Bulldogs' rally puts WHS in semis
BOZEMAN - Rock solid.
That's been the mantra for the Whitefish Lady Bulldog volleyball team in recent days.
And there's actually a real rock.
Whitefish head coach Jackie Fuller picked up a rock during a recent match at Libby and it's carried about by one of the Bulldog managers.
When the Whitefish Lady Bulldogs have needed something to hold onto, it's been that rock.
They reached for it again Thursday night during the Class A state
volleyball tournament.
Down two games to one and trailing defending state champion Fergus County 4-8 in the fourth game, Fuller called timeout.
The Bulldogs were taking the full brunt of the Golden Eagles offensive
attack.
"I knew we needed something to turn on," Fuller said.
You guessed it. The manager had to dig out the rock.
"We're rock solid and nobody can get past us," is how junior middle hitter Tracy Schwada remembered the moment.
Things didn't get better right away, but slowly the Bulldogs edged back
into the game - and the match.
"We put zip on our serves and we started getting our serves to the right
spots," Schwada added.
A Schwada kill followed by two from freshman outside hitter Ashley Ferda
and a couple of Fergus miscues put the Bulldogs right back in business.
They went on to win game four, then claimed a spot in tonight's semifinal with a 26-28, 25-19, 17-25, 25-19, 15-11 win.
They'll take on the Hardin Bulldogs at 6 p.m.
Hardin advanced by defeating Libby 25-11, 25-21, 21-25, 24-26, 15-13 in the opening round and Corvallis 25-18, 25-16, 23-25, 25-17 in the quarterfinals.
"Our girls just kind of gutted it down," Fuller said.
"We were kind of down and everything, but we never gave up. We all picked it up. Everybody had the drive to finish the game," Schwada said.
Schwada led the effort with 13 kills and five blocks. Ashley Ferda added 10 kills and 15 digs, Courtney Ferda had five blocks and Mandy McFadden 38 set assists.
As for the Bulldogs, once they got to that fifth game, their confidence grew almost from one point to the next.
"They just came with the belief in each other," Fuller said. "(The win) was in the belief that they were a solid group. It doesn't matter who's on the floor. We're just one big rock."
"It was a new game," senior Katie Hodges said. "The score starts at zero. We never gave up. We all stuck together, kept fighting and didn't let up."
They also took it a step at a time.
Fuller told the Bulldogs just before the first serve of the fifth game that the first team to five points would win.
When Lewistown's Kar Conner banged a kill attempt into the bottom of the net, Whitefish claimed a 5-4 lead.
Lewistown got its fifth point on the next play on a booming kill by Kayla Horacek, but by then the Bulldogs were feeling calm and in control.
Hodges picked up a pair of cross court kills (she had five in the final game) and the Bulldog defense picked up everything Lewistown's heavy hitters could throw at it as Whitefish gained a 13-5 advantage.
Fergus rallied one last time with three straight points.
But at 13-8, Fuller had seen enough.
"(Coach) Fuller had so much energy," Schwada said. "She was intense. She said, 'we have to get a sideout and a point and we're gone.'
"We were all able to relax. It was intense, but it was intense to do something right."
Hodges put away her next set for the sideout part and three points later, Courtney Ferda rejected Lewistown's Claire Slagel in the middle of the net.
Stats
Second Round
Kills - Whitefish 45 (Tracy Schwada 13, Ashley Ferda 10), Fergus 53 (Kayla Horacek 12, Claire Slagel 11, Laura Anderson 11, Heidi Rettig 8); Aces - Whitefish 9 (Katie Hodges 3, Kirsten Blackburn 2, Mandy McFadden 2), Fergus 9 (Ashley Boettger 5); Assists - Whitefish 40 (Mandy McFadden 38), Fergus 49 (Alira Carpenter 48); Blocks - Whitefish 18 (Schwada 5, Courtney Ferda 5), Fergus 9 (Horacek 4, Carpenter 3); Digs - Whitefish 83 (Hodges 17, A. Ferda 15), Fergus 84 (Merrick Carpenter 17, Laura Anderson 16, Mallory Nelson 14).
First Round Matches
Libby vs. Hardin
Kills - Libby 49, Nicole Rowan 17; Hardin 43, Cassie Hodges 17; Blocks - Libby 9, Rose Young 6; Hardin 12, Hodges 8; Digs - Libby 58, Sam Schultz 23, Rowan 17; Hardin 44, Paige Ostahowski 11; Assists - Libby 39, Erin Bothman 38; Hardin 37, Darcy Torske 31; Aces - Libby 18, Crystal Decker 7; Hardin 9, Ostahowski 3, Erin Flack 3.
Whitefish vs. Billings Central
Kills - Whitefish 42, Tracy Schwada 12, Courtney Ferda 9; Central 19, Cindy Eaken 8; Blocks - Whitefish 11, Schwada 4, Mandy McFadden 3; Central 7, Eaken 4; Digs - Whitefish 52, Ashley Ferda 19; Central 61, Lindsey Conroy 16; Aces - Whitefish 6, McFadden 2, Katie Hodges 2, Shalyn Aurand 2; Central 3, Kayla Webster 2; Assists - Whitefish 37, McFadden 35; Central 17, Ali Cross 14.