Hurons take second in home tournament

RCHS volleyball has been on the upswing lately, coming off a slump that ended with last Wednesday?s loss to Cheboygan 15-25, 14-25 and 27-25. But that was then and this is now, as the Hurons ended up second in their own invitational tournament Saturday with 10 participating teams including Harbor Light Christian, Cedarville, Fife Lake Forest Area, Petoskey, Montague, Alpena, Oscoda, Gaylord, and Inland Lakes.

Alpena took first in the tournament, but Monday the Hurons continued their winning ways, sweeping both Inland Lakes, 15-10, 15-5, and Onaway 15-3, 15-5, and 15-8, bringing the match record to 17-12-5 and conference record to 13-2. During the home court tournament action, the 10 teams were divided into two pools and Rogers City began by splitting with Harbor Light, 21-17 and 18-21. The Hurons also split with Petoskey 19-21, 21-18, and lost to Cedarville 24-25 and 21-23. The Forest Area match went to the Hurons win column 21-10 and 21-9 winning their bid for a bracket slot by claiming third place coming out of pool play.

THE HURONS were pitted against Montague in brackets and commanded the lead in three, 5-15, 15-11 and 15-9 for the setup against Cedarville. The Hurons began a better mode of play with each match, coming on stronger than their less-than-good showing in the pool segment. Rogers City won decisively against the Cedarville Trojans, 15-11 and 15-9, setting the scene for going head-to-head with the winner from the other bracket. Petoskey eliminated Gaylord in the first round and was eliminated by Alpena in the second round, leaving the final match between the Hurons and the Wildcats. The Alpena girls put the Hurons away quietly in the first game 8-15 in a short 16-service game. The Hurons came back strong 3-0 for seven sets before the Wildcats answered with two, then went ahead with two more points in the next service. The Hurons trailed 3-6 when Becky Bruning took the service, posting six consecutive points during her turn, 9-6.

ASHLEY FLEMING contributed a tip, two kills, and a shared block, while Lindsey Fleming added a kill and shared block during Bruning?s service. The score rose to RC 11-8, when Ashley took the service and put it away with a Bruning up and over at the net, a misplaced Alpena return, an ace, and another Bruning kill at the net, for the 15-8 win and a chance at the tournament trophy. Unfortunately, one can never discount a very tough Alpena team, and the final game?s rally scoring seemed to energize the Wildcats as they put the Hurons away in nine services, 15-5. Only two points were made on a Huron service. The end of a very long day resulted in Ashley and Lindsey Fleming being named to the six-member all-tournament team, and a second place trophy for a very tired Huron team.

?THEY REALLY hadn?t been doing too

much in their playing and each game they began to accelerate,? said coach Kristy Smolinski. ?They came out and did really well. They did everything to be proud of today. They?re playing to the level where they should be today ? hopefully they?ll stay there.? On the day, Ashley Fleming led with 56 kills, 63 digs, eight blocks, nine ace serves and one set assist. Bruning had 25 kills, 38 digs, two blocks, and six aces, while Lindsey Fleming contributed 18 kills, six blocks and four digs. Sharing of the setting duties gave Carrie Haselhuhn 59 set assists and 20 digs, while Megan Hanson had 37 set assists and 11 digs.

IN MONDAY?S action on home court against Inland Lakes and Onaway, Ashley led with 13 kills, 11 digs, one block and four aces, while Bruning had 11 kills, 17 digs and two blocks. Dana Fairbanks contributed one kill, 12 digs, two blocks, and six aces, while Haselhuhn had six digs and seven assists. Hanson added five digs and six assists. The Hurons will travel to Sault Ste. Marie Thursday (today) before having a week?s rest until the February 14 Ferris State Invitational.