Loyola sweeps Bigfork

BIGFORK - So close.

Long rallies, hard hits, huge digs - Tuesday's Bigfork Valkyries-Loyola Breakers volleyball match had it all.

The Vals (4-2, 3-0) gave it a good run. But it was visiting Loyola putting the ball down to end those long rallies. It was the Breakers who had the last hard hit, the crucial dig ... and it was the Breakers that went home with a 25-19, 25-22, 25-18 nonconference victory.

"We haven't seen this kind of competition, so this is good for us," said Bigfork coach Tracy Wicklund.

"(The Valkyries) played well. We had moments of really good stuff. But (the Breakers) just had a little more up their sleeves. Their tips kind of got us and their cross court, they had some real sharp angles," she said.

"We have a lot of work to do before we meet up with these guys next time," she said.

"We need to work on our tip coverage, our blocking isn't as strong as it should be ... we missed serves. That can't happen.

"We shined at certain points and at certain points, it was a little harder. But we didn't quit. I can't say we ever gave up," she said.

Mallery Knoll led the Vals with 10 kills and 20 digs. Mel Vanderveer had four blocks and served two aces and Taylor Peck had 11 assists and served five aces.

All three games were nip and tuck.

But they were also loaded with long scoring runs. The Breakers cruised to a 14-9 first set lead, only to miss a serve and watch the Vals climb back into the set.

The Vals, on the other hand, closed the gap to 22-18 on an ace only to turn the ball back over to Loyola by shooting the next serve long.

At game point, Breaker junior middle Kiernan Haggarty clipped the top of the net with her serve. It dropped in for an ace and the first set win.

The second set got off to a bad start for Bigfork - it looked as though it might turn into a Loyola blowout.

Down 10-4, the Vals turned the ball over to junior setter Taylor Peck.

She ran off seven straight points, including four straight aces to give Bigfork an 11-10 lead.

The teams traded kills through 22-20 in Bigfork's favor.

But Loyola bounced back with a huge kill by Katy Ermatinger. Kiernan followed with two service aces and Alex Anderson finished the set off with a kill.

The Vals never stopped fighting, though.

"We don't ever give up. We keep fighting until the end - and that's all you can do," Wicklund said.

The third set was a struggle all the way. Bigfork had small leads, but could never string enough points together to separate from the Breakers.

In the end, it was Loyola who got the timely hits and who put together the string of points to get away from the Vals.

Loyola def. Bigfork 25-19, 25-22, 25-18

Kills - Loyola 41 (Kienan Haggarty 10, Katy Ermatinger 10), Bigfork 22 (Mallery Knoll 10); Assists - Loyola 35 (Alliy Sellman 17), Bigfork 20 (Taylor Peck 11, Hannah Barrett 9), Blocks - Loyola 6 (Haggarty 3), Bigfork 5 (Mel Vanderveer 4), Digs - Loyola 38 (Stevie Kahle 7), Bigfork 55 (Knoll 20, Ariel Stallknect 11), Aces - Loyola 13 (Haggarty 5), Bigfork 8 (Peck 5, Vanderveer 2).