Libby earns third straight state berth in volleyball

LIBBY - Jackie Mee had 23 kills. Nicole Davey had 21 kills. Evi Cernick had 40 assists, Kayla Duford 42. Alysha Martin had 23 digs and Staci Benson had 29.

And in the end?

It was the Libby Loggers with a 21-25, 26-24, 26-24, 27-25 victory over the Polson Lady Pirates in the late match of Friday's Northwestern A Divisional volleyball tournament.

The win puts the Loggers in today's championship match and ensures them a third straight Class A state playoff berth next week in Bozeman.

"It was a proud moment. It was fun and so, so intense," said Logger coach Cindy Ostrem-Johnston afterward.

"You talk about stressful. I'm getting a little old for this. (The Loggers) competed harder than I've seen them compete.

"It was back and forth and back and forth. I think people got their money's worth tonight," she said.

Libby dropped the first set, then trailed the Pirates 10-2 in the second.

Down 10-3, Mee went back to serve.

"There was a look in her eyes that said 'I'm going to get us back in this from the back row,'" Ostrem-Johnston said.

When she was done, the Loggers were right back in the set at 10-9.

"My heart was sinking when we were down that far. It was definitely a team effort. They didn't give up. They kept fighting," the coach said.

And so did the Pirates.

"We'd get Polson down and they'd come back."

Polson, down 18-11 in the fourth game, came all the way back as well.

"(The Loggers) were pretty excited. They know Polson is a great team. We haven't beaten them yet this year, so that was major for the girls," Ostrem-Johnston said.

"I think (Mee) was pretty proud of her teammates, too. We had other kids stepping up for us and we needed that. We couldn't do it with just Jackie," she said.

"Alex Kulbeck was tough for us at the serving line and hitting and blocking," she said.

Libby defeat Polson

21-25, 26-24, 26-24, 27-25

Kills - LIbby 51 (Jackie Mee 23), Polson 51 (Nicole Davey 21), Assists - Libby 45 (Evi Cernick 40), Polson 48 (Kayla Duford 42), Digs - Libby 71 (Alysha Martin 23), Polson 91 (Staci Benson 29), Blocks - Libby 7 (Jackie Mee 4), Polson 6 (Loni Havlovick 2, Sallie Sams 2), Aces - Libby 11 (Alex Kulbeck 4), Polson 9 (Kayla Duford 5).

Libby 3, Whitefish 0

Jackie Mee had 15 of Libby's 31 kills and Logan Best recorded 11 digs as the Libby Loggers downed Whitefish 25-15, 25-23, 25-10 in Friday's early match of the Northwestern A volleyball tournament.

Alex Kulbeck and Katie Emery each added three blocks for the Loggers.

Kaitlyn Wehrli paced the Bulldogs with seven kills and 12 digs.

Libby defeat Whitefish

25-15, 25-23, 25-10

Kills - Libby 31 (Jackie Mee 15), Whitefish 16 (Kaitlyn Wehrli 7), Assists - Libby 27 (Evi Cernick 24), Whitefish 13 (Jessica Slaybaugh 8), Blocks - Libby 8 (Alex Kulbeck 3, Katie Emery 3), Whitefish 5 (Olivia Nagler 4), Digs - Libby 41 (Logan Best 11), Whitefish 28 (Kaitlyn Wehrli 12), Aces - Libby 11 (Alysha Martin 5), Whitefish 6 (Heather Bailey 3).

Polson 3,

Columbia Falls 0

The Polson Lady Pirates brought a balanced attack against the Columbia Falls Wildkats in the early afternoon Northwestern A volleyball match.

Nicole Davey had 15 kills, Breanne Kelley added 11 and Sallie Sams 10 as the regular season champion Pirates defeated Columbia Falls 25-15, 26-24, 25-15.

Staci Benson added 20 digs and Kayla Duford had 37 assists.

Danielle Gilley and Kayla DeWit each had four kills for the Wildkats. Jessi Gist contributed two blocks and Brooke Cady and Cassidee Skiles had eight digs apiece.

Polson defeat Columbia Falls

25-15, 26-24, 25-15

Kills - Polson 45 (Nicole Davey 15, Breanne Kelley 11, Sallie Sams 10), Columbia Falls 17 (Danielle Gilley 4, Kayla DeWit 4), Assists - Polson 39 (Kayla Duford 37), Columbia Falls 13 (Shay Grilley 13), Blocks - Polson 3 (Davey, Sams, Duford), Columbia Falls 3 (Jessi Gist 2), Digs - Polson 66 (Staci Benson 20), Columbia Falls 31 (Brooke Cady 8, Cassidee Skiles 8), Aces - Polson 6 (Kelley 5), Columbia Falls 4 (DeWit 2).

Whitefish 3, Ronan 0

Kaitlyn Wehrli had 10 kills and six digs as the Whitefish Bulldogs bounced back from their Friday morning loss to Libby to down Ronan 25-13, 25-12, 25-17.

Jessica Slaybaugh added 22 assists and Madison Tveidt served five aces.

Chelsey Bourdon had four kills for Ronan and Tailyr Irvine had two blocks.

Whitefish defeat Ronan

25-13, 25-12, 25-17

Kills - Whitefish 29 (Kaitlyn Wehrli 10), Ronan 11 (Chelsey Bourdon 4), Assists - Whitefish 28 (Jessica Slaybaugh 22), Ronan 8 (Lyndsee Conklin 3), Digs - Whitefish 23 (Kaitlyn Wehrli 6), Ronan 24 (Makenzie Middleton 7), Blocks - Whitefish 5 (Heather Bailey 2), Ronan 4 (Tailyr Irvine 2), Aces - Whitefish 12 (Madison Tveidt 5), Ronan 5 (Taylor Lynch).

Volleyball

Northwestern A

at Libby

Today

Noon - Columbia Falls vs. Whitefish.

3 p.m. - Polson vs. CFalls/Whitefish winner.

5 p.m. - Championship Libby vs. 3 p.m. winner.

7 p.m. - If needed, second championship.