MUSKEGON — Montague outpaced its West Michigan Conference Lakes regular-season finish at Saturday's WMC tournament, finishing in fourth place thanks to an exciting opening victory over No. 4 seed Oakridge.
Seeded fifth, the Wildcats edged the Eagles in a close three-game battle, 25-23, 18-25, 15-11 to give themselves a shot at moving up in the standings. Montague fell to top seed Fremont in the semifinals, 25-17, 25-15, and dropped a very tight match to Ludington in the third-place showdown, 25-22, 26-24, to end its day.
Annelyse Schneider continued her all-around season for the Wildcats, racking up 33 digs - a close second on the team, behind Ava Dean's 35 - and pacing the offense with 15 kills and seven blocks. Hallie VanTuyl added 14 kills and five blocks.
Dean led the team with 21 service points on the day, and Layla Denhof posted 41 assists at setter. She also had two aces, which tied with VanTuyl for the team lead.
Whitehall's Delaney Kramer tries to get the ball through Ludington's front line during Saturday's WMC Lakes tournament match.
Whitehall finished sixth in the tournament, matching its regular-season league finish. The Vikings opened the day with a tall task against No. 3 seed Ludington and played the Oroles tough, but fell 25-21, 25-22. Whitehall beat Orchard View in the consolation bracket, 25-11, 25-14, before dropping the fifth-place match to Oakridge in two games.
The Vikings excelled at the service line against OV, with 17 team aces. Braelee Fogus, Maggy Michaelson and Peyton Schultz led the way with four apiece. Aaliyah Jamison had nine digs in that match, and Delaney Kramer notched three kills.
