CASSOPOLIS — A new era of Cassopolis volleyball got under way at the Tracy Baker Memorial Tournament on Saturday.

Coach Demi Schrader did not know what to expect when her team opened up play at their tournament. After all, the Rangers graduated a large senior class that helped rebuild the Cassopolis program.

What she learned was that her team has plenty of things to work on, but played better than expected in reaching the championship match before falling to Michigan Lutheran 2-1.

Cassopolis was undefeated on the day, beating Michigan Lutheran 2-0, Southwest 10 Conference foe Marcellus 2-0, River Valley 2-0 and Eau Claire 2-0 in the round-robin portion of the tournament.

In the semifinals, Cassopolis defeated River Valley 25-12, 23-25 and 15-10 to advance to face the Titans once again.

Schrader’s young team hit the wall in the finals after winning the first set 25-15. Michigan Lutheran took advantage of a Ranger team that was out of steam and quit communicating to win the second set 25-12 and the deciding set 15-7.

“We have people who are not used to playing all away around the rotation who got a glimpse of that today,” Schrader said. “We completely ran out of gas that final game. We stopped talking, calling balls and hustling.”

Despite the outcome, Schrader was pleased with what she learned about her team.

“I was very proud of them,” she said. “I did not know what to expect today with a new team.”

 

Westside Shootout

KALAMAZOO — The Dowagiac soccer team went 2-1 at the Westside Shootout hosted by Kalamazoo Hackett on Saturday.

After being shut out by St. Joseph in the first round 7-0, the Chieftains defeated Ann Arbor Greenhills 3-1 and South Haven 5-0.

“We had a rough start against a good St. Joseph team,” said Dowagiac coach Mike Williams. “We woke up and played well the next two games. Our younger players are starting to get to varsity game speed and physicality. Senior night is Monday and would like to see a nice crowd supporting our seniors.”

Ben McCrorey scored a pair of goals and Cristian Wilson the other against Greenhills. Cole Weller had a pair of goals against the Rams, while McCrorey, Wilson and Gustavo Cruz picked up the other goals.

The Chieftains host Coloma in a non-conference match starting at 5 p.m.