CRIVITZ, Wis. — Neither Florence nor Niagara came home with top honors from the Crivitz Volleyball Invitational on Tuesday. Tournament winner Mercer left with the bragging rights.

But both local varsity squads did come away from the nine-team invitational with some early-season experience to build on for the rest of the fall 2022 season.

“My girls did a lot of great things today and we learned a lot,” said Niagara coach Carol St. Arnauld. “We need to reduce our serving errors and get off the net. The rest will take care of itself.”

The Badgers faced a stiff challenge right from the start, state tournament runner-up Laona/Wabeno. They then were pitted against Gibraltar.

“My girls played defeated and didn’t play to their potential,” St. Arnauld said. “We ended the tournament with two wins, the first against Goodman/Pembine and the last match against Coleman.”

Morgan Borchardt helped lead the Badgers with six aces, 21 kills, two blocks, 49 assists and 26 digs, while Erin Lukowski added a team-best eight aces, 17 kills, two assists and 30 digs.

Other contributors for Niagara included Abby Wells (five aces, four kills, six assists and 30 digs), Raegan Frappier (five aces, one kill, four assists and 12 digs), Mallory Sanicki (two aces, 16 kills, two blocks, five assists and nine digs) and Emma Brasure (two aces, eight kills, one assist and 13 digs).

“We have a balanced team of both experienced and rookie athletes,” the Badger coach added. “Our returning starters need to play up to their potential and help build the rest of the team.”

Florence also found the competition to be tough. The Ladycats first notched wins against Coleman but then ran into a wall called Mercer.

“We started a little slow and basically fell apart against Mercer, but we regrouped and started attacking again,” said Florence coach Teresa Chrisman. “We finished strong with wins against Gibraltar and Marinette.”

Morgan Tomczak paced Florence with 34 kills. Kamdan Johnson also had an impressive day at the net with 24 kills and nine block kills.

“If this team comes together and our sets get to where we need them, we could really be special,” Chrisman added. “I felt we improved through the day and our hitting was on point.”

Report compiled by Daily News sports editor Dennis Mansfield.