Polson sweeps two important league matches

Polson bounced back from their Northwest A Conference loss to Ronan to rip off two important wins last week to keep pace in the league standings. On Friday, Polson swept Browning 25-8, 25-9, 25-13 while on Thursday, the Lady Pirates took down Columbia Falls 25-19, 25-15, 26-24.

Against Browning, McKenna Corley had eight kills for Polson, while Sam Rensvold had six. Rylee Taylor-Jefferson dished out 20 assists. Aleysia Black had five digs.

Polson saw a lot of offense from Corley in their matchup against Columbia Falls as she had 18 kills and Rensvold had ten. Embree Bird swatted four aces for the Lady Pirates. Taylor-Jefferson again proved efficient on offense, dishing out 32 assists, while on defense, Black reached for 15 digs, while Bird had 14 and Rensvold had 11.

The win improved Polson to 7-1 in league play, remaining with Whitefish as the toast of the conference as the postseason nears. 

Maidens look strong as regular season wears down

The Maidens are coming off a big defeat of Polson in South A Conference play. That victory, coupled with this week’s defeat - has them primely in the playoff picture.

“The highlight for our team last weekend was our resiliency [against Polson.],” Ronan Head Coach Lacey Phelan said. “We have been working a lot on avoiding the ‘spiral’ that tends to happen in volleyball when an error occurs. We have been able to move through the game without carrying errors on our back, which made a big difference.”

Ronan fell in four to Northwest A Conference opponent Bigfork 25-22, 24-26, 25-18, 25-21 on Thursday, October 10. Sierra Blood had 11 kills for the Maidens, while Laurun Buhr had nine. Seattle Adams Cartraw had 26 assists, and Maddly Illig had 15 digs. Cartraw also had three blocks, while Buhr had two.

Kaydance Santos notched 13 digs, as did Zailee Hewankorn. 

“I think we are playing very solid volleyball right now,” Phelan said about her team after the Polson win. “The best part is that when we look at the numbers, no one had a huge individual stat game. It was a great team effort, and everyone contributed. I think every player on our team is a standout player this year. I have great confidence in every player to contribute and produce good outcomes.”

The loss dropped the Maidens to 4-4 in conference play.

“Going into the postseason, I think that makes it difficult for teams to prepare for us,” Phelan said. “If we can continue to minimize our unforced errors, I feel confident that we will be headed to Bozeman come November.”

    Polson's McKenna Corley and Eliza Todd block Browning during last week's win. (Bob Gunderson photo)
  

    Polson's Josie Hendriksen executes a kill during last Thursday's take-down of Columbia Falls. (Bob Gunderson photo)