Libby spikers settle for 3rd in Class A state tourney

BOZEMAN About 30 minutes.

Thats about how late the Libby Loggers were to the volleyball party Saturday morning.

And at the All-Class State Volleyball Tournament, thats too long.

The Custer County Cowgirls, though, were right on time. They knocked the Loggers out of the tournament in three games. Scores were 25-10, 25-22, 25-16.

Libby finished in third place. Miles City went on to claim second and Fergus (Livingston) won its second straight state championship.

We didnt show up until it was a little too late, said Libby coach Cindy Ostrem-Johnston.

Its disappointing, because I dont feel we played our best out there. We didnt bring our A game today and thats what we needed to do to beat Miles City, she said.

A lot of it is mental over here. I thought we broke down in that area, Ostrem-Johnston said.

The Loggers looked like they were ready to go for the first six points of the match.

They led 4-2, middle hitter Jackie Mee had recorded her first kill, and setter Jordan Refsland had served an ace.

They looked ready to roll.

And then Miles City started to find the holes and Libby started to make mistakes.

The Loggers went from trailing 12-10 to a 25-10 loss in about 10 minutes.

In fact, the Cowgirls scored 18 points before Libby scored another point. Miles City led 5-0 in the second game before it finally buried a kill attempt in the net.

The Loggers were down 20-13 in that game when they finally got a few things to go their way. Two Mee kills and a block from Mee and Katie Emery and suddenly the Loggers were playing volleyball.

The energy was there, the emotion was there. They rallied to 21-19 and 24-22, but fell just short.

The up-and-down moments continued in the third game Libby led 5-1, but Miles City won seven of the next 10 points to tie the game at 8.

From there, it was mostly the Cowgirls.

Mee led the Loggers with 10 kills, three blocks and 13 digs. Alysha Martin added 11 digs, Refsland served three aces and had seven assists, and Alex Kulbeck added four blocks.

Im proud of the girls for coming this far. I reminded them at the beginning of the season I didnt know what to expect, Ostrem-Johnston said.

Libby had only two athletes returning with varsity experience.

We were conference champions, we only lost one conference match during the season, we were divisional champions. We got back over here (to the state tournament) and we got in the trophies.

I dont want to be satisfied with this … but we have to be and Im proud of them, she said.

Its a great experience for these kids who were here that will be back next year. Its important they see this, because its a totally different atmosphere. Theyll be ready to go, the coach said.

The Loggers graduate four outside hitter Genesea Meha, outside hitter Devon Hoyer, rightside hitter Nichole Newman and Refsland, but they return eight who were on the tournament team.

I think theyve got the volleyball bug and Im hoping they will follow through on working hard in the offseason, Ostrem-Johnston said.

Kills: Miles City 32 (Kalli Durham 16), Libby 24 (Jackie Mee 10, Devon Hoyer 4), Assists: Miles City 31 (Alexia Mader 23), Libby 18 (Jordan Refsland 7, Evi Cernick 6); Blocks: Miles City 9 (Anna Magnuson 3, Durham 3), Libby 7 (Alex Kulbeck 4, Mee 3), Digs: Miles City 62 (Tiffani Collins 19), Libby 51 (Mee 13, Alysha Martin 11), Aces: Miles City 8 (Jessica Cremer 3), Libby 3 (Refsland 3).