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CASSOPOLIS — The Cassopolis volleyball team protected its home court against Bangor in its Southwestern 10 Conference opener Thursday night.

The Rangers defeated the Vikings 25-18, 25-22, 18-25 and 25-19.

“Tonight, we played decent,” said Cassopolis Coach Kaisha Martin. “I have confidence in my team, and know we are the top team in the conference, so I expected more, but we got out our first conference game jitters, and we are ready for war. Not taking anything away from Bangor because they are a good team. But we were battling ourselves with mistakes. So, we are going to go back to the drawing board, and be more than ready for Decatur on Tuesday. We have a goal, and that is to be conference champions, and we will do whatever it takes to take that title.”

Senior Ella Smith had nine kills, six blocks, one ace and four digs. Fellow senior Atyanna Alford had 18 kills, three aces, 11 digs and two blocks. Senior Ryli Burks added 16 kills, 12 digs, three aces and two blocks.

Junior Mackenzie Boyer had two kills, three aces, and 18 digs for the Rangers. Sophomore Ryley Bowsher added 24 digs with five assists. Sophomore Tori Burks had a strong outing with two aces, four kills, and 46 assists to help in trying to make a comeback against the Vikings. Junior Janayla Frankin also had five kills, and two blocks for the Rangers.

The Rangers will host Decatur in another Southwest 10 matchup Tuesday night.