The Oxford varsity volleyball team set out this past Saturday to avenge their poor showing at the Imlay City tournament last weekend.
The Ladycats were focused, determined, and competitive all day long at the Goodrich High School Invitational. In pool play, the Ladycats defeated Lake Fenton and Romeo, and split with Imlay City.
After advancing out of pool play in second place, Oxford faced and defeated Armada in the first round of playoffs.
Next up, the Ladycats went head to head with league foe and 20004-2005 FML champs Lapeer East. Oxford prevailed, beating the Eagles 26-24 and 25-17.
Continuing their winning streak, Oxford came from behind to defeat powerhouse Port Huron Northern. Northern took the first game 25-21 from the Ladycats, but Oxford fought back in the second game to win 24-21.
In the third and final game, the Ladycats needed a win to move on to the semi-finals.
Port Huron Northern was up 14-10 before Oxford sided out the ball. Junior Kaity Fischer stepped up to the challenge serving 2 aces in a row to make the score 13-14.
Oxford’s offense and defense were relentless in the final 3 points in the game to win 16-14.
In the semi’s, Oxford was paired up with nemesis North Branch for the second week in a row, and for the second week in a row, North Branch ran away with the win. Oxford lost the game 25-14 and 25-12.
‘It was really a heartbreaking loss,? head coach Kristi McDevitt said. ‘We had played so well, so awesome up until that game and just fell apart.?
At the start of the North Branch game, Oxford had been playing volleyball for ten hours straight, with little breaks in between games.
‘We just ran out of gas, not physically, mentally. ? McDevitt stated. As for her teams overall performance, McDevitt was very proud.
‘We had a few heart to hearts last week as a team, put some things out in the open for discussion, and talked about what we wanted to be as a team. On Saturday we put it all together as a team, as a unit. Of course we still have some kinks to work out and improve on, but this weekend was a great starting point, they saw what they are capable of together.?
Oxford finished the day 5-1-1, and improved their overall record to 6-2-3.
Junior Danielle Wicker had a stellar day, finishing with 27 kills, 7 aces, 59 digs, and 80 percent passing.
Senior captain Mykala Salquist finished with 27 kills and 17 blocks, and senior Courtney Wright stepped up HUGE for the Ladycats with 10 blocks and 25 kills. The entire team finished the day with 132 kills and 80 percent passing.