Vals buck the Broncs

By FAITH MOLDAN

Bigfork Eagle

The Bigfork High School volleyball team has struggled to stay injury free the past couple of matches, but have still been able to win.

The Vals, now 6-6 overall, beat two non-conference opponents last week. Bigfork topped the Hamilton Lady Broncs in Bigfork 25-9, 17-25, 22-25, 25-17, 15-11 before traveling to Frenchtown and winning 25-17, 14-25, 25-20, 25-23. They did so without middle hitter Jill Hamilton and setter Ashlee Gordon. Both are out with injuries. Hamitlon°Os will be out the rest of the season.

With the match against Hamilton on the line, the Vals, who welcomed back previously-injured setter Rachael Luckow, came back to win the necessary games four and five. Any momentum the Vals acquired in game one against the Lady Broncs fell short and the Vals began making mistakes that prevented a simple three-game match on Bigfork°Os senior night.

°()()We°Ore hoping to peak at the right time,°+/- Bigfork coach Kelsey Jensen said.

The Broncs jumped out to a 6-0 lead, and scored two more points to make the score 2-8 in game two. That°Os when Emily Hardman stepped to the service line for the Vals and served an ace. She had two aces in the match. Hamilton hit a free ball into the net twice, and another Hardman ace brought the Vals within one point of Hamilton. Alyssa Fierro tied the game at eight apiece with a block. Mallery Knoll also recorded a kill before the Broncs sidedout with the score 9-9. Knoll finished the match with nine kills and led Bigfork in digs with 17.

Bigfork hung with Hamilton as the game progressed, keeping within three points of the Broncs with a kill from Avery Vogel to make it 12-15. Vogel tallied 30 of the Vals°O 40 set assists against the Broncs. The Vals were within three points of Hamilton again with Roxy Thurman at the service line. She served two aces and Hardman added a kill. Dayna Moerkerke stopped the Vals°O comeback and scoring with a kill. Mistakes, such as net violations and a bad free ball by the Vals aided the Broncs in their 25-17 win of game two.

Things seemed to be going better in game three for Bigfork, as the Vals led 6-1. Bigfork maintained its lead with Fierro at the service line. She ended the match with three aces. Fierro and Knoll both recorded kills to keep the Vals ahead by eight points. Knoll and Hardman were called for lifts though, allowing the Broncs to cut into the 10-4 Bigfork lead.

Hamilton laid it on the Vals, with tips and aces to run up its score. Bigfork held onto its lead until Ashley Albert tied the game for the Broncs at 12 apiece. Hardman broke that tie with a kill, but the Broncs came right back and eventually took a four-point lead. Fierro did her part in helping the Vals comeback efforts. She notched two kills with Megan Thole serving for Bigfork and added a tip to get the ball right back for Bigfork. More Bigfork errors and Hamilton aces kept the Vals from overcoming the Broncs, despite Vogel°Os and Knoll°Os efforts. Both had kills, but Albert put the game away for the Broncs 25-22 with a kill of her own.

Games four and five were must wins for the Vals. They made quick work of the Broncs in game four, which was tied 4-4 early. The Vals broke that tie and led 10-5 with a kill from Thurman. The Broncs tried their best to cut into the Vals°O lead. They scored one point with a kill that went through Hardman°Os and Thurman°Os block attempt to make the score 11-7. Thurman was second in digs for Bigfork. She recorded 16 digs for the Vals. Hamilton lost the ball with a net violation by Alicia Toews.

The Vals used the Hamilton mistakes to their advantage and Fierro and Thurman finished off the game for Bigfork. Fierro recorded three kills in the final seven points of game four and also had a block, which put the Vals up by 12 points. Fierro led the Vals in blocks with seven. Thurman also had a kill with Fierro at the service line. The Broncs were unable to return Fierro°Os serve and the Vals won game four 25-17.

Fierro kept up her scoring prowress in game five. She killed the ball and then served two aces to lengthen the Bigfork lead to 5-2. With the Broncs creeping back and almost tieing the game, Fierro tallied a kill, tip and block to keep the Vals ahead of the Broncs 13-9. Another Fierro kill put the Vals within one point of a win, but Fierro served long and the Vals had to earn their game and match point at the net. Thurman and Knoll sent down the Broncs for the 15-11 game-five win.

It was all Vals in game one against Hamilton. The Vals led 5-0 before the Broncs were able to score on a Bigfork net violation. Fierro recorded one of her 26 kills in that scoring run. It wasn°Ot long before the Vals came storming back. Bigfork rattled off five points with and ace from Knoll and another Fierro kill to lead 12-3. Another kill from Fierro gave the ball back to the Vals.

Bigfork allowed the Lady Broncs to score five more points as the teams traded sideouts often before the Vals went on another run of their own. Fierro started the scoring run with a kill to make the score 19-9 and kept it going with two more kills. Knoll recorded a kill and Vogel served up an ace as the Vals won 25-9.

The Vals got the best of the Frenchtown Broncs a bit quicker than they did Hamilton. Bigfork beat Frenchtown in four games on the road.

°()()Frenchtown had improved a ton since we played them in the Hamilton tip-off tournament,°+/- Jensen said. She added that the Broncs had some big hitters that did well and challenged the Vals.

Fierro had exactly half of Bigfork°Os 42 kills against Frenchtown. She also recorded seven blocks and five aces. The Vals out-killed the Broncs 42-27. That fact was also reflected in the Vals°O set assists. Bigfork tallied 35 assists, 19 from Vogel, while Frenchtown had just 15 set assists. Vogel also led the Vals in digs with 12.

Jensen said the Vals would focus on serve receive this week, an important week for all the Northwest A teams looking for a good seeding at the divisional tournament.

°()()This week°Os really big for us. We need to win to get the third seed,°+/- Jensen said.

The Vals play the Lady Pirates in Polson today, Oct. 25 and travel to Ronan Saturday. They return to Ronan next Thursday, Friday and Saturday for the divsional tournament.

Bigfork def. HamiltonA6P525-9, 17-25, 22-25, 25-17, 15-11

Kills °(TM) Ham. 26 (Dayna Moekerke 10), Bf. 50 (Alyssa Fierro 26, Malory Knoll 9). Blocks °(TM) Ham. 3 (Ashley Albert 3), Bf. 7 (Fierro 7). Assists °(TM) Ham. 23 (Nicole Gwynn 19), Bf. 40 (Avery Vogel 30). Digs °(TM) Ham. 86 (Albert 19), Bf. 69 (Knoll 17, Roxy Thurman 16). Aces °(TM) Ham. 14 (Gwynn 5), Bf. 7 (Fierro 3, Emily Hardman 2).

Bigfork def. Frenchtown, 25-17, 14-25, 25-20, 25-23

Kills - Bigfork 42 (Alyssa Fierro 21), Frenchtown 27 (Laura Geis 12). Blocks - Bigfork 9 (Fierro 7), Frenchtown 15 (Preslee Maki 7). Digs - Bigfork 12 (Avery Vogel 12), Frenchtown 36 (Alex Duncan 9, Sierra Scheffer 9). Assists - Bigfork 35 (Vogel 19), Frenchtown 15 (Bridget Yarnall 14). Aces - Bigfork 12 (Fierro 5), Frenchtown 9 (Maki 4).