By By SCOTT NOVAK / Dowagiac Daily News
Host Portage Northern eliminated Dowagiac from the Lady Huskies' own invitational on Saturday.
The Chieftains reached the playoff round after going 0-3 in pool play, but knocked off Lakeshore in a crossover match.
The win over the Lancers was the first in decades for the Chieftains against Lakeshore.
Dowagiac lost to Portage Northern in the opening match of pool play, 10-21 and 3-21. Dowagiac fell to Wayland in the second match, 18-21, 23-21 and 11-15. In the third match of pool play, Kalamazoo Loy Norrix defeated the Chieftains, 13-21, 21-18 and 10-15.
Dowagiac then knocked off Lakeshore 21-18, 20-21 and 16-14 to advance into the playoff round. The Lady Huskies then knocked the Chieftains out of the tournament with an 18-21, 21-20 and 14-16 victory.
"Our middles continue to learn and are getting better every time they play," Dowagiac coach Carl Greulich said. "Allison (Frontczak) and Sarah (Shelton) accounted for a lot of our offense and defense. Emily Primley had a solid day all the way around. This was a tough tournament and the entire team fought hard for every point. We were the smallest team at the tourney, but we matched up well with our athleticism.
"I finally got almost all the players some playing time and they did a nice job," Greulich continued. "Stephanie Barnas ran the show from the setting position sharply. Our win over Lakeshore is my first at Dowagiac, so that felt good."
Primley led the Chieftains in kills with 27. Shelton finished with 25 kills. Frontczak led the squad with 11 blocks, while Shelton had seven blocks.
Barnas completed the tournament with 69 assists. Primley and Brittany Bruens had six and five aces respectively for the Chieftains. Brittany Gnatz finished with a team-high 33 digs, while Primley had 14 digs.
Dowagiac is back in action on Thursday when it travels to Allegan for a Wolverine Conference match.