Time off seemed to energize the Niles volleyball team.

Playing their first match in 10 days, the Vikings looked sharp and picked up three wins Wednesday at the SMAC 6-Pack Tournament held at Niles High School.

How impressive was Niles?

The Vikings biggest deficit was two points.Niles beat Battle Creek Lakeview, 25-13, 25-11, Battle Creek Central, 25-10, 25-6, and Gull Lake, 25-19, 25-14.
“It was a total team effort,” Niles volleyball coach Jenny Nate said. “I’m very proud of their work. They really dug in at practice during the 10 days we were off without matches. When you have that much time off and some really hard practices you really don’t know what you’re going to get in a match. I’m so pleased. They’ve really come together and are very fluid and are communicating better. They’re pursuing the ball and hitting the lines as a group. There was ball at the wall tonight and I had six players going at the wall.”

Niles jumped out to a 15-6 lead in game one against Battle Creek Lakeview.

A 13-2 run gave the Vikings a 14-5 lead in game two.

Niles never trailed against Battle Creek Central and only trailed once at 1-0 against Gull Lake.

The only time that the Vikings struggling was during the Gull Lake match when the Blue Devils went on a 7-0 run to pull within 22-17 in game one. Gull Lake recorded four service aces during that stretch. But Nate decided not to call a timeout and Niles responded with a 3-2 finish to win the game.

“I had two subs in during that point,” Nate said. “They were in the back and they have to learn to dig and fight a little bit. I want them at times to feel the tension and stress and work through that. I trusted them and I wanted them to trust themselves.”

Kelsey Barton totaled nine kills, 57 assists and three service aces for the Vikings. Bella Rasler added eight kills, five service aces and four blocks, while Alex Smith had 10 kills.

 

SMACK 6-PACK

At Niles

Niles d. Battle Creek Lakeview 25-13, 25-11

Niles d. Battle Creek Central 25-10, 25-6

Niles d. Gull Lake 25-19, 25-14

 

Individual Statistics

Points/Aces

Bre Love 21 points, 2 aces

Bella Rasler 18 points, 4 aces

Carly Barton 16 points, 1 ace

Peyton Cavanaugh 15 points

Holly Walker 14 points, 3 aces

Kelsey Barton 12 points, 3 aces

Kills

Bella Rasler 15

Kelsey Barton 15

Lexi Smith 11

Jazmin Brann 11

Nola Wallace 8

Blocks

Bella Rasler 9

Jazmin Brann 7

Lexi Smith 5

Nola Wallace 5

Digs

Bre Love 26

Kelsey Barton 15

Bella Rasler 13

Holly Walker 10

Peyton Cavanaugh 5

Lexi Smith 4

Carly Barton 4

Assists

Kelsey Barton 30

Carly Barton 27