Knights start 2011 at 3-2 with tourney play at Hartland

Walled Lake Northern began its 2011 season at the Hartland Invitational on Saturday, Aug. 20, finishing the day with a 3-2 record.

The Knights defeated Lake Fenton, Livonia Franklin and Flint Carman-Ainworth in pool play.

However, Northern’s Achilles’ heel was North Branch, which handed the Knights their only pool-play defeat before knocking them out in the tournament’s Gold Bracket playoffs.

Brooke Mayrand had 17 kills and was 41-for-45 serving with 8 aces and 24 assists. Jessica Mutrynowski had 16 kills and was 53-for-59 serving with 6 aces and had 14 blocks.

Courtney Scott had 18 kills and 15 blocks, while Meghan Conrad had 14 kills. Melissa Griffiths led the team with 43 digs.

“The first tournament of the season is always a great time to get all your players opportunities for playing time so that the players and coaches can see areas of our game that we need to work on to build on our success as the season progresses,” said Northern Head Coach Renee Miller.

Northern will next play at the Walled Lake Central Invitational on Saturday, Aug. 27.