VOLLEYBALL

The Foresters had a full weekend of volleyball at the Aquinas/Cornerstone Classic in Grand Rapids where they left winless to drop to 9-20 on the year.

Shondell’s crew started out at Cornerstone and played the host Golden Eagles right off the bat. It was sweet revenge for CU as they swept the Foresters, 25-12, 25-22, 25-17, to make for a 1-1 draw on the season as HU got the best of them in four back in August.

“It was pretty clear Cornerstone had been waiting for our trip to Grand Rapids,” said Shondell. “They we’re relentless in about every capacity.”

Compliments of Cornerstone’s 12.5 blocks, the Foresters struggled to get much going offensively on the way to posting their lowest hitting percentage of the season. Brandy Michie finished with ten of her team’s 26 kills with Jenna Tacosik assisting half of those kills. Ariene Butler posted a match-high 21 digs to pace Huntington’s defense.

HU had a short turnaround before taking on UNOH in their second match of the evening. The Foresters outlasted the Racers in the first set and then kept it close the next three sets but came up short each time for the 3-1 loss, 24-26, 25-22, 25-18, 25-19. It was Huntington’s second loss to UNOH, the first in their season opener.

After registering just three blocks against CU, Huntington righted that wrong against UNOH by collecting 11.5 blocks, their second highest match total of the year. Lindsay Ingenito led the charge at the net with 4.5 blocks which included two solos.

Offensively, Tacosik directed traffic by passing out 31 assists. Her favorite targets were Michie and Paige Eakright who finished with 11 and nine kills respectively. Eakright added 12 digs for the double double while Butler also finished with double digit digs (26).

Another bright spot for Shondell’s crew was behind the line. HU tallied 12 aces with Tacosik recording a career-best six of them.

Saturday morning saw the Foresters get off to a great start by winning the first two sets against Siena Heights before running out of steam to lose their 11th five-setter of the season, 30-32, 19-25, 25-23, 25-19, 15-4.

“Siena Heights was resilient, and stuck around long enough to make us pay,” noted Shondell. “Nobody likes blowing a 2-0 lead, especially when you have late leads in a third set, but we can add this match to our list of learning opportunities.”

Lauren Cresse tallied a career-high 13 kills and three blocks to make her presence known at the net on either side of the ball. Eakright added ten kills.

Shondell liked what he saw in his 6-0 middle. “Lauren was great on both sides of the ball for us, once she gets going, our whole offense flows better.”

Butler continued her dominance at the defensive end by establishing a new career-high with 38 digs.

It was déjà vu against #RV Aquinas Saturday afternoon. Just like their previous two matches, the Foresters won the first set but couldn’t keep up after that to lose in four, 25-27, 25-17, 25-20, 25-12. It marked their fourth and final match of the weekend.

Michie and Eakright each registered ten kills in the losing effort. Tacosik and Breanna Levings took turns directing traffic to finish with 17 and 14 assists respectively. As was the case all weekend, Butler led the Foresters defensively with 12 digs and for her effort was named to the First Team All-Tournament Team.

“Ariene never stops working,” said Shondell. “She’s a rare type that doesn’t see scoreboards or excuses and just wants to do her job as well as humanly possible.”

Cresse earned Second Team All-Tournament honors.

HU now turns their attention back to league play with a road trip to Taylor on Wednesday for a 7:00 p.m. clash with the Trojans.