Serving lifts Whitefish past Ronan

WHITEFISH - The Ronan Maidens never knew what hit them.

Whitefish's Molly Filipek reeled off 10 straight serves to start Thursday's Northwestern A volleyball match and the Bulldogs downed visiting Ronan in three games.

Scores were 25-12, 25-8, 25-9.

Kaitlyn Wehrli had 12 kills and Filipek had 17 digs and served seven aces. Jessica Slaybaugh added three kills and 12 assists and Olivia Nagler contributed nine assists, a block, three aces and 14 digs.

"The kids just played really well. They played together tonight as a group," said a smiling Whitefish coach Jackie Fuller.

"Total commitment. Total contributions by everybody."

Fuller also had compliments for Ronan.

"They struggled a little bit, but they never gave up. They need to be proud of that. They were still cheering. They were still hustling," she said.

"Give (Ronan coach Shae Hutchinson) credit for teaching those kids not to give up," she said.

Ronan was led by Tailyr Irvine with five kills and Alice VanGunten with four kills and an ace. Taylor Lynch had 14 assists and Chelsey Bourdon added four kills.

But things were going exceptionally well on the Whitefish side of the net.

The Bulldogs led by as many as 14 points in the first game, 16 points in the second and 17 points in the third.

"We were able to throw in some underclassmen … and we never had the panic that we've had recently," Fuller said.

"I saw confidence tonight in Taylor Havens. I saw confidence in Abby Strellnauer," Fuller said.

"But we still have many areas in our defense that we need to improve. My biggest thing - we're dropping off and we're not getting that first dig," she said.

"We just need to keep playing and playing and playing," she said.

"It's a team effort and that is what is going to carry us this year. These girls enjoy being out there and they enjoy playing - and it showed tonight."

The Bulldogs (2-2) travel to Polson on Saturday to take on the Lady Pirates.

"They've got a lot of talent. We're going to have to be ready to play," Fuller said.

Kills - Ronan 16 (Tailyr Irvine 5, Alice VanGunten 4, Chelsey Bourdon 4), Whitefish 25 (Kaitlyn Wehrli 12, Jessica Slaybaugh 3); Blocks - Ronan 0, Whitefish 5 (Heather Bailey 2, Olivia Nagler 1), Assists - Ronan 16 (Taylor Lynch 14), Whitefish 23 (Jessica Slaybaugh 12, Olivia Nagler 9), Digs - Ronan 11 (VanGunten), Whitefish 82 (Molly Filipek 17, Olivia Nagler 14); Aces - Ronan 1 (VanGunten), Whitefish 15 (Filipek 7, Nagler 3).