Volleyball Roundup: Kats stay sharp with win over Polson

The undefeated WildKats of Columbia Falls swept the Lady Pirates in Polson on Saturday. It was Polson’s final regular-season game.

Hallie Moss and Kobbey Smith kills knotted the score at 14 apiece in the first set, but Columbia Falls pulled away.

The second set featured seven ties in a closely contested affair. The Lady Pirates (5-4, 9-4) rallied to knot things up at 20 apiece before an ill-timed attack error delivered the serve back to the visitors. The Kats (9-0, 14-0) then closed out the remainder for a two-set advantage.

The third set was knotted even five times in the early going before the Lady Pirates started to take charge. Polson kills sprinkled with service aces and blocks produced points, while back-row digs by Ara Mercer, Mckenna Hanson, Maggie Todd and others kept the ball in play for the front row to capitalize. But again, the WildKats asserted themselves late and nailed down the sweep.

The contest marked the final home court appearance for a half dozen Polson seniors: Ara Mercer, Berkley Ellis, Chloe DuCharme, Hallie Moss, Kobbey Smith and Maggie Todd.

C-Falls def. Polson 25-14, 25-21, 26-24

KILLS – CF37 (Mady Hoerner 22, Dillen Hoerner 6, Jazzy Marino 5), P23 (Kobbey Smith 7, Maggie Todd 4, Liz Tolley 3, Turquoise Pierre 3, Hallie 3, Mckenna Hanson, Ara, Berk). ACES – CF7 (D.Hoerner 3, M.Stutsman 2), P4 (Berkley Ellis 2, Hallie, Kobb). ASSISTS – CF34 (Madeline Stutsman 32), P19 (Hallie Moss 13, Berk 6). BLOCKS – CF2 (J.Marino 2BA, D.Hoerner 1BA, M.Stutsman 1BA), P5 (Liz Tolley 3, Mags, Kobb). DIGS – CF46 (Jazzy Marino 15, McKenna Rensel 12, D.Hoerner 12), P58 (Ara Mercer 18, Berk 11, Kobb 10, Mags 8, Kenna 3, Hallie 3, Turq 3, Chloe DuCharme 2).

Dawgs nip Maidens

At the Ronan Events Center, on cancer awareness Pink Out Night, the visiting Lady Bulldogs of Whitefish extracted a measure of payback for their earlier loss to the Maidens (4-4, 7-6) at the Dawg Pound.

With the Maidens leading the first set 9-7 early on, the visiting Lady Bulldogs (4-4, 6-5) reeled off six straight to lap their hosts. The visitors maintained their margin until the Maidens began to harness a momentum shift, pulling within 22-20.

A Lexi Wirz backrow kill knotted the contest at two dozen apiece before a Maiden attack error and subsequent Brook Smith kill delivered the first set to Whitefish.

Whitefish rallied to tie at two dozen apiece after kills by Smith and Emma Trieweiler. But Maiden McCrea knotted the match at one set apiece with back-to-back kills.

The third set tied four times in the early going before Whitefish began to string together clumps of points and won the set handily.

The fourth set started out with Ronan in an 0-4 hole before they rallied to knot the contest twice. The Maidens would then surge, leading by a half dozen at the midpoint juncture, 15-9. LaReina Cordova and Olivia Clairmont kills coupled with a Clairmont block maintained the Maiden margin at 13-19. But rather than heel, the Lady Bulldogs mounted a rally to erase the Maiden advantage, then dashed past their hosts as they went on to win the fourth set and capture the match.

Senior middle Madeline McCrea and Brooke Smith of Whitefish offset one another at the net with both spiking among the high teens. Rylie Lindquist, LaReina Cordova and Leina Ulutoa collaborated on 40 digs on defense.

