Whitefish loses in second round

BOZEMAN - It doesn't get much more exciting than 17-15 in the fifth game.

That's how the Whitefish Bulldogs and Havre Blue Ponies treated volleyball fans in the second round of the All Class State Volleyball tournament Thursday at MSU's Brick Breeden Fieldhouse.

In the end, Havre was just a tad too much for Whitefish. The Blue Ponies downed the Bulldogs 25-17, 16-25, 23-25, 25-17, 17-15.

It was the second nailbiter match of the day for the Bulldogs. They defeated Miles City 25-23, 17-25, 26-24, 25-22 in the first round.

"If we don't block the ball, we don't win games," said Whitefish coach Jackie Fuller. "Their middles totally ate us alive.

"It was frustrating. I felt we could have controlled the tempo a lot better. But we didn't stop them at the net."

Havre was the team ready to play from the first whistle.

The Blue Ponies busted out to a 13-1 first-game lead before Whitefish settled in.

The Bulldogs finally got their offense into gear and got as close as 22-17 before finally surrendering.

Then it was the Bulldogs jumping ahead in the second game.

Brielle Menegazzi and Ashley Ferda tag-teamed the hitting chores as the Bulldogs rolled, 25-16.

They looked ready to blast Havre out of the gym in the third game as they streaked to a 22-17 lead only to let the Blue Ponies catch them at 23-all. Ferda and Menegazzi finally shut the door with back-to-back kills.

It was in Game 4 that the Havre middles suddenly came to life.

Senior Signe Hillson (6-foot-1) had four kills in the game while junior Mariah Armstrong added another three kills. That knotted the match at two games each.

It was at that point that the Whitefish hitters suddenly played not to lose.

"My hitters got really tentative and started putting the ball right where they were at," Fuller said. "You can't play afraid."

For every roll shot, for every tip from a Bulldog, the Blue Ponies loaded up and slammed the ball back at Whitefish.

Hillson had five kills in the final game and Armstrong had four.

Whitefish still stayed with it - the biggest lead was four points. Havre led 11-7 until Almire Sekerci served Whitefish back into a 12-11 lead.

The Bulldogs built that into one match point at 14-13 - but Havre came right back with Hillson and knotted the score at 14.

Havre then had its first match point at 15-14, but Hillson was whistled for a double hit on a set attempt.

She came right back with two straight kills to end the match.

Whitefish turned in 51 kills for the match. Ashley Ferda had 24 and Brielle Menegazzi added 23.

Hailey Farmin had 42 of Whitefish's 50 assists and Menegazzi led in blocks with four. Ferda had 29 of the Bulldogs' 88 digs.

So, what now for Whitefish?

"From here, we take them, feed them, then get them up in the morning, run them and get them back in the gym ready to focus," Fuller said.

The Bulldogs take on the winner of Laurel-Anaconda at 2 p.m. today.

Whitefish defeat Miles City 25-23, 17-25, 26-24, 25-22

Kills - Whitefish 46 (Ashley Ferda 24, Brielle Menegazzi 17), Miles City 38 (Kalli Durham 14, Jennifer Hartman 10,l Anna Magnuson 8), Assists - Whitefish 44 (Hailey Farmin 42), Miles City 38 (Alexia Mader 34), Blocks Whitefish 3 (Menegazzi 1, Farmin 1, Kate Klundt 1), Miles City 20 (Hartman 8, Durham 3, Magnuson 3), Digs - Whitefish 122 (Menegazzi 35, Ferda 29), Miles City 117 (Tiffani Collins 44, Brilyn Steadman 16), Aces - Whitefish 8 (Farmin 3, Ferda 2, McCara Cullen 2), Miles City 8 (Miranda Hurr 4, Mader 6, Cady Irion 3).