Volleyball team pushes Wildkats to five games

By FAITH MOLDAN —

Bigfork Eagle

After two conference losses, the Bigfork Valkyrie volleyball team couldn't ask for a better time for a break in the action.

The Vals, who lost to Columbia Falls 20-25, 24-26, 25-13, 25-19, 14-16 before dropping a match to Libby 11-25, 16-25, 18-25, play at the Missoula Invite this weekend before hosting Hamilton and traveling to Frenchtown. They resume their Northwest A matches Oct. 25 in Polson.

"It's a great time for tournament play," Bigfork coach Kelsey Jensen said. She said playing some AA schools and running a few new lineups will be beneficial for the Vals. "It's a great time of season, before divisionals. We'll get the feel of playing all day and starting at 10 a.m."

Bigfork, now 3-5 in the conference, couldn't have kept things any closer with the Columbia Falls Wildkats. The Vals lost the first two games, but stormed back to push the match into five games with convincing wins in games three and four. Game five may have been the closest one of all.

The Vals never led in game one, but tied the score twice — once at 9-9 and again at 13-13.

Roxy Thurman did the work for the Vals, tying the game at nine with a kill. She was at the service line when the Vals tied the game at 13 apiece. Thurman finished the night with 10 kills.

The Kats regained the ball on a short serve by Thurman, and gradually pulled away. The Vals kept within three points of the Kats until Alyssa Ladenburg hit the service line and Auttem Osborne recorded a kill to put the game away at 25-20.

"We didn't start with the momentum we needed," Jensen said.

Bigfork's lead slipped away in the late goings in game two. The Vals led by as many as seven points before Columbia Falls crept back within two points —16-14 — and eventually tied the game at 18-18, 20-20, 21-21 and 24-24. The Kats took it from there, winning 26-24.

Bigfork, who welcomed back senior setter Ashlee Gordon but played without middle hitter Jill Hamilton, kept up the fight, making quick work of the Kats in game three. Gordon recorded 33 of the Vals' 36 set assists against the Kats. Junior Varsity middle hitter Lisa Kelecy joined the varsity team while it was shorthanded. The Vals led by two, five, 12 and 10 points before they won 25-13.

"She did a great job for us," Jensen said of Gordon. "She ran the 5-1, playing the front row."

The Vals have been plagued by injuries throughout much of the season, but will have Hamilton back for the Missoula Invite, while Gordon will most likely sit out, as will fellow setter Rachael Luckow.

"We're still moving people around," Jensen said, making the Vals adjust to some new game situations and lineups.

The score again remained close — tied six times — in game four. After tying the game at six apiece, the Kats went on to take a small lead off of some Bigfork errors. Trailing by three points, the Vals tied the game at 16-16 with Avery Vogel at the service line. Vogel had 19 of the Vals' 52 digs. Two Wildkat errors and kills from Thurman gave the Vals a short-lived one-point lead at 17-16 before Ladenburg recorded a kill of her own. Her ensuing serve was short though, and the Vals regained the ball and serve briefly.

Alyssa Fierro got the ball back for the Vals, as one of her 17 kills went off a Columbia Falls block. She had seven blocks of her own during the match. Freshman Mallery Knoll served two points for the Vals with help from Emily Hardman. Hardman, who tallied nine digs on the night, recorded a kill off a Wildkat block. Bigfork and the Kats traded sideouts at 22-19, giving the Vals all they needed for the 25-19 win. Fierro recorded two kills with her dominant presence at the net, sending ball straight back down at the Kats. She recorded five service aces against Columbia Falls.

Game five seemed almost to be a repeat and combination of the previous games with six ties and evenly matched play from both teams. Thurman served the Vals to a 5-5 tie. Her free ball landed in and Fierro's kill was too much for the Kats, as the dig hit the ceiling and was not returned. Hardman did her part at the service line as well. An ace and hit by Vogel made it 9-8 before the Kats sidedout. Fierro made it 10-10 with another kill and the Bigfork defense blocked its way to a 13-13 tie while Ladenburg's kill went out. Osborne came back with a kill for Columbia Falls and tied the game once again — 14-14. The Kats' Sarah Marcille served an ace before Osborne put the game and match away for Columbia Falls at 16-14.

The Vals were out-aced and dug by the Libby Lady Loggers the following evening, as they lost 25-1, 25-16, 25-18.

Hardman, Vogel and Fierro all recorded one ace each, while the Loggers tallied 16 in the match. Thurman led the way in kills with eight. The Loggers nearly doubled up the Vals in digs with 30 to Bigfork's 17. Hardman had five in that category.

On that note, Jensen said the Vals would be working all week on defense.

"Our movement as a team needs to be quicker," Jensen said. "We need to work on defense and serve receive."

The Missoula Invite runs all day tomorrow, Oct. 12, and Oct. 13 at Missoula Sentinel and Hellgate high schools. Games start in the morning and run until 7:30 p.m.

In the freshman and JV matches, Bigfork split with the Wildkats. The freshman team swept the Kats 3-0 with scores of 25-16, 25-16 and 15-12. The JV team played five games, losing 3-2. The Vals won games one and three 25-12 and 15-13.

Columbia Falls def. Bigfork 25-20, 26-24, 13-25, 19-25, 16-14

Kills — Columbia Falls 35 (Alyssa Ladenburg 11), Bigfork 39 (Alyssa Fierro 17), Assists — Columbia Falls 25 (Sarah Marcille 24), Bigfork 36 (Ashlee Gordon 33) Blocks — Columbia Falls 6 (Shiloh Knudsen 3), Bigfork 9 (Fierro 7), Digs — Columbia Falls 36 (Alyssa Ladenburg 11), Bigfork 52 (Avery Vogel 19), Aces — Columbia Falls 14 (Sam Ladenburg 3), Bigfork 8 Fierro 5)

Libby def. Bigfork 25-11, 25-16, 25-18

Aces — BF 3 (Emily Hardman, Avery Vogel, Alyssa Fierro), Lib. 16 (Jackie Mee 5, Brooke Hageness 5). Assists — BF 19 (Ashlee Gordan 18), Lib. 31 (Shelby Barton 22). Kills — BF 22 (Roxy Thurman 8), Lib. 33 (Mee 9, Laice Dedrick 8, Barton 6). Digs — BF 17 (Hardman 5), Lib. 30 (Hageness 8, Crysta Quinn 7, Dedrick 7). Blocks — BF 5 (Fierro 4, Hardman 4), Lib. 4 (Quinn 2, Mee 2).