Lady spikers lose heartbreaker

By DAVID ERICKSON — Whitefish Pilot

If you weren’t at Tuesday night’s Northwestern A volleyball showdown between defending state champion Whitefish and undefeated Libby, you missed a spectacular show.

With the crowd and players roaring after every point, the two teams went back and forth all night, with beautiful offensive and defensive plays coming from both sides of the net.

By the time the match went into the tie-breaking fifth game, the intensity was at a fever pitch. Whitefish gave the Lady Loggers a run for their money, but in the end Libby won the game with a more disciplined defense and fewer mistakes.

The Lady Bulldogs showed they can hang with the best and went down swinging by scores of 23-25, 25-15, 19-25, 25-22 and 12-15. Three or four crucial defensive plays by Libby made all the difference, but the Lady Bulldogs gave it everything they had.

Ashley Ferda, with her distinctive chewing-gum, had the best offensive game of any player on the court. She looked calm as she registered 21 of her team’s 45 kills.

“It was a really fun atmosphere,” she said. “But when we need the points, we slacked off and they made us pay.”

Brielle Menegazzi and the Lady Bulldogs played their hearts out, feeding off the boisterous home crowd. Menegazzi made several diving defensive plays to spoil sure kills for the Lady Loggers. She finished the night with 22 digs, and several of them would be hard to believe, even with instant replay.

The Lady Loggers came out strong, fired up by a large showing of Libby fans. They took an early lead in the first game, but let Whitefish come to within a point at the end.

The lead changed countless times throughout the night, but Libby took game one. The Lady Bulldogs, however, completely dominated the second game, winning by the largest margin of the night.

Libby regrouped for the third game and won the back-and-forth struggle with solid defense. Faced with elimination, the Lady Bulldogs rallied to win the fourth game, coming back from a four-point deficit.

In the fifth and final game, Whitefish looked like they had finally found an offensive answer for Libby’s stout defense. They took an early four-point lead, and the crowd began screaming for a victory. The Loggers made several key plays, however, when they needed it. Libby won the game by three points, but the Lady Bulldogs left everything they had on the court.

“Give Libby credit, they out-hustled us,” Whitefish head coach Jackie Fuller said. “They moved the ball around and kept us off-kilter.”

Fuller said she appreciated the boisterous crowd.

“We’re really lucky that people come out and support us like that,” she said.

The Lady Spikers downed the Lady Wildkats 25-15, 25-16, 25-11 on Saturday at Whitefish High School.

Shannon Kalbfleisch got things rolling for Whitefish with three quick kills right off the bat to set the tempo for the game.

Ferda led the Lady Bulldogs with 13 of the team’s 38 kills. Menegazzi was again all over the court, with 11 digs and three blocks.

After the conference win, Whitefish moves to 5-1 in Northwestern A action and 6-1 overall.

Kills - C. Falls 19, Auttem Osborne 9; Whitefish 38, Ferda 13; Blocks - C. Falls 4 (Cady 2), Whitefish 3, Brielle Menegazzi 2; Assists - C. Falls 12, Sarah Marcille 12; Whitefish 35, Farmin 26; Digs - C. Falls 38. Staci Penc 12; Whitefish 43, Menegazzi 11; Aces - Columbia Falls 5, no leader; Whitefish 8, Kate Klundt 2.

The Whitefish Lady spikers swept their Northwestern A opponent Bigfork on Thursday by scores of 25-13, 25-21, 25-18.

Menegazzi was unstoppable, leading the Lady Bulldogs with 10 kills, six blocks and 15 digs. Ferda also had 10 kills and 12 digs.

McCara Collen and Hailey Farmin finished with three ace serves apiece, and Kate Klundt had five blocks.

The Valkyries, led by Alyssa Fierro, had 30 kills to Whitefish’s 29. Whitefish out-aced Bigfork 13-5.

Kills - Wf. 29 (Menegazzi 10, Ferda 10) Bf. 30 (Fierro 9). Blocks - Bf. 3 ( Fierro 20, Wf. 13 (Menegazzi 6, Klundt 5). Assists - Bf. 22 (Wilken 12), Wf. 26 (Hailey Farmin 16). Digs - Bf 31 (Kelly Deaton 6, Roxy Thurman 6) Wf. 45 (Menegazzi 15, Ferda 12) Aces - Bf. 5 (Thurman 4), Wf 13 (McCara Collen 3, Farmin 3).