Lady Pirates hope to overcome adversity
<p>POLSON PIRATE Hannah Fryberger attempts a kill in the match with Whitefish Saturday. In the first match Fryberger got four consecutive aces.</p>
POLSON — Facing the perennial state championship contender Whitefish without two key components Haley Fyant and Chadelle Smith, the Lady Pirates were undaunted in the first set.
Hannah Fryberger recorded four consecutive aces in a row against the conference foe to elevate her team to a 27-25 victory at the conclusion of the first game of the match.
Coach Patty Luetzen and the rest of her Lady Pirates’ team have improvised with all of the lineup shuffling they’ve done because of injuries and illnesses that have occurred throughout the season.
“I thought it was honestly a great way to start such a fun match,” Luetzen said. “We just weren’t able to sustain that the rest of the way against a team like Whitefish. Winning the match gives us a really nice feeling to carry over into the next match.”
The Lady Pirates lost the next three games and the match 25-11, 25-12, 25-14 after winning the first game of the series.
Despite the loss, Luetzen said she was “pleased” with her emerging younger players on the team, including Shea McGuinness, Kyla Blixt. Kyler Lundeen, and Mikaela DuCharme.
One area Luetzen has put an emphasis on as her team continues to make adjustments headed into the second-half of the season is “communication.”
“Honestly, we have given anyone on the team permission to speak up,” Luetzen said. “Even if it is one of our younger players. We really need to start being more vocal (moving forward) in the season. Right now, I want to stay in position so we can secure that third spot (behind Columbia Falls and Whitefish).”
The Divisional will be Nov. 3-5 at Columbia Falls in Columbia Falls. The Lady Pirates will host Loyola on Oct. 18, will play at the Missoula City Invitational on Oct. 21-22, and will play in Hamilton on Oct. 27 before wrapping up the regular portion of the season on the road against Columbia Falls on Oct. 29.
In the losing effort, the team accumulated a total of nine aces. Fryberger tallied eight of the nine aces. Fryberger also led the team in kills with tallying 11. Lauren Lefthand had nine and DuCharme totaled eight. Setter Kaelyn Smith had 19 of the Lady Pirates’ 33 aces. Kyler Lundeen finished with 17 kills and Laurel Bitterman had eight aces.