Kats third at divisionals, headed to state tourney

The Wildkats volleyball team will be making the trip to the state tournament in Bozeman this weekend after finishing third at the Western A divisional tournament in Whitefish last week.

The Kats used a series of strong team efforts to go 3-2 at the tournament, defeating Stevensville, Polson and Whitefish while falling to second-place Libby twice.

The Kats opened the tournament with a sweep of Stevensville Thursday, downing the Yellowjackets 25-11, 25-14, 25-13.

Savvy Ellis served five of the team’s nine aces in the victory while Ryley Kehr and Madysen Hoerner each recorded nine kills. Hannah Schweikert had 22 assists and Hoerner led the way in digs with nine while Angellica Street added eight.

The Kats put up a good fight against Libby in the late game Thursday, falling to the Lady Loggers in four sets, 25-19, 19-25, 25-9 and 25-19.

Kehr had 10 kills in the loss while Schweikert added 20 assists and Street had 16 digs.

The Kats bounced back with a sweep of Polson Friday afternoon, downing the Pirates 25-15, 25-16, 25-12 before also sweeping Whitefish 25-14, 25-12, 25-19.

Hoerner led the way with nine kills against Polson while Kehr led with nine against Whitefish. Schweikert had 26 assists against Polson and 27 against Whitefish while Street led both games in digs.

The Kats came up short against Libby again in their final game of the tourney, but pushed the Loggers to five sets, 25-16, 15-25, 23-25, 25-17, 15-5.

The Kats will open the state tournament at noon Thursday against Billings Central.