LAWTON — It was an up and down day for the Dowagiac volleyball team at the Lawton Invitational on Saturday.

The Chieftains played well in their first three matches against host Lawton, Lake Michigan Catholic and Fennville, but struggled in the final match of pool play and the first round of the championship format.

“We started the day off with three wins and playing fairly well,” said Dowagiac coach Tony Hooley. “In our last match of pool play against Bridgman we served aggressively with a few errors and passed very well, but struggled on offense. Then, against Lawton in the first round of the playoffs, we couldn’t overcome our many miscues to advance to the finals.”

Dowagiac defeated Lawton 25-16 and 25-19, defeated LMC 25-13 and 25-15, and defeated Fennville 25-14 and 25-6.

Bridgman handed Dowagiac a 25-24 and 25-24 loss in the final round of pool play.

The Blue Devils got revenge on the Chieftains in the semifinals with an 18-25, 25-23 and 15-10 win.

Dowagiac’s Nicole Whan, a transfer from Grant, played well, according to Hooley. She led the team in assists with 62, and aces with 21, while she also had 16 digs and nine kills.

“Nicole Whan had an outstanding day all-around,” Hooley said. “She had one of the most dominating days at the service line as I have seen with 21 aces and her ability to get to, and improve, every pass and put up a hittable ball was impressive.”

Hooley was also pleased with Riley Stack and Allie Conner.

“Our pin players did a fine job carrying the offense with Riley Stack leading the way with 19 kills,” he said. “Allie Conner turned in a great day statistically with 18 kills, .364 kill efficiency, 96-percent serve-receive efficiency, 2.42 pass rating and nine aces. Anna Dobberstein had a Spartan-like performance in the back row and led the team in digs with 24.”

Dowagiac is back on the court Wednesday as it travels to Delton-Kellogg for another tournament.