Valkyries stopped by Stillwater, Thompson Falls
Sometimes a team learns more from a loss than a win. So last week’s pair of losses — to Stillwater Christian School and Thompson Falls — may have been doubly educational for the Valkyries.
The Bigfork girls (4-2, 2-0) came close to picking up a victory in their game against Thompson Falls on Saturday on the road. The Vals won the first game 28-26, which was a sign that it wasn’t going to be an easy match.
“It was a tight game. They’d get a couple of points up on us and then we would come back at them,” said Tracy Wicklund, Bigfork High School head volleyball coach. “No one wanted to lose that first game. We were evenly matched all the way through. All of the teams in our district are pretty evenly matched. I think they’re all pretty comparable.”
The Vals ended up losing the second game 25-18, winning the third 25-21 and losing the fourth 25-22, to bring the match to a tie left in the hands of a tiebreaker game.
“Thompson Falls didn’t want to lose and we didn’t either,” Wicklund said.
However, in every volleyball game one team has to lose, and on Saturday it was Bigfork that fell 15-10.
“We had the first three points. We jumped on them, but then their second server came out and got six points on us,” Wicklund said. “That was a hard one. We just couldn’t get it going. It really didn’t go the way we wanted it to.”
In addition to facing tough competition in Thompson Falls, the Vals were also adjusting to new positions on the court.
“We’ve done a little changing in our lineup,” Wicklund said. “Kianna has gone back to libero and Brittany (Schnell) is playing in the front row. It is going to take some time for us to adjust to the change, but it will help us in the long run."
The Valkyries garnered 34 kills during the match, led by senior Melissa VanDerveer, who spiked 14 kills, and sophomore Tessa Robertson, who had nine. Robertson, VanDerveer and Amber McDaniel, a senior, each made two blocks to account for the team total of six. VanDerveer also led her team in digs with 22 of the Vals’ 81. Senior Kianna Wicklund and sophomore Alanis Stallknecht were Bigfork’s serving leaders with four aces apiece, while the team had a total of 16. Senior Taylor Peck was responsible for 21 of the team’s 23 set assists.
“This match was a tough match,” Wicklund said. “They played really hard. With Brittany in the front row I think it’s really going to help us, but we just have to get used to it. With the change-up we should be able to cover a lot more of the hard hits. Our defense should get a lot stronger.”
Earlier in the week, Bigfork hosted Stillwater Christian in a Tuesday night nonconference match in which the Vals were unable to win a game.
“They stayed optimistic through the whole thing,” Wicklund said. “They didn’t let down.”
Bigfork fell 25-21, 25-10 and 25-15.
“Stillwater is a very tough team. I think they haven’t lost in two years,” Wicklund said. “We knew they were going to be a tough team for us to go up against, so we wanted to try to use some of the plays that we have been working on, but it didn’t work. They were right there at the net to stop them.”
Wicklund credited the close result of the first game to her team’s defensive skills.
“They weren’t sure of Tessa at first, so with her up there she made them hold back a little bit,” Wicklund said. “We were fielding their serves pretty well.”
Overall, Bigfork put together 15 kills, seven assists, 28 digs and five aces, but was unable to make any blocks. Robertson led in kills with five, and Peck was responsible for all seven assists. Wicklund and VanDerveer had eight and seven digs, respectively. Stallknecht led in serving with two aces.
Up next
The Valkyries are on the road all this week as they take on two District 7B opponents. Thursday they will play in Mission (St. Ignatius) and Saturday they travel to Troy.
Bigfork’s next home volleyball match is Tuesday, Sept. 27 during Homecoming week.