Adjustments pay off for Libby

COLUMBIA FALLS - It was gut-check time for the Libby Logger volleyball team.

Senior middle hitter Alex Kulbeck texted coach Cindy Ostrem-Johnston Tuesday morning with some bad news - she was sick and wouldn't be able to make the road trip to play Columbia Falls.

"She said she had a killer sore throat, needed to go to the doctor and wasn't going to be able to make it tonight," Ostrem-Johnston said.

"I had to make some changes tonight and the kids adjusted well to it," she said.

"I told (the Loggers) they were going to need to step up tonight without her and I felt they did that. They played with more confidence then they've been playing with, passed better. I was pleased," she said.

The Loggers (5-6, 2-5), behind nine kills from outside hitter Kim Tangen and eight from Lauren Wepprecht, swept the host Wildkats 25-13, 25-18, 25-23.

Jessie Gist had six kills for Columbia Falls and Danielle Gilley added 11 digs, a block and two aces.

"Kim had some key hits on the outside. She recovered well from mistakes and put the ball down when we needed her to," Ostrem-Johnston said.

"I think they are starting to come together. I was hoping they would come together this week going into the tournament next week," she said.

"We've had a tough season. We've struggled. We've lost a lot of games and matches," she  said.

"We've lost players, had a lot of distractions this year, had kids out sick. I know we haven't had a week of good practice since school started with kids being out sick. It's been really frustrating. So it was nice to see them play well tonight."

"We still have a lot of work to do, but this is kind of a glimpse of the future. They all have the opportunity to be back next year," she added.

"I thought we played with a lot of energy and we kept our energy up throughout the whole match," Tangen said.

"We subbed some people in and did what we could. The people we put in definitely stepped up and showed us what they can do," she added.

The first set breezed by for the Loggers - they had three aces and a kill in the first four points and rolled from there.

Columbia Falls got progressively better as the night went on - it had leads in each of the next two sets, but it couldn't close either one out on a strong note.

The Wildkats built a 12-8 early lead in the third, but Libby slowly climbed back into it with kills from Jessamyn Tempel, Elissa Taylor and Tangen.

"The third set started off really well," said Wildkat senior outside hitter Danielle Gilley.

But then?

"We got a little nervous. We got frantic," she said.

"It's almost like we're not confident we can win. We're afraid to win," agreed Columbia Falls coach Addy Connelly.

"It just happens that we fall apart at times and then it becomes this mental game," Connelly said.

"By the third set, they finally got warmed up and were ready to go. They made an error, but they were answering back, they were getting the ball back. (Libby) didn't have any big runs on us in the third set," she said.

"I'm pleased with the girls. They are continuing to be positive. They come into the lockerroom and we didn't win, but something is a little bit better than it was the time before. And for them to find something like that, instead of being completely focused what they did wrong ... is saying something of the girls and who they are as individuals," Connelly said.

"Hopefully we'll work this out. We'll focus on the positive, be confident in ourselves and not focus on the mistakes that just happened," Gilley said.

Libby def. Columbia Falls 25-13, 25-18, 25-23

Kills -- Libby 26 (Kim Tangen 9, Lauren Wepprecht 8), Columbia Falls 22 (Jessie Gist 6); Assists -- Libby 22 (Lexi Hageness 20), Columbia Falls 17 (Hope Burlage 9, Erika Nelson 7); Blocks -- Libby 1 (Becky Boulware), Columbia Falls 3 (Danielle Gilley 1, Jonna Werner 1, Gabrielle Stenger 1);  Digs -- Libby 31 (Alyssa Walker 13), Columbia Falls 53 (Shaun Rowe 13, Gilley 11); Aces -- Libby 15 (Boulware 6, Wepprecht 5); Columbia Falls 4 (Gilley 2).