Salem's volleyball team cut through a talented field of teams at Saturday's Ida Invitational like a knife through hot butter.

  The Rocks captured their first title of the season, ousting a formidable Tecumseh squad in the final, 22-25, 25-23, 15-8.

  Salem knocked off Ann Arbor Pioneer, 20-25, 25-7, 15-11, in the semifinals and Monroe Jefferson, 25-18, 25-22, in the quarters.

  "Overall it was a great tournament," said Salem coach Amanda Nies. "There was very good competition and we really needed some play since we have been off the past couple of weekends.

  "They played great today. We would get in moments of serve-receive errors and not communicating, but they did a great job getting past that and fighting to win, which is something we have been working on. Today it worked."

  Salem won five of six games in pool play, sweeping Pioneer, 25-18, 25-15, and Mason, 25-9, 25-15, before splitting with Tecumseh, 16-25, 25-20.

  Nicole Merget enjoyed an outstanding day for Salem, recording 61 kills, 13 aces, 11 blocks and 36 digs.

  Jillian Sommerville also shined for the winners, notching 43 kills and 14 blocks.

  "Jillian played the best I've seen her play all season," said Nies. "She was so explosive and running different play sets, which is really important for our offense. She did an excellent job executing her attack today."