Bravettes bow out of state tourney

BOZEMAN - The tears weren't of joy and the hugs weren't in celebration Friday as the Flathead Bravettes bowed out of the Class AA state volleyball tournament.

Missoula Sentinel defeated Flathead 25-21, 26-24, 25-22 in morning loser-out play at the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse.

But what happened in the locker room afterward warmed Bravette coach Christy Harkins' heart.

According to Harkins, senior middle hitter Lindsay Bennett was no sooner inside the locker room door when she turned to sophomore setter Lindsay Ingram - elevated from roster alternate to starting setter- and said

"'Lindsay Ingram, great job.'"

"To me that means we've come a long way this season," the coach said.

"And Lindsay Ingram did a fantastic job."

The story of the tournament for Flathead is what happened before the first point was served Thursday.

On the very last ball of the Bravettes' pre-opening warmup, setter Katie

Swindall sprained her ankle.

She played anyway - and sprained her other ankle to boot.

From there, the Bravettes went on a roller coaster ride.

Would Swindall play at all?

Would she play some games, but not others?

Would she play just back row?

"When you've had one person run your offense all season … it was hard without her. She hadn't missed a game all year."

"I didn't think she was going to play today at all," Harkins said.

Swindall didn't know, either.

"She warmed up fine," the coach said. "But it was painful."

Finally, Harkins just asked "'Are you going to help us or hurt us. I know your heart will help us.'"

She told Harkins she didn't want to ruin anybody's chances. So, Swindall left it up to her teammates.

They wanted her out there.

So Flathead changed from the 5-1 offense it had run every game of every match this season.

"It was hard without her," Harkins said. "Lindsay Ingram did a great job, but we had a lot of things to adjust to.

"I thought they battled really hard. I was really impressed - they kept making runs.

"They showed determination in the timeouts, they showed fight - and I was

proud of that."

They fought hard, they played hard, but it wasn't the same Bravette team that won the Western AA regular season.

The flow just wasn't the same.

Flathead's offense sputtered - Sentinel outhit the Bravettes with 50 kills

to 24.

Bennett had eight kills to lead Flathead, followed by Holli Hashley with seven and Cricket Johnston with five.

But they still fought for every point. Even after Sentinel had claimed the first two games and led 20-13 in the third game, the Bravettes made a run.

Flathead trailed 24-17 in that game and still managed to scratch out five straight points before finally succumbing.

"I was proud of them," Harkins said.

Other leaders were Swindall with 13 assists, Johnston with 10 digs, Kristina Ylinen with 10 blocks and Laura Kelly with three aces.

Missoula Sentinel def. Flathead 25-21, 26-24, 25-22

Kills - Flathead 24 (Lindsay Bennett 8, Holli Hashley 7, Cricket Johnston5), Sentinel 50 (Alisa Christopherson 19, Ali Mittlestadt 14), Assists - Flathead 24 (Katie Swindall 13, Lindsay Ingram 9), Sentinel 45 (Breland Cederberg 26), Blocks - Flathead 15 (Kristina Ylinen 10, Alena Ori 4), Sentinel 5 (Sarah Rott 2); Digs - Flathead 38 (Johnston 10, Hashley 9, LauraKelly 5), Sentinel 64 (Mittlestadt 15, Christopherson 13); Aces - Flathead 4 (Kelly 3), Sentinel 7 (Christopherson 7).

Libby goes down swinging in loss to Fergus County

By DIXIE KNUTSON

The Daily Inter Lake

BOZEMAN - At least they went down swinging.

Libby's Sam Schultz took her shot at the volleyball, cranked hard and sent it screaming down the line.

And then the crowd and both the Libby Loggers and Fergus County Golden Eagles waited.

A second seemed forever before the line judge made his signal - just wide.

That was the difference between 14-14 in the fifth game and a 15-13 Fergus County Golden Eagle victory.

Fergus celebrated a 25-17, 23-25, 24-26, 25-21,15-13 win - and survival - at the Class A state volleyball tournament Friday while the Loggers disappeared into their locker room to contemplate the end of their volleyball season.

