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DOWAGIAC — It was a battle until the end between visiting Plainwell and Dowagiac in its Wolverine Conference match Thursday night.

In the end, the Trojans would escape with a 3-2 win over the Chieftains. Plainwell defeated Dowagiac 25-19, 23-25, 25-15, 20-25 and 15-9. The loss dropped the Chieftains to 2-4 overall and 2-2 in league matches.

Dowagiac coach Tony Hooley was disappointed with the end result.

“This one stung a bit,” he said. “The whole night was a roller coaster from start to finish as we struggled between ball control and offense.”

Hooley continues to be pleased with junior Megan Davis, who tied with sophomore Alanah Smith with eight kills apiece. Davis also had 18 digs and five aces.

“Megan had a very nice match and was definitely our most consistent attacker and server, while Alanah Smith had somewhat of a coming-out party with easily her best performance of the season in the middle.”

Other statistical leaders for the Chieftains were Riley Stack with six kills, six digs and two aces, while Jessie Hulett had 20 assists, a kill, two aces, 12 digs and a block. Allie Conner finished with 23 digs to go along with an assist, a kill and an ace. Caleigh Wimberley finished with a team-high 28 digs. She also had four kills.

Moving forward, Hooley knows his team has to develop more consistency and be more aggressive up front.

“There were several nice defensive, scrappy plays in the match, but our overall passing was erratic and our blocking was close to non-existent for the second time this week,” he said. “We need to take what we can out of this match, learn from it, and keep pushing forward. There will be better results to come if we keep working hard.”

Dowagiac competed in its quad on Saturday against Cassopolis, Kalamazoo Hackett and defending Division 3 state runner-up Centreville.

 

Brandywine volleyball

SOUTH HAVEN — The Brandywine volleyball team continued on its collision course with Niles Thursday night.

The Bobcats remained undefeated with a 3-1 win over BCS Athletic Conference newcomer South Haven. Brandywine and Niles, which is also undefeated in the BCS, square off on Wednesday.

The Bobcats defeated the Rams 25-12, 22-25, 25-11 and 25-23 to improve to 5-1 overall and 3-0 in the BCS.

Senior Kristen Alvord led the way with 13 kills and 18 digs. Freshman Kadence Brummitt had a big night with 10 kills, a block, a team-high 24 digs and three aces. Brandywine also got nine kills and a block from Clara DePriest. Freshman Ellie Knapp finished with 26 assists, three kills and a block.

Brandywine heads to New Buffalo on Monday for a BCS match with the Bison.