The Gators traveled to Warren on September 17th for the Pony Invitational Tournament. The tournament started off with pool play then went into tournament play based off of your pool play recorded. Here the Gators would have the chance to face new teams and teams that they have already seen.
The Gators started off the morning with regular pool play; their first match was against Fertile Beltrami. They Gators started off on more of a shaky start. As the set went on, the Gators were able to come from behind to pull off a 25-23 win. The second set the Gators came out on a better note; serve receive passing was more consistent. Staying hardnosed the Gators were able to pull off a win in the second set, 25-20, to pull off a full win against Fertile-Beltrami.
The Warren Ponies were next on the Gators pool play list. The Gators were looking forward to playing the Ponies; hoping to improve from the last time they saw them earlier this season. They Gators battled hard against the Ponies, but poor serve receive passing and serving errors resulted in a loss to the Ponies; 21-25 and 19-25.
The Gators were to face Mahnomen next for the last regular pool play game. It was important that the Gators won this match in order to compete for third place. The Gators came out playing hard and were consistent on all aspects of the game. The Gators won both sets against Mahnomen 25-21 and 25-21.
Going into tournament play, the Gators found out that they were going to compete against Stephen-Argyle for third place. The Gators were glad they had another shot against Stephen. The first set went to Stephen 25-21 as the Gators were not able to have consistent passing. The second set the Gators turned their game on with consistent passing and attacking which resulted in a 25-18 win for the Gators. Since there was a split, a third set had to be played for the tie breaker. The Gators ropes on Stephen, but critical serving and attacking errors cost the Gators and they lost 12-15; the loss resulted in a fourth place finish.
Throughout the day the Gators were led by Tori Mekash(26), Kate Howell(23), Courtney Kirkeide(15), Katie Langaas(14), Vanessa Burkel(6), and Alyssa Wahl(2) in kills. Vanessa Burkel and Shanyce Bishop with 33 assists followed by TyLynn McKeever with 2 and Courtney Kirkeide, Kate Howell, and Katie Langaas each with one assist. Tori Mekash led the Gators for Aces on the day with 7; following Mekash was Shanyce Bishop, TyLynn McKeever, and Kate Howell each with 6, and Vanessa Burkel and Katie Langaas with 5 each. There was a total of three blocks for the Gators throughout the day; Katie Langaas with two and Kate Howell with one. “Overall, it was a GREAT day for Gator volleyball. Solid, consistent play throughout the day was fun to watch—huge strides and improvement” commented head coach Stacy Dahl. The Gators look to continue to improve as they host the Warroad Warriors on September 20th in the Swamp for Parent’s night. Come to the Swamp and show your support for the Gators. Goooo GATORS!
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