MIDLAND - Jan. 27, 2007 - The Oscoda volleyball team endured a tough day Saturday at the Delta Invitational after what was a very promising start. The Owls earned just one split out of six matches.

"It was a pretty disappointing day," said Oscoda coach Linda Hennigar. "I thought we would be more competitive even though we had to switch our 6-2 offense to a 5-1 because we only had one setter make the trip."

In the first game of the opening match, the Owls burst out to a 24-18 lead over Valley Lutheran.

"We started out the day in control of (VL)," Hennigar said. "We led throughout the first game, our defense was doing a great job controlling the attack and our offense was keeping them back on their heels.

"With the score 24-18 ... the bottom fell out of our play and we watched a six-point lead turn into a 26-24 loss. In the second game and pretty much the whole rest of the day we just could not get our game back on track."

The Owls lost the second game to Valley Lutheran 25-15, split with Birch Run 18-25, 25-21, lost to John Glenn 25-10, 25-14, lost to Swartz Creek 25-16, 25-16, lost to Fenton 25-14, 25-15 and lost to Midland 25-16, 25-11.

Margaret Negro had 18 kills, 11 blocks, five aces and 32 service points; Heather Patterson had 19 kills, five blocks and 23 digs; Jeri Carl had six kills and five blocks; Emily Schwedler had 30 assists and 40 points; and Mariko Yamamoto had six aces and 22 digs.

"Mariko Yamamoto and Heather Patterson both played strong games," Hennigar said. "Patterson's offensive game showed improvement."

The Owls dropped to 2-26-4 for the year.