Lady Hornets Bounce Back From Slow Start at Beast of the East Tournament

Saline's varsity volleyball bounced back from two early losses to win the silver bracket at the Beast of the East tournament in Warren Saturday.

The Lady Hornets began the tournament shorthanded and with a tough draw.

The Hornets opened the day against one of the state's top teams and lost 19-25, 25-20 and 13-15. Saline then lost to Lake Orion 17-25 and 16-25 before scratching out a victory over Plymouth-Salem, 26-24, 23-25 and 15-10.

In the silver bracket, Saline was undefeated. Saline opened by defeating Lanse Creuse North, 25-10 and 25-9. In the semifinals, Saline defeated North Farmington 25-19 and 25-23. The Lady Hornets won the bracket with a 25-9 and 25-18 victory over Fraser.

"We started the day with a fair amount of adversity. We were shorthanded and we had a tough draw. Even with all of that we very nearly upset one of the top teams in the state (North Branch) and rebounded after not playing well against Lake Orion to put four solid matches together in a row," said coach Lisa Shea. "I'm happy for the girls when we can walk away saying we played our best volleyball at the end of the day."

Mackenzie Shand had 42 kills, 19 blocks and 28 dogs. Marissa Owen recorded 132 assists and 26 digs. Mackenzie Schumborg (29 kills) and Jessi Markey (25 kills) helped with the offense. Jess Wolma (24 kills and 12 blocks) also had a big day in front. In the back row, Taylor Whitling had 32 digs and Natalie Sheridan and Ashley Richmon each had 24 digs.

"Our back row play from Taylor Whitling, Ashley Richmond and Natalie Sheridan was just awesome," said Shea, who also praised her team leaders. "I was especially happy that we got veteran leadership from Marissa Owen, Mackenzie Shand, Jessi Markey and Mackenzie Schumborg."

The Hornets host Skyling at Monday.