Glacier sweeps Capital; Eureka nips St. Ignatius

HELENA - Lexy Boschee had 14 kills and 13 digs to lead a Glacier Wolfpack 25-23, 26-24, 25-17 sweep of the Helena Capital Bruins in Western AA volleyball action on Saturday.

The win puts Glacier (6-2) alone in second place in Western AA.

"Lexy played a great game today," said Wolfpack coach Christy Harkins.

"I thought we made some good adjustments in our middle blockers," she added.

"Capital runs a quick offense. Our middles had to get off the floor faster than they normally do and I thought they made that adjustment nicely," she said.

Other leaders for Glacier were Cassidy Hashley with three blocks and Paige Latimer with 38 assists.

Kills - 43 (Lexy Boschee 14) Capital 38 (Kelsey Robertson 11), Assists - 39 (Paige Latimer 38) Capital 25 (Emily Burk 22); Blocks - 4 (Cassidy Hashley 3) Capital - 10 (Kaci Matthiew 5, Kyla Crisp 5); Digs - 48 (Boschee 13) Capital 36 (Savannah Smith 11); Aces - 5 (Rachel Cutler 3), Capital 3 (Robertson 2).

Eureka 3,

St. Ignatius 2

ST. IGNATIUS - The Eureka Lions struggled a bit with their passing but rallied to down St. Ignatius in five sets in a District 7B volleyball showdown.

Scores were 23-25, 24-26, 25-22, 25-16, 15-13

"We kind of struggled all night, but we didn't quit," said Eureka coach Rhonda Hammond.

The victory puts Eureka (6-2) alone in second place in the conference. Bigfork is first and St. Ignatius is third.

"This is a huge win," Hammond said.

The District 7B tournament is "going to be a battle. If you don't show up ... it's going to be that tight," she said.

Selene Elster had 15 kills and Cassidy Morgan had 18 digs to lead the Lions.

The Lions started out strong, but then started to struggle. Passing "is about focus and moving your feet. But then the kids responded and focused a little more. The kids responded in a great way," she said.

"I thought everyone stepped up when they needed to, really."

Serving was essential for Eureka. It committed 16 service errors earlier in the week against Bigfork, but on Saturday, the Lions were terrific, the coach said.

The Lions play host on Thursday to Troy.

Kills - Eureka 45 (Selene Elster 15), St. Ignatius 24 (Adessa Durglo 10). Blocks - Eureka 7 (three with 2), St. Ignatius 6 (Druglo 3, Jen Larsson 3). Digs - Eureka 84 (Cassidy Morgan 18), St. Ignatius 76 (Loren Erickson 16). Assists - Eureka 36 (Alyssa White 34), St. Ignatius 20 (Erickson 19). Aces - Eureka 19 (Tasha Mikita 6), St. Ignatius 18 (Ashley Courville 6).

Polson 3, Whitefish 1

POLSON - The Polson Pirates recovered from seven first-set service errors and an 8-point fourth set deficit to rally past the visiting Whitefish Bulldogs 23-25, 25-20, 25-23, 25-22 in a Northwestern A volleyball matchup.

Breanne Kelley had 15 kills and 17 digs to lead the Pirates (7-0).

Heather Bailey contributed 12 kills, 13 digs and four service aces to the Bulldog effort.

"Whitefish really played a great game. They came with a lot of energy and we had to really play a mentally tough game," said Polson coach Jan Toth.

"Anything we tried, Whitefish was there to counteract," she said.

The service errors had Toth shaking her head.

"We can't give Whitefish any ammunition. They are tough!" she said.

Whitefish led by eight points in the fourth set.

"We had to mentally come together and play together as a team," Toth said. "We chipped away, one point at a time."

Toth complimented the efforts of Riley Kenney, who hadn't played all week due to a shoulder injury, and Ashley Johnson for her serving in that fourth set.

Kills - Whitefish 26 (Heather Bailey 12, Madison Tveidt 10), Polson 45 (Breanne Kelley 15, Sallie Sams 10); Assists - Whitefish 12 (Olivia Nager 7, Madison Tveidt 2), Polson 31 (Kayla Duford 30) Blocks - Whitefish 8 (Nagler 2, Brooke Silliker 2, Baylee Tveidt 2), Polson 9 (Riley Kenney 4, Sams 3); Digs - Whitefish 50 (M. Tveidt 14, Bailey 13) Polson 84 (Kelley 17, Duford 14); Aces - Whitefish 10 (Silliker 5, Bailey 4); Polson 9 (Duford 5).

Ronan 3, Libby 1

LIBBY - Kim Tangen had 12 kills and 10 digs in a losing effort on for the Libby Loggers.

Ronan defeated the Loggers 25-20, 21-25, 25-13, 25-18 in a Northwestern A volleyball matchup.

Alice VanGunten had nine kills and Marissa McCrea had 16 digs for the Maidens.

Libby (1-4, 3-5) travels on Thursday to Polson, then heads to the Missoula Tournament on Saturday.

Kills - Ronan 34 (Alice VanGunten 9), Libby 27 (Kim Tangen 12, Alex Kulbeck 9); Assists - Ronan 22 (Taylor Lynch 13), Libby 24 (Lexie Hageness 21); Blocks - Ronan 7 (Tailyr Irvine 1), Libby 2 (Kulbeck 2); Digs - Ronan 54 (Marissa McCrea 16), Libby 44 (Tangen 10, Alyssa Walker 8); Aces - Ronan 7 (Tuesday Salmon 3), Libby 15 (Beckly Boulware 4, Lauren Wepprecht 4).