OSCODA - Oct. 10, 2007 - Whittemore-Prescott demonstrated its continual improvement Wednesday, but it was Oscoda that played well enough to win.

W-P picked up the pace in the third and fourth games of Wednesday's NEMC volleyball match, but the Owls held on to take a 25-18, 25-20, 22-25, 25-22 win from the Cards.

"Sometimes we're on, sometimes we're off," said Oscoda coach Laura Franklin. "We're struggling to work as a team, but we'll get there. These girls work hard individually; we just have to put it together."

Margaret Negro led the Owls with 13 kills, with Heather Patterson adding 11. Tiffany Rios had 29 assists and Krystin Inman added nine.

"Despite the loss I was encouraged by our play," said W-P coach Helen Loomis. "Especially in games three and four. Skye Charles came off the bench and played some great back row.

"We also got some awesome blocking from (Heather) Ostrander, (Chelsea) Jasman, (Katie) Eymer and (Larissa) McGeathy."

Eymer finished with five blocks and Jasman three, with the four combining for a total of 12 block kills.

Kayla Camp had four aces, nine assists and 13 service points; Annie Thompson had nine assists; Jasman had eight spike kills; and Chloe Moraitis and Leighanna Loomis had 10 digs with Charles adding seven.

"It was a fun match to watch, with a lot of long volleys," Loomis said.

The Owls improved to 2-3 in NEMC play while W-P dropped to 0-4.