East Mills runners-up at AHSTW tournament

The East Mills volleyball team placed second at its first tournament of the season at AHSTW Saturday.
The Wolverines (7-1 overall, 1-0 in the Corner Conference) finished 5-1 on the day to take the runner-up position. Their only loss of the very long day was a hard-fought battle with state ranked Riverside, 14-21, 24-22, 10-15.  
“I am very proud of the team for their teamwork and great effort for the entire tournament and especially for bouncing back after the loss to Riverside, re-focusing for the last match of the day against Atlantic winning in three sets,” said East Mills coach Connie Viner.
East Mills notched wins over MVOACOU  21-8, 21-16, AHSTW 21-9, 21-16, Earlham 21-9, 19-21, 15-12, CAM 21-19, 21-12 and Atlantic 18-21, 23-21, 15-4.
Evelyn Stoakes put down 40 kills to lead the Wolverine attack. She also went 46-of-50 on the service line with eight aces while adding 51 digs.
Brooke Jones chipped in 37 kills and Loycee Palmer 36.
Venna Sayers paced the offense with 106 set assists in the six matches.

Wolverines win two at Essex
East Mills opened its volleyball season with a pair of victories over Southwest Valley and Essex on the road in Essex Thursday.
The Wolverines downed the host Trojanettes 25-7, 25-6, 25-10 and Southwest Valley 25-19, 25-23.
“First match of the season was a hard-fought match,” said East Mills coach Connie Viner of the win over Southwest Valley.  “We fought through some nerves and struggled with passing in the second set, but the girls never backed down and finished strong to grab the win.”
Evelyn Stoakes combined for 24 kills in the two wins. Loycee Palmer added 13 and Brooke Jones 12 kills each.
Venna Sayers dished up 45 set assists.