Tonight's the night Polson goes for No. 2 spot

Jenna Cederberg

POLSON - The Pirates did what they could to guarantee themselves the No. 2 spot in Northwestern-A conference this past week, swinging for two conference wins that helped the team creep up behind Northwestern-A leader Libby, which is No. 1 at 7-1.

First, the Pirates took a match from Whitefish, in Whitefish. The key 3-1 win, which vindicated the team from the 3-2 heartbreaker to the Bulldogs earlier in the season, did a lot to boost the Pirate's record and put them in a comfortable position to take second - if they can hold off Bigfork one last time.

"It was the first time that the girls said they could ever remember (beating Whitefish) … it showed them that we truly are one of the top teams. To go in and beat Whitefish at Whitefish is huge," head coach Jan Toth said.

The team started slow, Toth said, but "once the girls realized the Whitefish team is not just going to give it to us, they stepped it up."

"We went at them offensively and defensively - our key was our tough serving," Toth said

The Pirate's 25-20 first game loss was enough to the Bulldogs to motivate the team, which made up for the slow start with 25-18, 25-18, 25-19 game wins. Junior hitter Christa Redcrow had a strong night against the Bulldogs, finishing with 12 of the team's 48 kills. Junior libero Staci Benson had 16 digs. Junior hitter Nicole Davey had four of the team's 13 aces.

The wins over Whitefish and Ronan brought the team's conference record to 6-3. Bigfork beat Columbia Falls and Ronan last week to move to 7-2. Polson and Bigfork meet tonight to determine the No. 2 spot.

"It's a huge game. Libby already goes in first place, but it determines second place. If you we beat Bigfork we should clearly be second," Toth said.

A Polson win would even the teams' three conference records. If the Valkries beat the Pirates, the No. 2 spot would be determined by wins over the next highest ranking opponent. Bigfork did beat Libby early in the season.

The Pirates made sure to play their game on Friday against Ronan. The area rivalry didn't change warmups or preparation, sophomore setter Kayla Duford said.

"I thought we did pretty good," Duford said. "It was one of our better games."

Duford also said she thought the team did a good job passing the ball to her for the second hit.

Polson did do a good job of controlling the offensive pace of the game, hitting their spots on Ronan's side of the court. The team quickly scored 25 in game one, holding the Maidens to 15.

Thanks to Duford's team-leading 30 assists, the Pirates recorded 39 kills.

Sophomore Sallie Sams led the team with 10 kills. Junior hitter Breanne Kelley had nine kills, a block and four aces. Hitter Davey had nine kills.

Despite the Maiden strong arms Polson had a whopping 65 digs. Maiden seniors Carli Starkel and Kaylee Larson led the team in kills as usual and managed to get a few hits down, but for the most part the Pirates did not let the spikes hit the ground.

Polson was without junior hitter Loni Havlovick, who said she tore several ligaments in her right foot at practice. She was wearing a boot on the foot, and was hoping to be back by divisionals. Toth said on Monday that Havlovick was working hard at physical therapy, and doing everything possible to get back on the court.

"She's strong and she's driven," Toth said. "The swelling is down, she's meticulous in caring for it."

Freshman hitter Riley Kenney got the start in Havlovick's place. She got going after a few hiccups in rotation and coverage, the freshman served three aces. The Pirates finished with eight aces on the night.

"Riley's had to step up and learn a whole new game, she got a little taste of it in the Missoula tournament … at the varsity level it's just a whole different level than the JV. She's just really stepped it up," Toth said.

Kenney slowed the ball down at the net in both matches, Toth said, proving she has what it takes to serve in a varsity match and block the harder hits.

The second game was closer, with Ronan leading early. Starkel kept her hits coming and Larson served the game to 20-20 before the Pirates came back to win 25-23.

The Pirates closed the match with a 25-16 game three win.

The big match tonight against Bigfork will finish regular season play for the Pirates. No matter the standings going into the post season, the Pirates will get a boost by getting to host the divisional tournament on their home court.

"IT will definitely put us in a sweeter spot, we wouldn't play until Friday (at divisionals)," Toth said.

Although the bracket has not been completely set, it seems that the first and second seeds would get a first day bye. The third seed would play the sixth seed. Fourth would play fifth, etc.

Until then, Toth said the team is practicing on a regular schedule.

"Right now we're just continually working on our passing and our serving, which are keys to our success," Toth said.

Toth said that building the players' confidence in serving has won it matches.

"Serving is one of the easiest, fundamental parts of the game," she said. "Once it started working for us … they learned the responsibility of it. Put it at the back line and put it down hard."

The divisional tournament will be take place Nov. 13-15.