Bucs place 5th in O-K Red

Mon, Nov 2, 2009    to del.icio.us

The O-K Red Conference features five volleyball teams ranked in the state's top 10 in Class A, so winning the conference tournament is a tall task.

Hudsonville accomplished just that on Saturday, while Grand Haven placed fifth. The Buccaneers settled for fifth place in the final league standings as well.

Grand Haven suffered a disappointing loss to Rockford in the opening round, 25-20, 25-17, then bounced back to throttle Muskegon, 25-9, 25-9. Grand Haven seemed poised to beat East Kentwood after a 25-23 win in Game 1, but the Falcons won the next two games, 25-19, 15-9, to knock off the Bucs.

Grand Haven finished its day with a 25-20, 25-19 win over Grandville.

"We started off slow against Rockford in the first game and battled back, but it wasn't enough. In Game 2, we started fast and faded at the end," said interim coach Aaron Smaka, whose team is now 42-16 on the season. "This team realizes we can play with anyone in the state. It just comes down to execution. We're right there. We just have to keep getting better."

Alyssa VanderStel finished with 72 assists for Grand Haven. Mindy Marx had 32 kills and 11 blocks while Kristin Woods added 16 kills and 11 blocks, and Emily Franks chipped in with 20 kills.

Robyn Power had 35 digs for the Bucs, followed by Kristen Reenders with 23 and Alexa Weisgerber added 16.

Laura Kooistra led the Bucs with 10 aces.

Grand Haven hosts the Class A district tournament this week. The Buccaneers received a first-round bye and will face either Kenowa Hills or Reeths-Puffer on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.

The winner of that match advances to the district final, which was originally scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday, but will be moved so that volleyball fans can also attend the Buccaneers' football playoff game at Rockford, which begins at 7 p.m. Smaka expects a final decision on the game time to be announced later today.

WMC GOES 1-1

Western Michigan Christian lost its opening-round match in the River Valley Conference tournament on Saturday, falling to Freedom Baptist, 25-21, 16-25, 15-8. The Warriors then defeated North Pointe Christian, 25-21, 25-21.

Anne VanRees had 38 assists and three aces for WMC, while Erin Knochenhauer led the defense with 26 digs to go with her 16 kills. Lauren Merz added 24 digs, 12 kills and a block, and Elyse Ray had five blocks. Rachel Bruinsma added three blocks and five aces for WMC, which hosts the Class D district tournament this week.