Polson spikers headed back to state

COLUMBIA FALLS -- The Polson Pirates booked their third straight trip to the Class A state volleyball tournament on Friday.

The Pirates made quick work of host Columbia Falls in their afternoon matchup at the Northwestern A divisional - 25-10, 25-12, 25-9 - and then held off Ronan in the semifinal 25-22, 25-22, 25-17.

That puts the Pirates into the championship match at 4 p.m. today at Columbia Falls High School. The top two teams advance to the state tournament.

"Three years in a row - for a program that started where we did, I can't ask for anything more," marveled Pirate coach Jan Toth.

"But I know the girls aren't satisfied. We haven't brought home a divisional championship and we want it," she said.

"It's surreal right now to go three years," she said.

" It feels incredible. I want it so bad for those kids. To endure my practices, my intensity, they deserve to get something. And we're playing the best ball we have for a long time - ever, actually," she added.

"Polson has been our rival. To be this competitive with them is awesome. And every time we have met them it's been better," said Ronan coach Naomi Mock.

"The girls did a good job. They have a really hard match this morning. We went five this morning, so I think that's part of it," she said.

"If we would have been able to close the first one in three it would have been easier. It would have been a little nicer, but I couldn't be more happy with my players.

"We've got to come back tomorrow," she said.

Ronan will face the winner of Columbia Falls-Whitefish at 2 p.m.

"That will be a good match," Mock said.

"We're fine with either one. It's always a downer to play your rival and not do as well as they wanted to. We were hoping to go to state with Polson -- and we still have that opportunity. We will just have to work a little harder than we planned," she said.

Breanne Kelley led the Pirate effort in the nightcap with 18 kills and four service aces.

"What an amazing volleyball player," the coach said.

"People come to watch her -- she's such a show to watch and she's such a job to coach," she smiled.

"But we have to work hard. Teams are playing up. It's taking everything we have," Toth said.

It wasn't easy against Ronan -- the Maidens had leads in each of the first two sets.

"Where we have problems against Ronan is we tend to get a little tentative because they dig everything. Marissa McCrea (Ronan's libero) is amazing. My hitters have to change it up. Before when we played them, we started the tip game," she said.

Added to that worry was the loss again of Riley Kenney.

Kenney had injured her shoulder during the season, but wanted to play at divisional.

She tweaked her shoulder in warmups, but still wanted to play.

"She asked me to put her in to pass -- and she dove for a ball," the coach said.

"Other kids had to step up and they did. I'm really proud of Kenzie Clay, Ashley Johnson and MaCall Banner."

Kenney likely won't play in today's championship, but could be ready to go for the state tournament.

"I wasn't worried (facing the Mission Valley rival). But I knew we had to play our best. And I will have to say I got a little worried in warmups when Riley tweaked her shoulder. Right there, my heart did a couple thumps because I'm not a quick thinker on changing my lineup.

"I had to trust that the girls would come in and I wouldn't have to change much," the coach said.

That's how things started on Friday night as well -- McCrea had 21 digs on the night -- and Polson did try to tip early.

And when Polson got tentative, the Maidens built themselves a 14-9 first set lead. That prompted a timeout from Toth (the only one she took in the match) and a change in attitude.

Polson exited that timeout, got the serve back when Ronan sent a kill attempt long -- and then went on an 8-point run with Kelley jump-serving.

Ronan answered, though, with five straight points on Alice VanGunten's jump serve. That tied the set at 21. The teams tied again at 22 and Polson finally slipped away on a kill and a block by Kenzie Clay.

The second set was tight as well -- neither team led by more than four points most of the way.

Kelley had six of her kills in that one. But Sallie Sams stepped up with four of her seven kills as well.

And in the fourth set, the Pirates rolled.

"Pretty soon, we got in our groove. Our passing was so good and Kayla (Duford) did an amazing job," Toth said.

Polson 3, Ronan 0

Polson def. Ronan 25-22, 25-22, 25-17

Kills -- Polson 42 (Breanne Kelley 18, Kenzie Clay 7, Sallie Sams 7), Ronan 31 (Alice VanGunten 9); Assists -- Polson 35 (Kayla Duford 33), Ronan 23 (Taylor Lynch 15), Blocks -- Polson 3 (Sams 2), Ronan 1 Tailyr Irvine 1; Digs -- Polson 54 (Kendyall Rochin 16), Ronan 56 (Marissa McCrea 21); Aces -- Polson 12 (Ashley Johnson 5, Kelley 4), Ronan 2 (Irvine 2).

