The Lady Blazers hosted the Chiefs from Cheboygan Thursday night, and fell hard in a tough match, 0-3 (14-25, 11-25, 14-25).

Game one belonged to the Chiefs early on, and their hard-hitting attack, combined with a dink-and-dunk approach at the net, kept Kalkaska off balance defensively, making it hard for them to get anything going offensively. In game two, Kalkaska started stronger, but Cheboygan’s relentless offense and strong defense kept the Blazers from gaining momentum. In the middle of game two, the Blazers saw Kenzie Kniss go down hard and leave the game with an injury, though it looks like she’ll be able to return to play within a week or less.

Cheboygan controlled game three from the start, and while the Blazers never gave up on a single point, Thursday night belonged to the Chiefs. Despite the rough night, the Blazers still managed to have some great moments (as usual!). Violet Porter had some big blasts from the middle, and Bailey West was strong from the outside. Due to the injury to Kenzie (and the continuing challenge of having libero Alli DeVol still on the injured list), Lauren DeVol, Hannah Rhoades, and Bailey West also played strong from positions in which they don’t usually play.

Thursday certainly was not a typical game for these young ladies from Kalkaska. They have a  couple of practices before getting back at it Tuesday night in East Jordan for the Blazer’s first conference game of the season. Opening serve will be at 7pm, so come cheer on this great team as they face a strong rival.