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First of all, a team has to be good enough to win. Playing at home doesn't mean much when the talent isn't there. Even then, it's no sure thing. Anything can happen, especially in the postseason tournaments.

When you have both going for you, it's a difficult combination to stop.

Boyne City's girls volleyball team parlayed its pure talent with the home court advantage and came away with the district championship on Saturday afternoon.

The Ramblers, who improved their record to 38-9-6 and finished 12-2 in the Lake Michigan Conference, defeated Rogers City in the semifinals and dispatched Hale in the championship match.

"Everyone contributed to the win against Hale,"Ramblers coach Casie Parker said. "The Rogers City game went back and forth several times before we pulled ahead.

"We played some of our best volleyball (Saturday)."

Lindsay Clemens was one of the key contributors in the title match, finishing with 21 assists to the setter. Cheyenne Shumaker had 14.

Consistently putting their hitters in excellent position in the front row, the Ramblers finally wore Hale down with booming spike kills.

Jessica Knysz triggered Boyne City's offensive attack at the net, finding the open spots in Hale's defense for 17 kills. Amber Kotalik pounded down 8 kills.

Trisha Tomkins and Stacey Spaniak kept the ball alive with their tremendous hustle in the back row, digging out several shots by Hale and passing them up to the middle row.

Boyne City had a nearly flawless match at the service line, with Kotalik, Caitlyn Wonski, Shumaker, Haley Welch, Hannah Hausler, Hanna Robinson, Clemens and Rachel Stevens all serving at 100 percent.

Avoiding costly service errors permitted the Ramblers to go on some big scoring runs that rocked Hale back on its heels time after time.

Clemens was key for the Ramblers in the Rogers City match with 36 assists.

Kotalik had 4 blocks, 10 kills, 17 digs and 14 serve receptions in another tremendous game overall.

Wonski was tough in the front row with 10 kills. Tomkins added 8 kills, 18 digs and 16 service receptions. Spaniak had 17 digs, and Knysz had 7 kills. Heidi Olsen contributed to the win with a fine day in several areas.

Boyne City moves on to the Class C 23 regional at Kingsley High School. The Ramblers play Kingsley in the second semifinal at around 11:30 a.m. this Saturday. McBain takes on Suttons Bay at 10 a.m. The finals are tentatively scheduled for 1 p.m.