Lady Pirates v-ballers make final tune-ups for postseason
<p>POLSON LADY PIRATE player <strong>Haley Fyant </strong>returns to the Lady Pirates' roster after suffering an injury on Tuesday. Fyant will be one of the Lady Pirates' key components in the team's attempt to qualify for state at Divisionals Nov. 3-5 in Columbia Falls. </p>
POLSON — The Polson volleyball Lady Pirates continue to have to make adaptations without one of their key starters, Haley Fyant, in recent matches.
Fyant, one of the team’s key pieces, will be returning according to Lady Pirates’ Coach Patty Luetzen for the team’s final stretch run before post season.
“We have been still without Haley and that is always one of the significant absences,” Luetzen said. “It has forced us to change our girls’ rotation around every single game and we’ve been prepared to do what it takes to make it work.”
Despite the loss of Fyant, the Lady Pirates were able to take Stevensville to five games Thursday at Linderman Elementary School gymnasium. The Lady Pirates lost the contest 25-12, 24-26, 25-19, 23-25, and 15-12.
“Stevensville has one of the best hitters in the area and she was able to get 25 kills against us,” Luetzen said. “Kaelyn Smith and Lauren Lefthand have practiced as much as they could for them to get as many blocks as they did and we will finally get Haley back Tuesday.”
Luetzen said her team has “dealt well” with the adversity its faced this season overcoming a multitude of injuries and illnesses to remain competitive throughout the season.
“That is part of the reason that we have sports and teams is to teach kids problems solving,” Luetzen said. “I don’t believe in putting robots on the court and just having them do everything the coach asks. Against Stevensville was probably the best showing of the girls scheming and being able to adapt.”
In one of the final tuneups before the Nov. 3 Divisionals in Columbia Falls, the Lady Pirates will travel to the Missoula Invitational.
The tournament was put in place at this time of the year for a reason,” Luetzen said. “If there is any question of lineup formations and who’s playing for those opportunities for the last eight or nine weeks, we will get a chance to try out some of these rotations for the last effort before the race till the end to secure some things.”
According to Luetzen, the girls have practiced well.
“The girls have worked very hard in practice and adapted without Haley in there,” Luetzen said. “We will sometimes have three sophomores on the court and those four will continue to grow. Everyone on our team just has to be prepared.”