Spikers keep winning

After three conference games in three days, Whitefish’s volleyball squad has a much better idea of where it stands among the league’s best teams — and they like where they’re at.

The Lady ‘Dogs knocked off Ronan and Columbia Falls at home before dropping a close match at top-rated Polson to wrap up a busy week on the court.

“I’m excited about where we are right now,” Whitefish coach Jackie Fuller said. “I feel like we’re coming together at just the right time. The girls are starting to trust each other and believe in each other. The more playing time we get, the better we’ll get.”

Whitefish looked sharp against rival Columbia Falls, although the first game was highly competitive. The ‘Kats jumped out to a 13-20 lead and looked poised to grab an early win. Whitefish, however, found its footing and put together an impressive rally.

Baylee Tveidt scored a resounding block to make it 16-22, and the ‘Dogs knocked off seven consecutive points to tie the score at 22-22. The ‘Kats jumped back up 22-24 before Brooke Silliker and Baylee Tveidt combined for a game-changing block. After a 24-24 tie to send the game to extra points, senior Heather Bailey launched at the net for the winning kill.

Whitefish carried the momentum into the next game. Taylor Havens led the charge as Whitefish opened up a 9-0 gap with the junior at the service line. Later, Silliker put down an ace and Abby Strellnauer blocked a kill to make it 15-3, as Whitefish went on to win the game 25-7.

The ‘Dogs’ three seniors, Madison Tveidt, Heather Bailey and Olivia Nagler, took over the match in the third game. Tveidt had a big kill to make it 4-2, and Nagler later served up an ace. Tveidt and Bailey combined for big points at the end of the game to give Whitefish the 25-13 win. Tveidt finished with eight kills and Bailey had six digs.

At Polson, Whitefish put up a good fight, but Breanne Kelly and the Lady Pirates proved to be too much in the 1-3 loss. Bailey led Whitefish with 12 kills and 13 digs.

“Polson is a really great ball club,” Fuller said. “We played right with them, but their experience got us.”

Fuller noted that despite the loss, she thinks Whitefish can play with Polson on any given night.

“I think my team can play with anybody,” she said.

As the squad heads into their final stretch of regular-season matches, coach Fuller says the team needs to become stronger mentally on the service line if they want to compete with teams like Polson.

“That’s the dark cloud over us,” she said. “We have to get better at not making those mistakes at the service line. It’s a hole we need to get out of.”

Fuller said the team will have plenty of chances to get better this week in games at Flathead and with the Missoula Invitational tourney.

“They’re going to push us, which is good,” she said.