Divisionals kick off for Class A volleyball
By DAVID LESNICK/The Daily Inter Lake
Today's opening session of the Northwestern A volleyball tournament is more like rivalry Part III.
Whitefish and Columbia Falls tangle at 5 p.m. followed by Polson and Ronan at 7. The rivals in both matches will be meeting for a third time this season.
All the divisional action will take place at Linderman Elementary School gym.
League champ Libby and runner-up Bigfork, on the other hand, get to sit the first round out. They have byes.
"How 'bout that with Polson, Ronan, Columbia Falls and us," Whitefish coach Jackie Fuller said of the unique matches.
"I don't look at it like that (a rivalry game). Everybody you play is someone you want to compete against. (Columbia Falls coach) Addy (Hines) has those girls playing hard. They snatched that last one from us."
Columbia Falls and Whitefish did split their regular-season matches.
Regardless, these rivalry openers have much more on the line this time. All six Northwestern A teams are battling to finish either first or second to qualify for state.
Whitefish has advanced to state every year since 1998. The Bulldogs finished second a year ago, but have won five state championships (2001, 2002, 2004-06).
"Again, give the nod to Libby," Fuller said.
"She (coach Cindy Ostrem-Johnston) lost a lot of girls, but they came back and won the conference. So they deserve that credit.
"Bigfork is a great ball club along with Polson," Fuller continued.
"Ronan is very scary, they are very competitive.
"This year, it's one of the most balanced years I've ever seen (in the league)."
Libby, also the top seed last year and No. 2 in 2006, is the defending divisional champions. The Loggers have won seven division titles under Ostrem-Johnston, including five in a row at one point.
Libby won a state championship in 1997.
The Loggers have dominated Northwestern A regular-season play the last three years with a 30-2 mark. The lone loss this season was to Bigfork as Libby finished 9-1.
Last year, the Loggers were 10-0 in league play. They went 11-1 in 2006.
Libby also advanced to state in 2004.
Libby will play the Whitefish/Columbia Falls winner on Friday at 11 a.m. The Loggers are 2-0 versus both teams, but Whitefish did push Libby to five games before falling.
Bigfork plays the Polson/Ronan victor on Friday at 1 p.m. The Valkyries split with Polson this season, but dropped Ronan twice.
"A totally different team than last year," Ostrem-Johnston said of the Loggers.
"Jackie (Mee) and Nichole (Newman) played last year. The others were on the tournament team, but not on the floor.
"I think we struggled at those preseason tournaments," she continued.
"I'm glad we had those to start with. We struggled the first day of the Missoula tournament, but I'm very pleased with how our regular season turned out. With a new team, I didn't know what to expect."
Ostrem-Johnston said team serving, which is at 88 percent, and team serve receive, 2.0 out of 3, are two crucial elements of the game her squad excels at.
"We say if you can't pass, you can't pound," Ostrem-Johnston said.
"I push them to serve aggressive. We haven't hit all the time this year, but they have done pretty well with that."
Libby experimented with rotations early in the season, but has settled into a comfortable situation on the court since then.
"We experienced quite a bit," Ostrem-Johnston said.
"I feel like now when I sub somebody in the game, they handle it really well. Some of my teams in the past freaked out when I put somebody new in there."
She also feels her team is ready to take that next step.
"The kids are excited for it, upbeat," she said.
"Almost giddy for it. I'm excited for it."
Bigfork (8-2) enjoyed its best league showing in at least 10 years with Yvonne Peck returning to the bench. The veteran coach also led Bigfork to its last state tournament appearance - 2005.
"I'm real comfortable with where we are at both mentally and physically," she said.
"We're healthy. I think we're playing pretty good ball. We have good chemistry between the kids now.
"And they want more," she added.
"That's always a good thing."
Peck said the team's balance has played a key role in their success.
"Even when we don't get the ball to the setter, we have other players who are capable and willing to set the ball and allow us to hit," she said.
"We get to stay attacking more often. For this group of kids, they're getting us a swing at every ball."
She said serve receive and serving have improved with each match.
"It's been good so far," Peck said of the season.
"But now we start a new one."
Columbia Falls is entering that "new" season on a definite high. For the first time in Hines' three years with the Wildkats, they beat the Bulldogs.
"I guess we need to go out of town more often," Hines said of the victory in Whitefish.
"It was a great way to finish up, the best game of the year we had against them."
The side affect has been a great week of practice, despite going at 5:30 a.m. Parent-teacher conferences this week forced Hines to switch her practice schedule.
"My girls look at it like a crosstown rivalry," she said of the Whitefish matches.
"Whitefish is always the team to beat and we finally had success against them."
To down Whitefish a second time …
"Just focusing on our game, not getting into anybody else's game," Hines said.
"Making sure our communication is going, getting our jobs done."
And …
"Not letting the fans get in our heads," she said.
"That will be nice to be playing at a neutral site."
The semifinal match is set for 7 p.m. on Friday. The tournament will wrap up with the title match on Saturday, 5 p.m.
The state tournament in Bozeman is Nov. 20-22.
Divisional Schedules
Northwest A
At Polson
Today
(Libby, Bigfork byes)
5 p.m. - Whitefish vs. Columbia Falls
7 - Polson vs. Ronan
Eastern A
At Sidney
Today
(Miles City, Billings Central byes)
6 p.m. - Hardin vs. Glendive
8 - Sidney vs. Laurel
Southwestern A
At Anaconda
Today
(Dillon, Anaconda byes)
6 p.m. - Hamilton vs. Corvallis
8 - Stevensville vs. Frenchtown
Final Regular Season Standings
Northwestern A
League Overall
W L W L
Libby 9 1 9 3
Bigfork 8 2 11 2
Polson 6 4 9 4
Whitefish 4 6 5 7
Columbia Falls 3 7 4 9
Ronan 0 10 3 14
Divisional Seeding
No. 1 - Libby, No. 2 - Bigfork (first-round byes); No. 3 Polson; No. 4 Whitefish; No. 5 Columbia Falls; No. 6 Ronan
Southwestern A
League Overall
W L W L Dillon 9 1 13 3
Anaconda 8 2 11 3
Frenchtown 6 4 10 6
Corvallis 5 5 10 6
Hamilton 1 9 4 12
Stevensville 1 9 1 15
Divisional Seeding
No. 1 - Dillon, No. 2 - Anaconda (first-round byes), No. 3 - Frenchtown, No. 4 - Corvallis, No. 5 - Hamilton (tie-breaker), No. 6 - Stevensville