No 'I' in Lady Bulldogs

The Lady Bulldogs volleyball squad showed off their strong team-focused play last week as they opened Northwestern A conference play against Polson and Columbia Falls.

The team lost a hard-fought match 2-3 on Thursday to the athletic Lady Pirates, before bouncing back against Columbia Falls on Saturday, to win 3-1.

After falling early against Polson, the Lady 'Dogs took decisive wins in the second and third games for a 2-1 advantage.

In game two, with the score 23-18 in favor of Whitefish, senior Jessica Slaybaugh made a nice kill to break a comeback effort by Polson. One point later, junior Heather Bailey found a piece of open court on Polson's turf and sealed the game with a solid kill of her own.

The Lady 'Dogs battled hard for a win in game three — keeping a few long points alive by hustling for loose balls that should have fallen for the Pirates — and it looked as if Whitefish might run away with the match in four games.

But Polson's star hitter, Breanne Kelley, had different plans.

With the Pirates up 16-21 in game four, Kelley ran in from mid-court to receive a set, aired with her shoulders above the net and pounded a spike down on two Bulldog defenders going for the block. The ball slammed with authority in Whitefish's open court without a Bulldog hitter having a chance to react to the play.

The kill signaled a shift of momentum in the match and the Lady Pirates never looked back.

Kelley finished with 12 kills and three blocks for Polson.

The Lady Pirates served up 13 aces and took the final two games 20-25 and 6-15.

"They are a great team with lots of athletes," Lady Bulldogs coach Jackie Fuller said of Polson's high-jumping team. "Jan (Toth) does a great job with them."

Fuller said she was proud of how her girls came out and competed, pointing to the fact that they never gave up — even when they were down by as many as nine points in the final game.

Two days later, Whitefish bounced back from the loss to Polson by beating rival Columbia Falls on the 'Kats' home court in a quick four-game match.

Whitefish's senior Kaitlyn Wehrli led the team with seven kills and 16 digs, while Slaybaugh passed for 16 assists.

Fuller said the win against Columbia Falls could be attributed to great team play.

"Kaitlyn played well, everyone played well," Fuller said. "If we don't get the dig and the pass, she doesn't get the hit. It takes the entire team."

In the second game, the Wildkats jumped out to an early lead behind dominating play from their six-foot, one-inch middle-hitter Kayla DeWit. With the score 11-8, DeWit slammed a kill to take a three-point lead and ignite the Columbia Falls home crowd into a frenzy.

But the Bulldogs rallied back for an 11-12 advantage after a defining block against Columbia Falls' front line, and took the game when five-foot, four-inch Slaybaugh made an impressive kill over two towering Wildkat defenders.

"When we take care of our side, we'll be OK," Fuller said about playing against teams with a height advantage, like Columbia Falls. "We don't have a lot of height, that's not Whitefish. We can't focus in on that. We have to take what we have and be strong."

Whitefish wrapped up the match with a 25-18 win in game four. The teams were tied six times in the final game until Madison Tveidt blocked a kill attempt by DeWit, followed by her finding the open seam in the Kats' defense and tapping in a point for a 10-12 lead.

The Lady Bulldogs won the game on a Slaybaugh kill, 25-18.

The team next plays on Sept. 11 in the Northwest / Southwest tournament in Anaconda.

Fuller says the tourney will be a great opportunity for her team to play a lot of volleyball while growing as a singular unit.

"We're going to spend a lot of time together," she said. "It will help us develop our team attitude and we will only get better from it."

Polson 3, Whitefish 2

25-14, 18-25, 21-25, 25-20, 15-6

Kills - Polson 45 (Breanne Kelley 12), Whitefish 35 (Kaitlyn Wehrli 15). Blocks - Polson 6 (Kelley 3), Whitefish 5 (Olivia Nagler 3). Digs - Polson 101 (Staci Benson 24), Whitefish 105 (Wehrli 22). Assists - Polson 36 (Kayla Duford 34), Whitefish 33 (Jessica Slaybaugh 18). Aces - Polson 13 (Loni Havlovick 7), Whitefish 5 (Slaybaugh 2).

Whitefish 3, C. Falls 1

25-20, 25-17, 17-25, 25-18

Kills - Whitefish 30 (Kaitlyn Wehrli 7), Columbia Falls 29 (Kayla DeWit 8). Blocks - Whitefish 3 (Heather Bailey 2), Columbia Falls 5 (DeWit 2). Digs - Whitefish 75 (Wehrli 16), Columbia Falls 61 (Brooke Cady 16). Assists - Whitefish 19 (Jessica Slaybaugh 16), Columbia Falls 37 (Casidee Skiles 30). Aces - Whitefish 2 (Wehrli, Olivia Nagler), Columbia Falls 5 (Shay Grilley 4).