been a problem for the Eddies this year.

“That was be our biggest downfall,” she said. “We are leaps and bounds better than we were. At the beginning of the year I couldn’t even come up with a starting lineup because I was very nervous about who would hit well and who could pass. I feel like I’ve finally had some leaders step up. I would probably say that this tournament is where it happened.”

Host Dowagiac was 1-5 in pool play after winning one of three games against Cassopolis in the tournament opener and being swept by River Valley 3-0.

Edwardsburg defeated Dowagiac in the quarterfinals 2-0.

Cassopolis was 2-4 in pool play before being defeated by Kalamazoo Loy Norrix in the quarterfinals 2-0.

 

Chieftain Invitational

Pool Play records

Orange Pool

River Valley 6-0, Cassopolis 2-4, Dowagiac 1-5

Black Pool

Sturgis 5-1

Edwardsburg 2-4

Kalamazoo Loy Norrix 2-4

 

Quarterfinals

Edwardsburg d. Dowagiac 2-0

Loy Norrix d. Cassopolis 2-0

 

Semifinals

Edwardsburg d. River Valley 2-0

Sturgis d. Loy Norrix 2-0

 

Championship

Sturgis d. Edwardsburg 25-21, 30-28

 

Edwardsburg statistics

Digs

Kaylee Ryker 74

Lindsay Nunez 66

Madison Hatkevich 50

Bri Nemeth 33

Payton Szlanfucht 27

Mackenzie Meyers 21

Assists

Szlanfucht 95

Aces

Nunez 16

Kaylee Ryker 8

Kills

Hatkevich 23

Mackenzie Meyers 18

Nemeth 15

Taylor Sipe- Bretschneider 12

Blocks

Sipe-Bretschneider 10

Hatkevich 2

Meyers 2

 

Cassopolis statistics

Digs

Tyeisa Fuller 50

Devan Hillyer 26

Kills

Hiller 16

Aces

Tori Baker 4

Sheridan Curry 3

Assists

Baker 7

Currey 6

 

Dowagiac statistics

Spikes

Amanda Badner 19

Brittany Williams 12

Jessica Herthoge 15

Serves

Katie Dantone 19

Badner 17

Casey Weldy 14

Blocks

Badner 2

Williams 2

Digs

Herthoge 20

Courtney Hunsberger 4