Boyne City advances in D2 district, sweeps Grayling
GRAYLING — The volleyball postseason is all about handling your business one point, one set and one match at a time.
Doing anything more is how point runs come for the other side of the net and how sets and matches can turn into a season ending.
When Boyne City opened Division 2 district play on the road Monday at Grayling, the Ramblers followed exactly what they had to do to keep the season alive and advance in their district.
Boyne City leaned on the Ava Tarsi and Morgan Deming connection once again, with Deming closing out the final two matches to help give the Ramblers a three-set sweep over the Vikings.
The win advances the Ramblers into a Division 2 district semifinal match at Kingsley against the Stags at 7 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 2.
Also within the district, Cheboygan will meet Kalkaska at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.
In the opener against the Vikings Monday, the Ramblers built a 21-15 advantage late, extended it to a 24-15 advantage and then earned a 25-16 victory on an Aubrey Burns hit into a Grayling block that went out.
Set two started out as all Ramblers, with Deming and Burns both getting Boyne City going with a strong start, which included a 7-0 lead and eventual 11-1 start.
The Ramblers later built their lead to 19-6 on a Burns kill, then a kill by Deming brought it to 24-8 and another then brought on the win in a 25-9 victory.
With the season on the line for Grayling, the Vikings weren’t going to let things go easily in the third.
After a back and forth set in the early points, Grayling took a 13-9 advantage, then 16-12. Boyne tied things on a Brook Williams block, then Boyne later took a 20-18 advantage.
Bri Ager then took over the serve for the Ramblers late and served up some points, then Deming closed things on a big middle kill in a 25-19 win.
Deming led the Ramblers with 12 kills, five digs, four aces and served at 100 percent, Tarsi had 20 assists, four digs and three aces and Burns finished with seven kills, six digs and two aces.
Braylyn Rincon also had eight digs and served at 100 percent, Elly Wilcox had six kills and five digs and Ager had nine digs. Williams also had seven digs and a block.
The matchup with the Stags will come as the first of the year for the Ramblers. A win would then put them in the district final against the Blazers or Chiefs on Thursday, Nov. 3 at Kingsley.
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Boyne City advances in D2 district, sweeps Grayling
