Ronan spikes Polson in showdown

Zach Urness

Leader Staff

The Maidens continued to show they are a team on the rise, beating cross-mountain rival Polson last Thursday 3-1 at home to grab their second Northwest A win of the season.

But they also lost in five games to the Bigfork Valkyries, coming up just short in the 15-point tiebreaker, 15-6. Still, it was last Thursday's heated rivalry that left the team pumped up and hungry for more.

"I feel like we've been improving on a pretty regular basis," said head coach Stacey Ropp. "We've been able to get some continuity in our rotations that I think has made a positive difference. Keeping people healthy for both games was also helpful."

Ronan 3, Polson 1

The first two games came down to the wire between the Maidens and the Lady Pirates, with Ronan taking the first game 25-23 and Polson rebounding to win the second game 27-25.

The first game ended on a big note, with Ishan Wylie getting a huge kill to end the game, after the teams traded back-and-forth one-point leads right up to the end.

Ronan jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the second, but couldn't hold on, losing it on serving errors after both teams found themselves tied 25-25.

But the Maidens took control in the third game with a 25-8 dismantling of Polson and followed that up with a 25-19 win in the fourth game to close out the victory. They led 10-4, then 19-11, holding on for the win as Polson struggled to get back into the game.

"The turning point came in the third game," said Ropp. "We eliminated our errors and settled down."

"The first two games they came out really scrappy, keeping balls alive and putting pressure on us," added Ropp of Polson. "They played a great game against us for such a young team. They're getting a lot out of their kids."

Kaylee Larson led the team with 11 kills, five digs, one ace and one assist. Carli Starkel had nine kills, four digs, two assists and one ace. Ishan Wylie had eight kills, three blocks and two aces while serving..

Setter Ashley Cheff had 33 assists and Alison Crenshaw was tops in serving with eight aces and four kills.

The win brought Ronan, for the moment, to 2-1 in the conference.

Bigfork 3, Ronan 2

The Ronan girls showed some real heart on the road against a good Bigfork team, rallying from a two-game hole, but ultimately came up short in the fifth game tiebreaker, 23-25, 19-25, 25-19, 25-23, 15-6.

"We knew they would be tough to beat on their home court," said Ropp. "The low ceiling makes it hard for anyone to come in there. We talked a lot about that before we went."

The Maidens nearly pulled out the first game after being down by a large margin, but couldn't quite pull the trigger and lost the final two points.

"We were very competitive at the end of the first game and tied it at 23," explained Ropp, "but they ended up pulling it off. We kind of beat ourselves in the first two games with unforced errors."

The Maidens dug deep and won the next two games, but lost a heartbreaker in the fifth game, 15-6.

"The girls took the loss harder than they've taken any other," said Ropp. "They really had their hearts in it and left everything out on the court."

The Maidens will travel to Columbia Falls tonight (Thursday, Sept. 27) and to Libby on Saturday.

"We're moving in the right direction," said Ropp. "We're starting to believe in each other."