Whitefish, Polson drop 1st round matches at Class A state volleyball

BOZEMAN - It was quick, but not necessarily painless.

The Class A defending state volleyball champion Lewistown Eagles made fast work of first round opponent Whitefish at the All-Class State Volleyball Tournament on Thursday.

Scores were 25-18, 25-10 and 25-4.

Whitefish was able to hang tough in the first set, but Lewistown's fast-paced offense was more than the Bulldogs have had to handle all year.

"It was quicker than we've seen all season. We hadn't prepared for that and it took us by surprise. We just didn't adjust," said Whitefish coach Sarah Scott.

"We just got caught off-guard. We weren't ready for it and we just didn't rebound well from mistakes," she added.

Abby Strellnauer had eight kills for Whitefish. Taylor Havens added 12 assists and five digs and Brooke Silliker had two digs.

But on the other side of the net, McCalle Feller had 13 kills and served three aces for Lewistown.

Both teams were a bit nervous at the start - Lewistown started off with a service error and a hitting error. The Bulldogs responded with three straight hitting errors.

But after that, both teams settled in and played well.

"We came out and we played the volleyball we know how to play," Scott said.

"We served well and Abby hit very well that first game," she said.

Strellnauer had four kills in the first set.

It was nip and tuck for awhile. There were eight ties and Whitefish led briefly at 14-13.

But three straight McCalle Feller kills gave the Eagles a two-point lead.

That was all the difference it needed. The next glance at the scoreboard showed Lewistown up 24-16.

Whitefish fought back with a couple of points, but the Eagles sided out for the set.

The next two sets went by pretty fast.

The Eagles took a 10-3 advantage to start the second set and by the time the third rolled around, they were operating on all cylinders.

"We just couldn't put a block up and it's tough to play defense without all the components," Scott said of the last two sets.

Whitefish will try to bounce back at noon today as it takes on Corvallis in loser-out action.

The Bulldogs have faced the Blue Devils twice this year and lost both.

"But it will be nice to play a familiar school, so we'll know a little more what to expect," Scott said.

"Corvallis is a scrappy team. They bring a tough offense and we'll need to be prepared to play out each point," she said.

Lewistown defeat Whitefish

25-18, 25-10, 25-4

Kills - Lewistown 32 (McCalle Feller 13), Whitefish 14 (Abby Strellnauer 8); Assists - Lewistown 29 (Allie Adams 26), Whitefish 13 (Taylor Havens 12), Blocks - Lewistown 4 (Kelsey Phillips 2), Whitefish 3 (Brooke Silliker 2), Digs - Lewistown 35 (Amanda Stenseth 9), Whitefish 14 (Taylor Havens 5, Marlow Schulz 4), Aces - Lewistown 7 (McCalle Feller 3), Whitefish 1 (Kelsey McFadden).

Belgrade 3, Polson 2

BOZEMAN - The Pirates were up two sets to none, but Belgrade rallied for the five-set victory, 19-25, 17-25, 25-20, 27-25, 15-11.

Kenzie Clay, Riley Kenney and Tina Marquardt had eight kills each for the Pirates. Heidi Rausch added four blocks and Mackenzie Banner had 28 digs.

The Pirates will play Hamilton at 10 a.m. today in a loser-out match.

Belgrade def. Polson 19-25, 17-25, 25-20, 27-25, 15-11

Kills - Belgrade 51 (Jorden Porter 20, Taylor Woolman 11), Polson 37 (Kenzie Clay 8, Riley Kenney 8, Tina Marquardt 8), Assists - Belgrade 44 (Tayler Jacobson 23, Jorden Porter 15), Polson 32 (Shalaina Duford 28), Blocks - Belgrade 9 (Porter 4), Polson 6 (Heidi Rausch 4), Digs - Belgrade 92 (Dylan Fowler 30), Polson 126 (Mackenzie Banner 28), Aces - Belgrade 5 (Jacobson 4), Polson 5 (Clay 2).