Whitefish def. 26-24, 24-26, 25-12, 25-20

KILLS – W30 (Brooke Smith 17, Brooke Zetooney 4), R34 (Madeline McCrea 17, Olivia Clairmont 7, L.Ulutoa 5, L.Cordova 3, Kiana King, R.Lindquist). ACES – W10 (Jadi Walburn 3, Jenny Patten 3, B.Smith 3), R8 (L.Ulutoa 3, L.Cordova 2, Liv, Lexi, M&M). ASSISTS – W24 (Mikenna Ells 13, Patten 10), R33 (Leina Ulutoa 18). BLOCKS – W9 (Jadi Walburn 4), R8 (M&M 1BS4BA, Liv 1BS1BA, L.Ulutoa 2BA, L.Cordova 2BA, Jaylea Lunceford 1BA, King 1BA). DIGS – W93 (Ashton Ramsey 30, Zetooney 21, Emma Trieweiler 13), R62 (Rylie Lindquist 15, LaReina Cordova 15, L.Ulutoa 10, Lexi Wirz 8, Hannah Rowe 4, Margaret Cordova 3, J.Lunceford 3, King 2, Liv, M&M).

Lady Bulldogs push opponents in regular schedule finales

Following a cancellation, Mission secured a match with Class A Polson. Syd Brander and Ahni Umphrey collaborated on 16 kills, while Brander, Kooper Page, Ella Arlint and Maysa Couture collaborated on 33 digs. Polson took the match in three sets.

At Bigfork on Thursday, the Bulldogs (2-6, 5-11) pushed the Valkyries (Bigfork 4-4, 6-8) as they took the second set to knot the contest at one apiece. Bigfork secured the next two sets to win the match, but not before Mission pushed them by tallying among the teens.

Brander, Page and Umphrey collaborated on 28 kills, while Ella Arlint, Couture and Page each contributed nine digs on defense.

Mission was slated to face Florence this past weekend in a nonconference regular schedule finale, but that match was cancelled.

Bigfork def. Mission 25-15, 17-25, 25-15, 25-18

KILLS – MSI 33 (Syd Brander 13, Kooper Page 8, Ahni Umphrey 7, Keana Thomas 2, M.Couture 2, G.Smith), B na (Jessica Frey ). ACES – MSI 13 (Maysa Couture 7, Gabby Smith 3, S.Brander, Ko.Page, Cassidy Orr), B17 (Myranda Gray 8, J.Frey 3, Madison Chappuis 3, Dana Saari 3). ASSISTS – MSI 31 (Maysa Couture 24, E.Arlint 3, S.Brander 2, Addison Bird, G.Smith), B31 (Jessa Newton ). BLOCKS – MSI 2 (Gabby Smith 1BS1BA, A.Umphrey 1BA), B3 (J.Frey 1, Inga Turner 1BA, J.Newton 1BA, D.Saari 1BA, K.Mauro 1BA). DIGS – MSI 43 (Ella Arlint 9, M.Couture 9, Ko.Page 9, S.Brander 6, Cassidy Orr 5, Izzy Evans 2, G.Smith 2, A.Umphrey), B34 (Allie Reichner 17, Keyera Mauro 6, M.Chappuis 4).

Polson def. Mission 25-17, 25-9, 25-20

KILLS – P28 (Maggie Todd 10, Kobbey Smith 5, Turquoise Pierre 4, Liz 4, Hannah Simpson 2, Ara 2, Kenna), MSI 23 (Sydney Brander 10, Ahni Umphrey 6, Keana Thomas 3, Kooper Page 2, G.Smith). ACES – P8 (Kobb 3, Berk 3, Liz 2), MSI 4 (Ko.Page, A.Bird, S.Brander, E.Arlint). ASSISTS – P26 (Berkley Ellis 18, L.Tolley 5, Ara 2, Grace Simonich), MSI 21 (Maysa Couture 21). BLOCKS – P3 (Mckenna Hanson, Liz, Turq), MSI 2 (Gabby Smith 1BS1BA, S.Brander 1BA). DIGS – P58 (Liz Tolley 15, Ara Mercer 13, Kobb 10, Berk 7, Mags 5, Chloe DuCharme 2, Kenna 2, Sierra Lundeen), MSI 41 (S.Brander 9, Ko.Page 9, Ella Arlint 8, M.Couture 7, A.Bird 4, K.Thomas 2, G.Smith, Cassidy Orr).

