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With the his players relying much on the more difficult jump-serve, McDowell's Lady Raiders finished with a 3-2 record, bowing out the the first play-off round to Ubly.

"I lost it for us," said McDowell, ...."but we're trying to look ahead.

"It was our first competition and we weren't going in with high expectations," continued McDowell. "But, as it turned out, if we wouldn't have jump-served, we probably would have went further. We missed a total of 51 serves"

McDowell said his team's serving percentage was in the 70s, far less than his past teams' usual 90 percent or more.

"We found out a lot about our team, though," explained McDowell. "We have three kids that are consistently able to jump serve."

In pool play, Marlette defeated Flint Kearsley (26-24, 25-10), Harbor Beach (25-17, 25-19), and Oakland Christian (25-16, 25-20) and lost close games to USA (23-25, 22-25).

The Lady Raiders then dropped the playoff round opener to the Bearcats, 25-21, 22-25, 13-15.

Jenna Lange, an All-State hitter last season, led Marlette with 44 kills and seven blocks Amber Woods added 26 kills. Defensively, McDowell praised the play of his libero, Jenna Thompson, who turned in a strong passing effort.

The Lady Raiders are back on the tournament circuit this Thursday at the New Lothrop Invitational.

Lady Redskins go 0-4

Sandusky opened its season on Saturday at Bad Axe , going winless in four matches. The Lady Redskins lost to Bad Axe (7-25, 13-25), Bay City Western (16-25, 10-25), Hale (18-25, 18-25), and Mt. Morris (10-25, 16-25).

First-year varsity coach John Galvan said his young team will get better.

"Our team needs a lot of work yet, but we are sure to get this team going. The tools are all there, but it just needs some old-fashioned training."

Senior Kelsey Moore led the Lady Redskins with 17-of-18 serving (3 aces), 41 assists, 11 kills and 18 digs. Hannah Bulgrien added 20-24 serving (4 aces); Jessica LaDuke went 17-18 serving (5 aces) and had 10 kills and 13 digs, and sophomore Katelyn Ruggles chipped in with 31 digs, and three aces.