Onward
for Onekama
Portagers
top Sabers, move on to district final
By DYLAN SAVELA, Manistee News
Advocate Sports Writer
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
FRANKFORT — Drawing a first round bye in
the Class D district tournament gave Onekama the luxury of waiting until
Wednesday to make the trip to Frankfort. But the Portagers won’t have
much time to rest after beating Manistee Catholic Central in the
semifinal, 25-19, 25-15, 25-18.
The win earns them a spot in the district final tonight at 7 p.m.
against West Michigan D League foe Mason County Eastern, which beat
tournament host Frankfort in Wednesday’s second match, 25-13, 25-13,
25-11.
Onekama’s victory over the Sabers is the fourth of the season.
“We just came in great spirits,” Portagers
coach Lanette Keith said. “We wanted to be here and wanted to stay.”
The Portagers’ biggest deficit of the night was three points in the
first game, but Onekama’s Kailani Buckner served a string of eight
points to turn a 9-6 Saber lead into a 14-9 Onekama advantage.
MCC tied the game at 16-16 but was unable to jump ahead.
Onekama’s Ashley Hobart served a string of four points to give her team
an 11-5 lead it wouldn’t relinquish in the second game, which was
followed by a string of five serve points from the Portagers’ Ashley
Schultz to cushion the advantage.
“Everybody was really on their serving tonight,” Keith said of her
team’s ability to string points together. “And we just worked really
well together out on the floor, and were quick on the net.”
Onekama showcased more of the same to close out the match in the third
game.
Despite a knotted score at 11, Onekama was able to pull away and earn
its shot at the district title. |
With the loss, the Sabers’ season comes to
an end, but coach Maryann Allen wasn’t disappointed in the performance.
“They’re a little down on themselves right now, but I think we played
very well,” she said “They covered the floor, and had some wonderful
serves. Onekama just covers the floor well. We needed to hit harder
rather than just hit it over the net. It was a really great
season. They’re a great group of girls,” Allen added. “I think we’ve
grown a lot during the year, which is to our benefit since we have only
one senior.”
The Sabers’ Holly Gamache leaves as the MCC’s lone senior.
“I’ve already asked her where she’s going to college so she can come
back and help,” Allen said of Gamache. “She was a tremendous asset to
the team. She’s a great leader, she covers the floor, and is a wonderful
server.”
In the match for the Sabers, Gamache had four kills, one assist, seven
digs, and served a string of four points, Alex Barnett had three aces,
five kills, two assists, six digs, and two strings of three points.
As for the Portagers, they’ll look to
avenge an earlier season loss to the WMD co-conference champion
Cardinals in tonight’s district final. “There is no time to practice
between, so we had a really hard practice (Tuesday),” Keith said. “We
came (Wednesday) with a great attitude, determined to win, and will just
come back with the same (today).” |
