Class A state volleyball: Polson, Whitefish bow out on Day 2
BOZEMAN - There weren't any smiles when the Polson Lady Pirates left the locker room Friday at the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse.
But after the Pirates have a little time to reflect on the 2011 volleyball season, they'll remember they left everything on the court.
The Pirates overcame a 5-10 fifth set deficit to defeat Hamilton 21-25, 26-24, 25-27, 25-15, 25-15 in the morning loser-out contest on Friday, but didn't have quite enough gas left in the tank when they faced Billings Central in the afternoon. The Rams defeated Polson 25-20, 22-25, 25-15, 25-15.
Riley Kenney had 15 kills and two blocks, Ashley Johnson added 14 kills and Kenzie Clay had 13 kills and two blocks in the Hamilton match. Shalaina Duford contributed 49 assists, two blocks, 33 digs and served an ace.
Against Billings Central, Johnson had 14 kills and Duford had 34 assists and 21 digs.
"They went out playing as hard as they could. Our defense was outstanding," said Pirate coach Jan Toth.
"Billings Central had to really work hard to get it past our defense - and that's all I ever wanted for them ... to leave it on the court," she said.
Defeating Hamilton earlier in the day "took every ounce of emotion they had. Coming from a 5-10 deficit in a fifth game, that took a lot of emotion, a lot of power. So when they had to turn around and play Billings Central who is so tough, so quick ... we don't see that quick of an offense often," she said.
"But we were able to hang with them," she added.
The Pirates dropped the first set, but bounced right back to claim the second. They led the third set 11-5 before Billings Central got itself together and got going again. But it regrouped and was down 15-14 when Katie Cummins went back to serve.
She 11 straight points to take a 25-15 third set victory.
That meltdown was particularly painful for Toth to talk about.
"In order to win big games you have to stay ahead. We were unable to do that. We wanted it so bad," she said.
Central's offense was fast - three hitters were in double figures, including 6-foot-1 senior Abbie Hanser (19 kills), sophomore Justyn Juhl (15) and senior Danny Kucera (12).
"She's 6-1," Toth said of Hanser. "My middle blockers are 5-8 at best. I thought they did a good job of containing her and my backcourt did a good job of being able to read her," she said.
Toth complimented the Central setter, Katie Cummins.
"She was phenomenal. She made a lot out of nothing. She was able to put that ball up and they just hit away at us. They were relentless," she said.
The Pirates graduate four - Ashley Johnson, MaCall Banner, Kenzie Clay and Riley Kenney.
"Four girls who have gone through four years and have stuck through a lot. They're some of my best friends. I'll miss them. We have big shoes to fill - it's more than their athleticism. They're good kids," Toth said.
"It's rough. You have a team that's this close and they all play for each other. It's hard to let go of that."
Polson def. Hamilton
21-25, 26-24, 25-27, 25-15, 15-12
Kills - Polson 61 (Riley Kenney 15, Ashley Johnson 14, Kenzie Clay 13, Tina Marquardt 10), Hamilton 50 (Rebecka Hood 17), Assists - Polson 53 (Shalaina Duford 49), Hamilton 48 (Marcy Conwell 37), Blocks - Polson 9 (Heidi Rausch 3, Clay 2, Kenney 2, Duford 2), Hamilton 6 (Nichole Hood 4, Rhayn Ransier 4), Digs - Polson 135 (Duford 33, Mackenzie Banner 29, MaCall Banner 20), Hamilton 104 (R. Hood 27), Aces - Polson 3 (Johnson 1, Rausch 1, Duford 1), Hamilton 7 (Colleen McGibben 2, Mary Conwell 2).
Billings Central def. Polson 25-20, 22-25, 25-15, 25-15
Kills - Billings Central 58 (Abbie Hanser 19), Polson 41 (Ashley Johnson 14, Heidi Rausch 10, Kenzie Clay 9), Assists - Billings Central 54 (Katie Cummins 49), Polson 41 (Shalaina Duford 34), Blocks - Billings Central 6 (Hanser 3), Polson 4 (No leader), Digs - Billings Central 145 (Justyn Juhl 32), Polson 96 (Duford 21, Riley Kenney 17, MaCall Banner 15, Mackenzie Banner 15), Aces - Billings Central 7 (Cummins 3), Polson 4 (No leader).
Corvallis 3,
Whitefish 0
Abby Strellnauer had 11 kills and Emily Sullivan added five kills and a block, but it wasn't enough as the Whitefish Bulldogs bowed out of the All-Class State Volleyball Tournament on Friday afternoon.
Corvallis defeated Whitefish 25-17, 25-19, 25-20.
Taylor Havens contributed 23 assists and Bekah Weaver had seven digs.
Corvallis defeat Whitefish
25-17, 25-19, 25-20
Kills - Corvallis 29 (Joanna Avery 10), Whitefish 24 (Abby Strellanuer 11, Emily Sullivan 5, Baylee Tveidt 4), Assists - Corvallis 23 (Alex Price 13), Whitefish 23 (Taylor Havens 23), Blocks - Corvallis 4 (Avery 2), Whitefish 1 (Sullivan), Digs - Corvallis 53 (Laura Berner 13), Whitefish 33 (Bekah Weaver 7, Marlow Schulz 6, Kelsey McFadden 5), Aces - Corvallis 9 (Berner 3), Whitefish 8 (Sheila