Libby advances to Class A state semis

By DIXIE KNUTSON / The Daily Inter Lake

BOZEMAN - Alex Kulbeck and Nichole Newman got the block when it counted the most.

Kulbeck and Newman had struggled most of the night Thursday with their blocking - Kulbeck was called several times for touching the net - but they got the one that put the Libby Logger volleyball team in the semifinals of the All-Class State Volleyball Tournament.

Libby won two 5-game matches. It downed Belgrade in an afternoon opener 21-25, 25-23, 20-25, 25-22,15-11, then came back and dropped Billings Central 25-22,19-25, 25-23, 19-25, 17-15 in the nightcap.

Because of those two wins, the Loggers are assured of bringing home a trophy.

They will take on the Class A defending state champion Fergus County Eagles at 6 p.m. tonight.

"I was chewing their butts earlier for not getting the blocks up. They responded," smiled Libby head coach Cindy Ostrem-Johnston.

"Oh my gosh. I don't even know what to say. I am so proud of the girls for staying with it, staying in the game. That was tough. That was a major win there. They could have just folded, but they showed they have some true grit there," she said.

"It's a great win. Now we just have to believe we can do more here.

"I'm just shaking like a leaf right now. My hearts beating 100 miles an hour," she laughed.

Libby was a bit inconsistent throughout the day - it gained leads in games, only to hand those advantages right back with unforced errors.

"But we're getting it done. We'll take the wins," Ostrem-Johnston said.

The Loggers and Billings Central were neck and neck through the first game - junior middle hitter Jackie Mee turned in four kills and Devon Hoyer had three to finally give Libby the win.

"Devon Hoyer had a nice match. She got on a roll for us and hit the ball well," the coach said.

The second game, though, was loaded with hitting errors and Loggers in the net as Central cruised to a relatively easy win. The next two games were carbon copies of the first two - Libby getting timely kills and blocks to win a third-game squeaker, and Billings Central rolling in the fourth game.

The fifth game was a monster.

Central took a 12-9 lead, but Mee banged two kills off the top of the block and out of bounds and Katie Emery blocked a Billings Central shot to put Libby on top, 13-12.

"Jackie was a great leader out there. She put the ball down for us when we needed her to, but you have to give credit to the whole team," Ostrem-Johnston said.

When Central dropped a kill attempt into the net on the next play, Libby had match point.

A missed serve and a huge kill from Central knotted the game at 14. A Billings Central hitting error and another kill by the Rams re-knotted the game at 15.

That was when Hoyer stepped up with her biggest kill to date -and Kulbeck and Newman swatted down Central's last shot.

Mee finished with 22 of Libby's 55 kills. Kulbeck had six blocks. Refsland led in aces with four.

Fergus County 3,

Polson 0

Fergus County took care of upstart Polson, winning 25-16, 25-17, 25-18.

Arielle Allen and LeAnn Quinlan shared the kill lead for the victors with eight apiece.

Nicole Davey had 12 of Polson's 27 kills. Staci Benson finished with 18 digs.

Polson is making its first state tournament appearance since the mid-1990s.

The Pirates play Miles City today at 10 a.m. in a loser-out match.