Scarlets capsize Breakers in key conference clash

At Arlee, the host Scarlets made waves in their regular schedule conference finale when they sprung an upset on the visiting Breakers of Missoula Loyola. Having been swept in straight sets in their first encounter earlier in the season, the Scarlets served notice on their visitors that they were facing a vastly improved team when they captured the opening set, then pushed the second set into extras before Loyola knotted the match even at one apiece.

After the visiting Breakers took the middle set for a 2-1 advantage, the host Scarlets dug a little deeper and set their hitters a little crisper to even the match at two apiece to force a fifth set finale, which they won to capture the match.

Both teams rocked the service line with aces among the high teens, but Scarlet Shonlea Matt took top honors by dishing out nine.

Crawford siblings Rheid and Jerny collaborated for more than five dozen digs, while Xaria Jacobson turned in more than two dozen and Sara Schall notched 10.

Coach Shelby Sander was ecstatic about the level of play.

“I am so proud of every single player ... from the girls on the bench to the girls (on the floor). Each ... plays such an important role on this team.

"The biggest takeaway from the win for me was that the girls didn’t give up and are starting to believe in themselves and in each other. As a coach, that is all you can ever ask for."

Against visiting Eureka in their regular schedule finale, the host Scarlets were without a handful of players who contributed to the team rally in the previous contest. The visiting Lady Lions outhit their hosts at the net as well as outdug them on defense. But the Scarlets matched their visitors at the net with defensive blocks and held a 2:1 edge at the service line.

Arlee def. Loyola 25-18, 24-26, 17-25, 25-17, 15-13

KILLS – LSH 32 (Ella Spinder 8, Brooke Twite 6), Arl 38 (Halle Adams 9, Noel Johnson 9, Jerny Crawford 8, Lark Thomas 7, R.Parson 4, X.Jacobson). ACES – LSH 18 (Spinder 4, Twite 3, McHugh 3, N-Adami 3), Arl 19 (Shonlea Matt 9, X.Jacobson 3, H.Adams 2, R.Crawford 2, R.Parson 2, J.Crawford). ASSISTS – LSH 21 (Molly McHugh 20), Arl 21 (Xaria Jacobson 18, J.Crawford 2, R.Parson). BLOCKS – LSH 1 (Kate Nelson-Adami), Arl 6 (R.Parson 2, H.Adams 2, N.Johnson 2). DIGS – LSH 23 (N-Adami 6, Tay Jansen 5, Twite 5, Mikenna Deschamps 4), Arl 121 (Rheid Crawford 32, J.Crawford 29, X.Jacobson 27, Sara Schall 10, H.Adams 8, S.Matt 7, R.Parson 4, N.Johnson 3, L.Thomas).

Eureka def. Arlee 25-11, 25-17, 25-16

KILLS – Eur 33 (Reena Truman 12), Arl 12 (Halle Adams 7, Raven Parson 3, Lark Thomas, J.Crawford). ACES – Eur5 (Kamber Brown 3), Arl 10 (Shonlea Matt 3, Jerny Crawford 3, Karli Doerr, Xaria Jacobson, R.Crawford, L.Thomas). ASSISTS – Eur29 (K.Brown 25), Arl 7 (S.Matt 7). BLOCKS – Eur2 (R.Truman 2), Arl 2 (H.Adams, J.Crawford). DIGS – Eur39 (Katie Schmidt 10), Arl 29 (Rheid Crawford 9, J.Crawford 8, R.Parson 4, H.Adams 3, S.Matt 2, R.Parson, K.Doerr, X.Jacobson).

Charlo closes out conference play unblemished

At Superior, Charlo (8-0, 13-1) caged the Lady Mountain Cats of the Clark Fork co-op (6-4, 7-8) in their regular schedule finale. No Charlo stats were available following the match.

Charlo def. Clark Fork 25-18, 25-17, 25-20

CHARLO – no stat specs available.

CLARK FORK – Sorren Reese 11 kills, 2 blocks; Payton Milender 2 aces, 10 digs; Lanie Crabb 2 aces; Cassie Green 8 assists.