Portagers split home tri-match to close out the regular season

ONEKAMA — The best item to pack on the road to a district title is momentum.

Onekama will take just that into the Class D tournament next week after splitting Friday’s home tri-match and closing the regular season with a win.

The Portagers bounced back from a 25-14, 25-20 loss to Grand Traverse Academy with a 25-20, 25-14 victory over Mason County Eastern.

“I felt we had a lot of momentum going for us in that game,” said Onekama coach Sherri Slater. “The girls were playing very well together as a team, and that’s exactly what I want to see going into districts.

“It was a real good win for us.”

Onekama, which opens its postseason in a district semifinal next Wednesday at Frankfort, was led by Quinn LaMont on Friday with four aces, three kills, a block, and 15 assists between the pair of two-set matches.

Sydney Arendt had four aces and three kills, McKayla Haske had a trio of aces and kills apiece, Hailey Kott had four aces and four kills, Megan Schneider two aces and five kills, and Sami Tiefenthal added two aces and four kills.

The Portagers were adjusting to a tweaked lineup and fresh scheme in their opening match against GTA, and were improving as it went on, Slater said.

“In that game, we were trying a new offense out and had a little confusion on the floor as to who was doing what,” she said. “We were getting that cleared up a little bit more the second game, as far as what the roles were, and then of course you saw that build into our second match.

Onekama’s Tawny Kott sets the ball up during Friday’s regular season finale. (Dylan Savela/News Advocate)

Onekama’s Tawny Kott sets the ball up during Friday’s regular season finale. (Dylan Savela/News Advocate)

“I saw the communication getting better, the movement, and their attacks were better, I felt, than in prior matches.”

GTA secured a sweep on the night by topping the MCE 25-13, 25-9.

Onekama closed the night with a solid pair of sets, in which they never trailed, with the West Michigan D League-rival Cardinals.

Tawny Kott helped the Portagers jump out to a 5-0 lead with four straight service points, and her team fended off a late rally by MCE to hold on to a five-point victory.

The Portagers again played with the lead for all of the second set, as Haske put it out of reach with a five-point service run that took the score to 22-12. Onekama had little trouble closing it out for a win.

“Everybody was doing the job they were supposed to out there,” Slater said. “It was real great teamwork, and it was nice to see it working like it should.”

 

Dylan is a sports writer for the News Advocate. You can reach him at (231) 398-3110 or dsavela@pioneergroup.com.

Varsity Roster

  • 2 Quinn LaMont
  • 3 Mia Johnson
  • 5 Sydney Arendt
  • 6 Megan Schneider
  • 7 Kayla Feil
  • 8 Anna Brown
 
  •  9 Emma Putney
  • 10 Sami Tiefenthal
  • 11 McKayla Haske
  • 13 Tawny Kott
  • 14 Hailey Kott
 

JV Roster

  • 8 Lexi Hammerle
  • 2 Kendra Curtice
  • 3 Lauryn Johnson
  • 4 Alyssan Clarke
  • 5 Kassidy Ward 
  • 6 Grace Hughes
  •  7 Mackenzie Warlin
  • 10 Makayla Spearman
  • 11 Michele Haske
  • 13 Brandi Kilbourn
  • 14 Tiffany Kinn
  •  1 Alexa Welch 

~Volleyball - Varsity 2013
~Volleyball - JV 2013
~Volleyball Grade 7  /  Grade 8 2013
~Football -Varsity (Co-op with Bear Lake)
~Football - JV (Co-op with Bear Lake)
~Cross Country (Co-op with Bear Lake)
~Swim Team (Co-op with Manistee)

 
~Onekama High School 2013-2014
~Onekama Middle School index
~High School Sports at Onekama 13-14
~Middle School Sports 2013-2014
~Photos and Pages by Barb Eldridge, unless 
  otherwise indicated.
~November 1, 2013

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