"It was a heartbreaker," Logger head coach Cindy Ostrem-Johnston said. "But I was proud of them for going out swinging. They stayed aggressive and they fought hard.

"We were all proud of (Schultz) for going up and being aggressive. We play

aggressive ball and sometimes it works for us and sometimes it works against us," the

coach said.

Libby had two hitters in double figures - Nicole Rowan had 25 kills and Schultz had 15. Rose Young added nine.

Other leaders were Erin Bothman with 35 assists, Young and Crystal Decker

with three blocks each and Schultz with 20 digs and four aces.

"Fergus is a good team," the coach said. "They blocked us well and they played good defense."

The Loggers again started slow, Ostrem-Johnston said.

"We had to dig ourselves out of a hole there," she said. "But they never gave up."

Libby won the next two games, but then faltered in the fourth.

Still, the Loggers seemed on track to take the match in the fifth. They had Fergus down 6-3 behind kills by Rowan and Schultz and a block by Young.

"But they popped back up fast," Ostrem-Johnston remarked.

The Loggers were whistled on the next play for four hits, then gave up two kills by Eagles senior outside hitter Laura Anderson. That knotted the score at six.

From there, it was a knockdown dragout - until Young got hurt in a freak accident at the net.

A serve hit the top of the net and fell down onto her outstretched fingers - injuring her shoulder.

Without her 5-foot-10 presence, the Libby middle was left a bit exposed and Fergus took advantage.

Ostrem-Johnston still gave credit to the freshman who took her place.

"Laice Dedrick went in there and battled at the net. She's all of 5-5 or 5-6," she said.

"The kids as a whole competed well over here. I still feel we are good enough to keep playing, but you've got to do it on the court."

Libby def. Belgrade 3-1

Rowan turned in 21 kills, eight digs and served four aces as the Libby Lady Loggers stayed alive Friday morning with a 25-17, 20-25, 25-20, 25-5 victory.

Ostrem-Johnston attributed the loser-out victory to killer instinct.

"They were more focused than I've seen them all year," she said.

The Logger attitude was "it's not too late," the coach said.

"They did a good job of playing one ball, one rally at a time. They just played every ball like it was match point," she said.

The Loggers spun their wheels a bit in the early going - they trailed the Panthers 6-0 and 2-8 before finally putting together a seven-point run to go ahead 9-8.

"We've got a little bit of the first game jitters," Ostrem-Johnston said. "But once they turned it on … ."

While the Loggers turned on their volleyball skills, the Panthers seemed to go on coffee break.

While Libby setter Bothman served hard, Belgrade seemed to do its best to fall apart - an illegal touch, a tipping error that fell harmlessly into the net and a pass that no one seemed to want to set contributed mightily to the Logger effort.

Libby def. Belgrade 25-17, 20-25, 25-20, 25-5

Kills - Libby NA (Nicole Rowan 21, Karen Byrns 7), Belgrade 26 (Amy Bolin 11, Jessica Hespin 7), Assists - Libby 34 (Erin Bothman 33), Belgrade 25 (Jessie Greany 18), Aces - Libby 16 (Crystal Decker 6, Rowan 4, Bothman 4), Belgrade 3 (Greany 2), Blocks - Libby 6 (Sam Schultz 1, Rose Young 1, Erin Bothman 1), Belgrade Brailey Williams 3, Jessica Hespin 3), Digs - Libby 34

(Schultz 8, Rowan 8), Belgrade 54 (Amanday Suhr 10, Elizabeth Coughlin 10).

Fergus def. Libby 25-17, 23-25, 24-26, 25-21, 15-13

Kills - Fergus 48 (Laura Anderson 12, Kar Conner 10), Libby 56 (Nicole Rowan 25, Sam Schultz 15), Aces - Fergus 7 (Alira Carpenter 4), Libby 9 (Schultz 4); Assists - Fergus 40 (Carpenter 38), Libby 41 (Erin Bothman 35); Blocks - Fergus 14 (Claire Slagel 7), Libby 7 (Rose Young 3, Crystal Decker 3); Digs - Fergus 73 (Heidi Rettig 16, Merrick Carpenter 15), Libby 55 (Schultz 20, Rowan 8).