LocalSportsJournal.com
ONEKAMA — The Hart girls volleyball team traveled north to participate in the Onekama Invitational on Saturday and finished 3-0-2 to win the championship.
Hart faced off against Onekama, Lake Leelanau St. Mary’s, and Grand Traverse Academy in round robin play.
Starting out the day against Onekama, the Pirates took the first set, 25-23. Despite the strong start, the Pirates were not able to hold onto the momentum in the second set and fell 23-25, ending the match in a 1-1 tie.
The Pirates then faced a strong St. Mary team in the second match. They lost the first set 14-25, but regained their focus and dug deep to come out to win the second set 25-23, ending that match in a 1-1 tie.
For the final match in round robin play, the Pirates faced Grand Traverse Academy, started out strong and never looked back, winning in two sets, 25-17, 25-16.
After a much needed food break, the Pirates advanced to bracket play seeded second.
The Pirates faced off against the number three team, Onekama. In an all-out team effort, the Pirates won the first set, 27-25.
Set number two was back and forth before the Pirates took the lead and finished with a 25-21 win, which put the Pirates in the championship match against St. Mary.
With some great attacks and digs the Pirates pulled out a 25-23 win in a back and forth first set.
Mya Chickering served the Pirates to an 8-0 lead, but the Eagles weren’t done yet and they pulled out a 22-25 win, forcing a third set.
Hart won the toss and served to kick off the final set of the day. Chickering once again served the Pirates up to a commanding lead of 8-0.
From great digs, to straight down kills and awesome blocks, the Pirates finished set three with a bang and a 15-10 win.
As a team, the Pirates served at 89 percent on the day and received serve at 81 percen.
Individual leaders included Chickering who served up 10 aces, added twp assists, 29 kills, four blocks and 11 digs.
Mariana VanAgtmael was 45-of-49 serving with six aces, added two assists, two kills, and 43 digs.
Addi Hovey served up four aces, had 50 kills, six blocks, and eight digs.
Gabby Schmieding was 30-of-32) with six aces, had 29 assists, seven kills, and four digs.
Rayah Helenhouse contributed five assists, one kill, and one dig.
Kelsey Copenhaver was 4-of-4), had four assists, two kills, two blocks, and three digs.
Grace Gamble served up four aces, three assists, two kills, and two digs.
MaKayla Rockwell finished 24-of-25 at the service line, had 29 assists, five kills, and six digs.
Laura Bitely contributed 16 digs
The Pirates improved to 10-2-3 on the season and have a home game on Tuesday against Mason County Central for their second West Michigan Conference-Rivers match of the season.
