Scarlets capture Arlee Invite titl
MISSION HIGH School volleyball player Afton Brander sends the volleyball over the net in a match against Granite at the Arlee Invitational. (Jason Blasco/Lake County Leader)
ARLEE WARRIORS volleyball player Eden Morin attempts to get a kill in one of the timed matches against Granite Saturday afternoon at Arlee High School gymnasium. (Jason Blasco/Lake County Leader)
ARLEE HIGH School volleyball player Noelle West blocks a Granite opponent’s attack Saturday afternoon at Arlee High School’s gymnasium. (Jason Blasco/Lake County Leader)
The Arlee Scarlets captured the Arlee Invitational volleyball tournament with a victory over Clark Fork Saturday at Arlee High School.
The Scarlets defeated Clark Fork in two sets during the timed match 25-17, 25-17.
Eden Morin led the Scarlets in kills with five, Mikayla Rieken led the team with 10 digs, Syndi Rogers finished with seven assists, and Morin led the team with three aces.
In the other matches, Arlee defeated Mission 15-12, 15-12, Granite 15-10, 15-10, Darby 15-14, 10-11, Plains 15-9, 15-8, Loyola 15-12, 12-9, and Seeley 15-9, 14-13.
The Scarlets amassed a 53 cumulative aces for the tournament. Morin and Rieken led the Scarlets with 13 and 11. Morin and Rieken had 16 of the 64 kills. Rogers and Ashley Tanner finished with a combined 50 of the 57 assists. Nellie Dejarlais and Mikayla Rieken led the team with two blocks each. Morin had 44 digs and Rieken finished with 30 digs.
Lady Pirates win back-to-back matches
The Polson Pirates volleyball team won their second consecutive match in five sets against Columbia Falls Thursdaynight at Columbia Falls High School.
The Lady Pirates won in five sets 21-25, 25-21, 25-16, 16-25, 15-12.
Polson was led by Kaelyn Smith’s18 kills and one block. Kyler Lundeen had 27 of the team’s 77 digs. Setter Laurel Bitterman had 22 of the team’s 36 assists and also led the team with four kills in the victory.
Maidens face top-tier teams in Class A
The Ronan Maidens volleyball team had the unenviable task of playing the top two-ranked teams in Class A volleyball back-to-back.
Earlier in the week, the Maidens played Whitefish and lost 12-25, 10-25, 9-25 in three sets to lose the match Tuesday at Ronan.
Maidens volleyball coach Charla Lake said she is still working with her team to get them more aggressive.
“They played us tough and our girls just need to learn to be a little bit more aggressive,” Lake said. “They just weren’t as aggressive against Whitefish. They needed to be more aggressive to try to win that game and attack back.”
Madison Clairmont led the team with five kills, setter Tiana Ulutoa had 16 assists, and Haylee Walchuk finished with 14 of the team’s 58 digs.
The Maidens then played Libby for their homecoming matchSaturday at the Ronan Events Center.
The Lady Loggers, considered by many area coaches are one of the top-contending teams to win the Class A state championship title, swept the Maidens in three sets 18-25, 19-25, 10-25.
Louetta Conko-Camel, Marissa Mock, and Regan Clairmont each had two kills. Madeline McCrea had two blocks assisted by Clairmont, Tiana Ulutoa had seven assists, and Conko-Camel finished with nine of the team’s 45 digs and two aces.
Lake said she felt her team grew significantly from playing the top-tier teams in Class A this week.
“I was proud of the girls for improving,” Lake said. “We played a lot better against Libby than we did against Whitefish. We just executed better.”