With conference play just around the corner for several area volleyball teams, four programs battled it out in a quad on Wednesday at Alpena High School.

Rogers City, Cheboygan, Tawas and the host Alpena were among the teams in action. Each team got a chance to play each other in a best of three set.

“We love the quad and love having the competition from our surrounding areas. These teams that we played today are great competition and will definitely help prepare us for our conference games that begin next week,” Alpena coach Stacey McEwen said.

The Wildcats ended up going a perfect 3-0 on the day and were challenged by Rogers City in the their second set of the quad as the two teams battled to a third and final set that featured both teams going back and forth the entire way.

Alpena took the first set 25-10, but the Hurons proved that they weren’t going down without a fight as they clawed their way back to take game two 25-20 to force the third set.

Both teams were neck-and-neck for much of the third set, but the Wildcats proved to be a bit too much for Rogers City on this night, winning by a final score of 15-12.

“I knew Rogers City was going to be a very good opponent, they are a good team and they are well coached. We had to go out and prove we could be as scrappy as they are and be ready for their hard hitters. We prepared for them all week and I thought we did a good job executing,” McEwen said.

Despite both teams missing a few key players all over the court, it didn’t stop the two team from putting together an intense, tight game that went down to the wire.

“We’re still trying to fit people around right now. It’s early in the season right now and everyone is still fighting for a position out on the court and we’re still trying different things,” Rogers City coach Jackie Quaine said. “We made a few mistakes throughout the night and we struggled serving against Alpena which hurt us, but I have to say I was happy that we kept the games close and we proved that we’re not afraid to go out there and fight and show we’re not going to give up. I was happy with the effort and we just need to brush up on the little things.”

The Hurons were led by Kayla Rabeau who recorded 15 digs, 15 blocks, 12 kills and six aces on the night. Taylor Fleming had 20 kills and 14 blocks. Hannah Dittmar added seven kills and four aces. Jayna Hance chipped in with 18 digs and Mary Brege had four aces.

Rogers City finished the day with a 2-1 record as the two wins came against Cheboygan by scores of 28-26 and 25-17. The Hurons also swept Tawas 25-9 and 25-22.

The Wildcats were able to edge Tawas in third set, finishing with final scores of 20-25, 25-13 and 15-10. Alpena finished the day by sweeping Cheboygan 25-10 and 25-19 to complete a solid day under its new head coach.

Kaitlyn Schultz led the Wildcats recording 17 kills and nine aces. Tori Gentry had 20 digs and Allison Precord dished out 42 assists.

“I wasn’t sure what to expect with the team tonight. We came out kind of flat, but this team is really good and have a lot of heart and I thought we steadily improved throughout the night and that worked to our advantage,” McEwen said. “Our biggest thing going forward will be gaining experience because we are such a young team, along with building a chemistry and we understand it’s going to take some time.