Whitefish 3, Libby 1

Heather Bailey had 18 kills and 19 digs to lead the Whitefish volleyball team past Libby 25-19, 25-27, 25-20, 25-19 in a Northwestern A divisional loser-out match on Friday night.

Alex Kulbeck had 15 kills and Chelsea Bowe added 15 digs and four aces for the Libby Loggers, who finished their season 5-9, 2-8.

Whitefish def. Libby 25-19, 25-27, 25-20, 25-19

Kills -- Whitefish 45 (Heather Bailey 18, Madison Tveidt 13), Libby 34 (Alex Kulbeck 15), Assists -- Whitefish 41 (Olivia Nagler 27, Taylor Havens 12), Libby --32 (Lexi Hageness 31), Blocks -- Whitefish 11 (Abby Strellnauer 3), Libby 3 (Kim Tangen 2), Digs -- Whitefish 49 (Heather Bailey 19), Libby 64 (Chelsea Bowe 15), Aces -- Whitefish 8 (Lindsey Viscomi 3), Libby 8 (Bowe 4).

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Today's Schedule

Noon -- Whitefish vs. Columbia Falls, loser out

2 p.m. -- Ronan vs. Whitefish/Columbia Falls winner, loser out

4 p.m. -- Polson vs. Ronan/Whitefish/Columbia Falls winner, championship

6 p.m. -- Second championship, if necessary.

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Columbia Falls 3, Libby 2

Danielle Gilley had nine kills and 20 digs and Allie Dierenfield had 15 assists as Columbia Falls rallied from a two sets to one deficit to down Libby 25-23, 18-25, 21-25, 25-23, 15-11 in the opening match of the tournament.

Match 1

Columbia Falls def. Libby 25-23, 18-25, 21-25, 25-23, 15-11

Kills - Libby 40 (Becky Boulware 11, Lauren Wepprecht 10), Columbia Falls 31 (Danielle Gilley 9, Hope Burlage 6), Assists - Libby 34 (Lexi Hageness 30), Columbia Falls 28 (Alli Dierenfield 15, Hope Burlage 13) ; Blocks - Libby 2 (Alex Kulbeck 1, Lauren Wepprecht 1), Columbia Falls 8 (Gabrielle Stenger 2, Burlage 2); Digs - Libby 50 (Alyssa Walker 15), Columbia Falls 87 (Shaun Rowe 34, Gilley 20); Aces - Libby 17 (Wepprecht 6), Columbia Falls 15 (Gabrielle Stenger 5).

Ronan 3, Whitefish 2

Tailyr Ivine tallied 21 kills and three blocks as the Ronan Maidens built a two-set lead over Whitefish then clung to a five-set victory. Scores were 25-16, 25-21, 17-25, 19-25, 15-7.

Match 2

Ronan def. Whitefish 25- 16 25-21 17-25 19-25 15-7

Kills - Whitefish 42 (Madison Tveidt 16), Ronan 41 (Tailyr Irvine 21), Assists - Whitefish 37 (Taylor Havens), Ronan 22 (Taylor Lynch 13), Blocks - Whitefish 8 (Olivia Nagler 2), Ronan 12 (Irvine 3); Digs - Whitefish 94 (Heather Bailey 23, M. Tveidt 20), Ronan 113 (Marissa McCrea 29), Aces - Whitefish 10 (Lindsay Viscomi 10), Ronan 7 (Alice VanGunten).

Polson 3,

Columbia Falls 0

Breanne Kelley had 18 of Polson's 36 kills and Kayla Duford had 30 assists as the regular season champion Polson blew past Columbia Falls in a second round match, 25-10, 25-12, 25-9.

Match 3

Polson def. Columbia Falls 25-10, 25-12, 25-9

Kills - Columbia Falls 8 (Jessie Gist 3), Polson 36 (Breanne Kelley 18), Assists - Columbia Falls 8 (Allie Dierenfield 5), Polson 31 (Kayla Duford 30), Blocks - Columbia Falls 4 (Gist), Polson 9 (Sallie Sams 3, Riley Kenney 2), Digs - Columbia Falls 24 (Gilley 10, Rowe 5), Polson 25 (Kendyall Rochin 9, McCall Banner 8), Aces - Columbia Falls 3 (No leader). Polson 15 (Kayla Duford 4, Shay Duford 4).