Volleyball team presses on in conference action

By FAITH MOLDAN - Bigfork Eagle

The Bigfork Valkyrie volleyball team saw some good things against conference opponents Libby and Whitefish, despite not recording a win.

The Libby Lady Loggers topped the Vals first Sept. 13, winning 25-11, 25-18, 25-22 and the Lady Bulldogs won the following night 25-16, 25-21, 25-8.

Momentum was the key word against Libby. The Vals increased their momentum, but not enough for a win.

Game one was back and forth between the Vals and Libby. Bigfork led early before Libby jumped out to a two-point lead. Bigfork went on a scoring run with Alyssa Fierro, who led the Vals in kills with eight and blocks with four, at the service line. Roxy Thurman tallied nine of Bigfork's 21 digs against the Lady Loggers.

Libby's Brooke Hagness put a stop the the Vals' run and Jackie Mee helped serve the Lady Loggers to their own scoring run. With Mee at the line, Libby jumped out to a nine-point lead. Bigfork scored just two more points before Libby clinched game one 11-25.

It was all Bigfork during the early goings in game two. Fierro recorded a kill to get a Bigfork sideout and the Vals' first point of an 8-0 lead. Libby eventually tied the game at 15 apiece and then at 16-16 with a kill from Mee. Libby led the rest of the way and won 18-25.

"We really have to work on that momentum," Bigfork coach Kelsey Jensen said. "That stuff will come. They're improving every single game. They play with their hearts out there."

Libby led game three until Bigfork jumped ahead with Jill Hamilton at the service line. A couple of blocks and a Fierro kill made the score 7-8 and a net violation and ace from Hamilton made the score 9-8. Ashlee Gordon led the Vals with three of their five aces in the match. She also had 11 set assists. Claire Wilken had five.

The game continued the back-and-forth action that started in the first two games. The Vals and Lady Loggers traded points, tieing the score nine times. Libby gained the lead, which it didn't relinquish, with a kill from Nichole Newman. Her kill made it 20-21. As in game one, Bigfork scored just two more points in its effort to comeback, but lost 22-25.

"Libby's a great team with hard, aggressive hitters," Jensen said. "We'd give them the serve and they'd serve four or five points. We need to get the ball back as quick as possible and focus on defense and passing."

The momentum and aggressiveness that Bigfork picked up toward the end of its match with the Loggers held strong through two games with the Whitefish Lady Bulldogs the following night.

Jensen said the Vals were excited to play Whitefish, a tough team in the Northwest A conference. She also said she thought the intensity from the Libby match would be beneficial for the Vals against the Lady Bulldogs.

Trailing Whitefish 1-5, the Vals made a go of it and came to within two points of the Lady Bulldogs (7-9) before Whitefish was able to jump ahead 10-15 with an ace and passing and hitting errors by the Vals.

"We started slow," Jensen said. "Whitefish is a really good passing team."

The Vals picked up the pace, but could not get any closer than 16-25 to give Whitefish the game one win.

Game two was close through to the very end, when Whitefish led by as many as five points. The Lady Bulldogs did so with McCara Cullen at the service line. She was helped by her teammates' tips that fell just out of the reach of diving Vals.

"Teams are seeing the open holes. We need to get to where we need to be," Jensen said about Bigfork's defense.

After signs of a comeback from the Vals, the Lady Bulldogs got the game point and won 21-25.

Service errors added to the Vals' difficulties in recording a win over Whitefish. The Vals recorded zero ace serves throughout the match. Whitefish recorded eight aces.

The third and final game was all Whitefish. The Lady Bulldogs led 0-6 before the Vals were able to get a sideout on a long Whitefish serve.

Bigfork's chance at scoring from the service line didn't last long, as Gordon's serve went out of bounds and Ashley Ferda tallied five points to make the score 1-12 before Bigfork would get to serve again. Gordon and Wilken shared the set assists, with Gordon tallying 11 of 19 and Wilken eight.

Jensen said Gordon, along with Vogel, Fierro and Thurman stepped up their play and leadership during the match. Positive signs to their first-year coach. Fierro and Vogel topped the Vals in kills. Fierro recorded seven and Vogel had six. Fierro also had two blocks while Vogel had four digs, as well as Jill Hamilton.

The Vals and Lady Bulldogs traded many a sideout after that point in the game. Each team scored just one or two points at a time, but Whitefish had a large enough lead built that it was able to maintain its lead and win 8-25.

Bigfork continues its conference play this week with matches in Columbia Falls and against Ronan. The Vals, now 1-3 overall and 0-2 in conference, travel to face the Wildkats today, Sept. 20, at 4:15 p.m. and host the Ronan Maidens Saturday, Sept. 22, at 3 p.m.

Libby def. Bigfork 25-11, 25-18 25-22

Kills — Libby 29 (Jackie Mee 8, Brooke Hageness 7), Bigfork 16 (Alyssa Fierro 8), Assists — Libby 26 (Shelby Barton 21), Bigfork 16 (Ashlee Gordon 11, Claire Wilken 5. Blocks — Libby 4 (No leader), Bigfork 4 (Fierro 4), Digs — Libby 32 (Megan Wedel 11, Laice Dedrick 7), Bigfork 21 (Roxy Thurman 9), Aces — Libby 14 (Mee 7), Bigfork 5 (Gordon 3).

Whitefish defeated Bigfork 25-16, 25-21, 25-8

Kills — Whitefish 32, Ashley Ferda 11, Brielle Menegazzi 8, Shannon Kalbfleisch 6 Bigfork 22, Alyssa Fierro 7, Avery Vogel 6; Blocks — Whitefish 2, Kalbfleisch 1, Dana Labuda 1 Bigfork 3, Alyssa Fierro 2; Assists — Whitefish 29, Hailey Farmin 21 Bigfork 19, Ashlee Gordon 11, Claire Wilken 8; Digs — Whitefish 37, Ferda 16 Bigfork 19, Avery Vogel 4, Jill Hamilton 4; Aces — Whitefish 8, Jade Hansen 3 Bigfork 0.