Spikers do well at Missoula tourney
<p>Wildkats Taylir Fairbank, left, and Cydney Finberg dive for a ball while teammate Winter Kemppainen looks on in a match from earlier this season.</p>
As the regular season winds down, the Columbia Falls volleyball team is on an upswing. The girls went 10-4 on the first day of pool play at the Missoula Tournament on Oct. 17-18, including two wins against conference foe Frenchtown, 20-11, 20-12.
The Wildkats also beat Great Falls CMR, 20-7, 20-15, Whitefish 20-7, 20-4, Missoula Big Sky, 20-11, 20-11, and Missoula Hellgate, 20-14, 20-13.
The wins advanced the Kats to the championship bracket, where they lost to Class AA Flathead, 25-18, 25-14 and Class AA Great Falls High, 25-23, 25-15.
The Kats will finish the rest of their season on the road. They face Polson away on Thursday and Whitefish away Oct. 31 to wrap up the season.
Coach Josie Brown is encouraged with the growth of the team, which features several underclassmen.
“We did really well at the tournament,” she said. “I’m pretty excited with how we played.”
Even when the Kats got down in a match, they were able to rally back for wins, Brown said.
With the playoffs a couple weeks away, Brown said the girls will work on improving their defense, which in turn will help their offensive play.
“We need to keep on working on our defense so we can run a quicker offense,” she said. “I’m really excited about where we’re headed and looking forward to the rest of the season.”
The girls are 4-2 in conference play. Frenchtown is 6-0. The Missoula tournament doesn’t count toward conference standings.