Linda Eyer
Oscoda's Briana Findeisen knocks one over the net at Saturday's Whittemore-Prescott Invitational.

WHITTEMORE-PRESCOTT - Feb. 2, 2007 - Oscoda picked up a win and a split in four matches Saturday at the Whittemore-Prescott Invitational, making for one of the more successful weekends of the Owls' season.

The Owls lost to state-ranked New Lothrop 25-14, 25-9, defeated Skeels Christian 25-20, 25-17, split with Hale 18-25, 26-24 and lost to Whittemore-Prescott 25-13, 25-20.

Oscoda coach Linda Hennigar said that the Owls' up-and-down play was typical of their season so far.

"We would play well in short spurts and then play poorly the rest of the time," she said. "When our passes were on target our sets would not be there. When our passes were on target and ours sets were there, our hitters would error.

"We just could not get all the phases of the game in sync at the same time."

The Owls gave New Lothrop a battle for a short while but Hennigar said their opponents' aggressiveness at the net took the Owls out of their game. The Skeels game was sloppy on both sides of the net, though the Owls ended up winning it.

Hale controlled the first game of their match with the Owls, but Aubrey Thurston served out after the teams were tied at 24-24 to take the win.

"Against Whittemore-Prescott, we struggled from the beginning to the end," Hennigar said. "About the only bright spot was our serve receive, with Heather Patterson and Mariko Yamamoto at 92 percent."

Statistical leaders for the Owls were Margaret Negro with 19 kills, 10 blocks and 31 service points; Heather Patterson with nine kills, 11 blocks and 17 digs; Briana Findeisen with six kills and four aces; Jeri Carl with eigh blocks; Yamamoto with five aces and 18 digs; Kayla Young with four aces; and Emily Schwedler with 29 assists. The team served at 91 percent efficiency, with a serve receive of 83 percent for the day.