Whitefish spikers rally over Eureka

The Daily Inter Lake

WHITEFISH - Ashley Ferda lead the Bulldogs with 15 kills, five blocks and 16 digs as the Whitefish High School volleyball team rallied to beat Eureka 14-25, 20-25, 25-10, 25-17, 15-12 in a Northwestern A match Thursday.

Amy Roberts was brilliant for Eureka, notching 27 kills and two aces and the Lions won the first two games. But Whitefish (6-1) won the last three games to complete the comeback.

"Games 1 and 2, Eureka just had the momentum," said Whitefish coach Jackie Fuller. "They took control of everything. Amy Roberts was on fire."

Fuller said both teams played great volleyball in front of a packed gym and the Bulldogs didn't radically change anything after the second game.

"I don't know if we really made adjustments, we just played better," Fuller said. "We settled in and started believing in each other and that was key."

Courtney Ferda had seven aces for Whitefish while Kali Schmidt had 30 assists. Kaedee Shay made five blocks for Eureka while Megan Hannay had all 37 of the Lions' assists and Melanie Finch had 10 digs.

Kills - Eureka 44 (Amy Roberts 27), Whitefish 39 (Ashley Ferda 15). Blocks - Eureka 13 (Kaedee Shay 5), Whitefish 12 (A. Ferda 5). Assists - Eureka 37 (Megan Hannay 37), Whitefish 38 (Kali Schmidt 30). Digs - Eureka 29 (Melanie Finch 10), Whitefish 59 (A. Ferda 16). Aces - Eureka 10 (Amy Roberts 2), Whitefish 13 (Courtney Ferda 7).

Columbia Falls 3, Bigfork 0

BIGFORK - Callie Spencer had 11 of Columbia Falls' 23 kills and led the way with nine digs as the Wildkats downed Bigfork 25-20, 25-20, 25-16 Thursday in Northwestern A volleyball action.

Bigfork falls to 1-7 in league games and overall.

"When we get a pass and get our ball to the target, we can be pretty effective," said Bigfork coach Yvonne Peck.

"But Columbia Falls did a great job keeping us off balance."

Alyssa Fierro and Roxy Thurman both had five kills to pace Bigfork. Fierro also led in blocks with two, digs with nine and aces with three.

Bigfork entertains Libby on Tuesday. Columbia Falls is off until Oct. 5 when it hosts Ronan.

Kills - Columbia Falls 23 (Callie Spencer 11), Bigfork 19 (Alyssa Fierro 5, Roxy Thurman 5). Blocks - Columbia Falls 2 (Spencer, Michelle Murphy), Bigfork 3 (Fierro 2, Jill Hamilton 1). Digs - Columbia Falls 37 (Spencer 9, Staci Pence 8), Bigfork 42 (Fierro 9, Avery Vogel 8). Assists - Columbia Falls 22 (Sarah Marcille 21), Bigfork 15 (Vogel 7, Ashlee Gordon 6). Aces - Columbia Falls 18 (Marcille 7), Bigfork 8 (Fierro 3, Gordon 2).