Our Lady falls in quarter-finals; Warriors prevail

Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes traveled to Pennfield High School to play in the 23-team Cereal City Tournament on Saturday, Sept. 8.

The Lakers (7-6-2) advanced to the Silver bracket and won its first match against Saginaw Heritage, 23-25, 25-21 and 15-11.

However, Our Lady fell in the quarter-finals to Bronson, 25-19, 12-25, 12-15, finishing with a 1-3-1 record for the day.

“We played some tough teams in pool play, one being the Class D state champs: St. Philips from Battle Creek, where we lost (17-25, 12-25),” Our Lady Head Coach Stephanie Swearingen said. “The team was excited, but nervous to play the reining champs, but I’m glad that we got the experience and know what’s ahead of us if we want to make it far in the Class D tournament.”

Senior setter Haley Howell had eight aces, 74 assists, 13 kills and three blocks for the day, while freshman outside hitter Courtney Wightman had five aces, 30 kills and four blocks.

Junior outside hitter Kristina Krupiak had 12 aces, 22 kills and three blocks, while junior middle hitter Devon Valent had seven aces, nine kills and eight blocks.

Our Lady played its Detroit Catholic League East Division opener against Royal Oak Shrine yesterday, Tuesday, Sept. 11 after press time.

The Lakers will next play at West Bloomfield Frankel Jewish Academy tomorrow, Thursday, Sept. 13 before hosting Detroit Cristo Rey on Tuesday, Sept. 18.

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Walled Lake Western won its Kensington Lakes Activities Association North Division opener against Waterford Kettering in three games, 25-17, 25-19, 25-20, on Thursday, Sept. 6.

Lizzy Rzeznik led the Warriors with 18 kills, while Laura Barts had 15 digs and Allie Gluchowski had 27 assists and nine aces.

Western Head Coach Greg Newton said this is a resurgent season for the Western volleyball program.

The Warriors hosted Walled Lake Northern on Tuesday, Sept. 11 after press time and will host Huron Valley Lakeland tomorrow, Thursday, Sept. 13 before playing in the “Lakes vs. Fields” tournament at West Bloomfield on Saturday, Sept. 15 and playing at rival Walled Lake Central on Tuesday, Sept. 18.

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West Bloomfield traveled to the Huron Valley Lakeland Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 8 and dropped four matches to Northville (15-25, 15-25), North Branch (14-25, 18-25), Rochester (12-25, 16-25), and Farmington (15-25, 25-27).

“We played hard all day,” Lakers Head Coach Julian Wargo said. “We struggled with our passing and our serving. We’ll go back into the gym and continue to work on improving these parts of our game.”

The Lakers (2-6-1) hosted Southfield on Tuesday, Sept. 11 after press time to open Oakland Activities Association league play.

West Bloomfield will then host the “Lakes vs. Fields” tournament on Saturday, Sept. 15 in which the Lakers, along with Bloomfield Hills Lahser and Bloomfield Hills Andover will face Walled Lake Central, Northern and Western.