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Montrose's varsity volleyball team spent a lot of time away from home recently, but the Rams managed to add a string of wins to their resume in the process. On Saturday, September 15, Montrose took part in the Carson City Invitational and brought home a second place trophy for its efforts. The Rams split two game sets with Central Montcalm and Big Rapids and swept both ends of a doubleheader with Morey Charter. The Rams then defeated host Carson City 25-23, 25-22 before finally losing in the tourney finals to Montcalm, 21-25, 14-25. Sara Pully had an outstanding day at the net, going 115/121 in attacks and recording 64 kills. She also had seven blocks, nine digs and served six aces among 30 of 32 serving. Other strong performances for Montrose came from Kyrie Diem )61/72 attacks, 26 kills, 56/59 serves, 13 aces), Kayla Pully (51/55 serving, 7 aces, 8/13 attacks with 3 kills), Ashley Gifford (21/22 serving, 5 aces, 13 digs) and Kirsti Groulx (85 assists, 7/10 attacks, 41/41 serving with 4 aces, 14 digs). Ram coach Lisa Conrad also cited Kaytlin Hollowell, Caleigh Robinson, Kayla Pezinski and Jesse Braig for their steady performances. Last Monday, the Rams traveled to Mt. Morris where they completed three-game sweeps of GAC-Blue rivals Bendle and Bentley. Pully once again led the offense with 31 of 37 attacks and 24 kills to go with 4 blocks and 8 digs. Casey Lake returned from an injury to contribute 19 kills on 30 of 36 attacks. Robinson served eight aces on the night and her team scored on 28 of her 38 serves. Diem had 10 kills on 28 of 37 attacking accuracy and Groulx registered 85 sets with 37 assists while hitting on all 18 of her serve attempts.

Montrose completed its busy week by finishing its tour of GAC-Blue crossover rivals, as the Rams made short work of host Genesee and Hamady last Thursday. Montrose pounded the host Wolves, 25-14, 25-3, 25-14 before disposing of Hamady, 25-17, 25-3, 25-2. Pully was once again a formidable force at the net, hitting on 65 of 73 attacks with 35 kills while blocking three shots. Lake served 42 points with 10 aces and connected on 15 of 16 attacks with six kills. She also had five digs. Groulx was at the top of her game, setting the ball up 68 times and converting on 34 assists while serving 12 aces among 32 points.

Ram kickers split pair of GAC contests

Montrose played perhaps its best soccer of the season last week as the Rams dropped a 3-0 decision to league power Goodrich at home on Tuesday before grabbing their first GAC win of the year against Mt. Morris, 3-2, on Wednesday. "We competed with the top team in our league, kept our heads and played with confidence to shut them out in the second half," commented Montrose head coach Chet Ptasnik in reference to Tuesday's scoreless stand-off in the second half against the Martians. Corky Hickmott yielded three goals in the first half, but played a solid game between the pipes for Montrose as he turned away 20 Martian shots on goal. On Wednesday, the Rams spotted Mt. Morris an early goal before scores by Scott Snyder and Brad Smith propelled Montrose to a 2-1 lead at intermission. Snyder booted in a penalty kick at the 19-minute mark and Smith put in a one-timer over the keeper's head on an assist from Logan Dowell with nine minutes remaining in the half to give the Rams their lead at the break. Mt. Morris knotted the score at 2-all seven minutes into the second half, but the Rams then put sustained pressure on the Panther defense and finally broke through with the winning goal midway through the final period on another Scott Snyder PK. "It is good to get the win, which I believe is due to the fact that we have improved our play as a team and as team players," concluded Ptasnik. The Rams now stand at 1-6 in league play and 2-8-2 overall.

Lady Bulldogs roll to pair of volleyball wins

St. Charles swept past Hemlock and Merrill in straight sets last week to improve to 5-1 in match play for the season. The Lady Bulldogs whipped Hemlock, 25-6, 25-10, 25-19 on Monday, paced by Camille Lefevre's 15 kills Sara Mead's 21 assists. Rachel Lichon chipped in with six digs. Visiting Merrill was unable to keep up with the red-hot 'Dawgs two days later, as Lefevre slammed 15 kills to help her team to a 25-11, 25-16, 25-12 plastering of the Vandals. Mead again orchestrated the offense, dishing out 27 assists. Tiffany Reinke was solid with eight passes. St. Charles is off until this Wednesday, when they travel to Ithaca to take on the Yellowjackets.

Montrose soccer team whips Millington, 4-1

MONTROSE Montrose's varsity soccer team won its second game in a row and third of the season last Thursday with a 4-1 triumph over visiting Millington. The two teams fought through a scoreless first half until Jake Edwards scored on an assist from Scott Snyder just seven seconds before intermission to give the Rams a 1-0 lead. Millington scored its only goal of the game just five minutes into the second half to knot the score at 1-1, but Montrose's Brad Smith broke free and found the back of the net to help the Rams regain the lead with 18 minutes to go in the contest. Five minutes later, Smith assisted Kyle Colby for another goal and Smith later completed the scoring with his second goal of the game to give the Rams their final margin of victory. The non league win gave Montrose its second triumph of the week and improves the Rams' overall record to 3-8-2.

Tribe netters best Alma, Caro in tri-meet

ALMA -- Chesaning's varsity tennis team went on the road Wednesday to play a Tri-Valley Conference tri-meet at Alma with Caro, and came away winners with identical 7-1 scores. Against the host Panthers, Chesaning's No. 1 single Jonah Ebenhoeh battled to a 6-4, 6-7 (2), 8-10 loss. At the No. 2 slot, Nick Reynolds posted a 6-2, 6-1 win. Travis Maike and Troy Harmon each won 6-0, 6-0 at the No. 3 and No. 4 spots, respectively. In doubles play, Ryan Deming and Blake Johnston were 6-3, 6-2 winners at No. 1. The No. 2 team of Cole Davis and D.J. Brown were 6-0, 6-1 victors. Taylor Bishop and Jason Muirhead won 6-0, 6-1 at No. 3. Freshmen John Hemgesberg and Chad Ruthig won 6-0, 6-2 at No. 4 in their first varsity action. Against Caro, Ebenhoeh bowed 3-8 at No. 1. Reynolds was a 6-2, 6-1 winner at No. 2, while Maike went 6-0, 6-1 at No. 3 and Harmon went 6-1, 6-2 at No. 4. In doubles, the No. 1 team of Deming and Johnston were 6-2, 6-1 winners. Davis and Brown teamed for a 6-1, 7-6 victory at No. 2. Bishop and Muirhead were 6-3, 6-0 winners at No. 3. Hemgesberg and Ruthig went 6-0, 6-2 at No. 4. The Indians improve to 7-2 for the season with the pair of wins.