MONUMENT – The Monument-Dayville volleyball team played three good matches and emerged as champions at the Tiger Volleyball Tournament on Saturday, Oct. 19.

In the opening match, the Tigers defeated Spray in three games 16-25, 25-20 and 26-24, and then came right back to defeat Long Creek 25-23, 25-21.

In the final match, the Tigers were a 27-25, 25-10 winner over Burnt River.

“I changed the setters rotation in practice and it seems to be working really well in matches for us,” Tigers’ coach Carrie Jewell said.

On Thursday, Oct. 17, the Tigers picked up a forfeit victory over Ukiah in a league match before losing a TriCo League match on Friday in four games to Spray.

Monument-Dayville is now 5-3 in league matches and 8-4 overall.

“It was a really tight match against Spray on Friday,” Jewell said. “We nearly had a chance to pull the fourth game out. We were down 24-23, but we missed our serve to give them the game and the match.”

Long Creek was a winner over Burnt River in three games at the Tiger Tournament and was also the winner over the Bulls in a league match on Friday.

“We took them in three games and that makes it a three way tie for first place in the TriCo League standings,” Long Creek coach James Hixenbaugh said. “We have one game remaining in the league against Mitchell on Thursday which we should be able to win. If there is still a three way tie, they are going to flip a coin to decide seeding for the district tournament.”

Both Long Creek and Monument/Dayville will be playing in the Spray Tournament on Saturday. The first match is set for 9 a.m.