Make that seven straight for the Niles volleyball team.

The Vikings won their seventh consecutive tournament as they defeated the host Bears to win the St. Joseph Invitational Saturday.

Niles went 5-0 on the day as it defeated Hartford, Paw Paw and Edwardsburg in pool play.

The Vikings were the No. 1 seed and defeated Lakeshore in the semifinals 25-19 and 25-20.

In the title match, Niles edged St. Joseph 25-20 and 25-20.

“It’s exciting to watch these girls keep setting goals, working hard and achieving them,” Niles coach Jenny Nate said. “We are going to have to dig deep this week. We have a lot of tough volleyball ahead with the Gull Lake Mini on Tuesday followed by our SMAC conference tournament next Saturday.

“We need to work hard to beat these teams and prepare for districts which kick off on Nov. 1. I know this team can do anything they set their minds to and I’m excited for the remainder of our season.”

Bela Rasler had another big weekend as she led the Vikings with 54 kills. The junior also had 21 points, two aces, five blocks and 40 digs.

Lexi Smith finished with 47 kills, 29 points, five aces, four blocks and 34 digs.

Carly Barton had 29 points, six aces, six kills, 47 digs, 109 assists and a block.

 

JOSEPH INVITATIONAL

At St. Joseph

Niles match scores

Niles d. Hartford 25-8, 25-14.

Niles d. Paw Paw 25-20, 25-15.

Niles d. Edwardsburg 25-19, 25-20.

 

Semifinals

Niles d. Lakeshore 25-23, 25-17.

 

Finals

Niles d. St. Joseph 25-20, 25-20.

 

Niles individual statistics

Leading scorers

Bianca Pickens 34 points, 5 aces

Carly Barton 29 points, 6 aces

Lexi Smith 29 points, 5 aces

Bre Love 21 points, 2 aces

Bella Rasler 21 points, 2 aces

Madison Cavanaugh 9 points, 1 ace

 

Kills

Rasler 54

Smith 47

Abbie Harpenau 9

Barton 6

Nola Wallace 1

Megan Kohler 1

Nikki Nate 1

Jora Barnes 1

 

Blocks

Wallace 6

Rasler 5

Harpenau 5

Smith 4

Kohler 4

Nikki Nate 2

Barton 1

 

Digs

Love 47

Rasler 40

Smith 34

Pickens 21

Barton 21

 

Assists

Barton 109

Varsity records: Niles 43-3-4.

 

Edwardsburg match scores

Edwardsburg s. Paw Paw 19-25, 25-23.

Edwardsburg d. Hartford 25-6, 25-23.

Niles d. Edwardsburg 25-18, 25-20.

St. Joseph d. Edwardsburg 25-18, 22-25, 15-10.

 

Edwardsburg individual statistics

Audrey Bellina 23 digs, 3 aces, 33 kills

Skye Leach 10 digs, 14 kills

Emma Nelson 31 digs

Claire Alby 22 digs, 70 assists

Natalie Longo 11 digs

Kylie Meek 12 digs, 4 aces

Megan Lee 8 kills

Brayden Curtis 7 kills