The Homer Mariners varsity volleyball team traveled to Grace Christian to take on the rest of the peninsula and the state in the Lady Grizzly Invitational Tournament this past Friday and Saturday.

In rapid tournament play over the weekend, Homer battled hard to come out with an overall record of 3-5 in pool play Friday.

After starting off losing to tough competition in East and Soldotna, Homer picked up key wins on Friday over Sitka (won set 25-23), Houston (won set 25-17) and Monroe Catholic (won set 25-11).They lost their lone contest against Kenai on Saturday (11-25) to finish sixth overall in Pool A.

Pool play was used to seed Saturday bracket play. Homer played in the Gold Bracket, the second-best bracket in the tourney.

The Mariners tied for fifth in the bracket, losing to Seward and Sitka.

Kenai took the tournament outright through winning the first-placed Platinum Bracket of the invitational. Nikiski won the Gold Bracket, while Soldotna was third and Seward was fourth.

Mountain City Christian Academy took first place in the third-placed Silver Bracket.

Senior Regan Baker was the sole Homer Mariner named to the all-tournament team. Baker leads all of the Mariners overall on the season in digs and receptions, with 164 and 205, respectively.

The Mariners return to the court on Friday in Anchorage with the Dimond/Service Volleyball Tournament.