Sturgis’ volleyball team advanced to the Gold Bracket quarterfinals at Saturday’s Portage Northern Invitational, falling to Schoolcraft 17-25, 18-25. Wayland won the Gold final 25-17, 25-18 over Battle Creek St. Philip.
The Trojans topped Coldwater 25-15, 25-23 before losing to Schoolcraft 22-25, 21-25 in pool play. In power pool action, Sturgis knocked off Lakeview 25-20, 25-23 and split with Otsego, with both games being decided by just two points.
Kelsey Metzger and Hannah Marchand had six and five aces, respectively, Rachel Anderson finished with 55 kills, Metzger added 79 assists, Anderson also had 14 blocks and Jamie Lioy, Hollie Myers and Metzger shared team-highs with 25 digs.
“We saw some good competition and I thought we did a nice job against both Coldwater and Lakeview,” Sturgis coach Von Metzger said. “We have got to work hard on getting other hitters to help on offense. Right now Rachel [Anderson] is carrying too much of the offensive load. We also must continue to improve our defense as we move farther into our league schedule. We are continuing to improve and I expect to see even more improvement in the coming weeks.”