State A volleyball: C-Falls beats Corvallis, Lewistown
BOZEMAN — The Columbia Falls faithful, who made the trip, rose to their feet as they watched the Wildkats advance to the undefeated semifinals at the Class A state volleyball tournament, defeating Corvallis in four sets, 25-19, 25-23, 22-25, 25-13 on Thursday.
Nearly losing their first round matchup against Lewistown, the Wildkats left no doubts in their quarterfinal contest. Columbia Falls had a 10-point lead in the opening set, leading the Blue Devils 24-14. The Wildkats surrendered the next five points before closing out the set for good.
In the second set, Columbia Falls drilled three of its five aces to hold off the charging Blue Devils, whose kill attempt went into the net to give the Wildkats a 25-23 victory.
Corvallis avoided the sweep with a three point win in the third set, but the Wildkats dominated every aspect of the fourth set. Jumping out to 12-6 lead, Carla Nicosia’s kill gave the Wildkats a 23-10 advantage and their defensive effort held Corvallis under 15 points.
“The girls are really excited to come to state and do as well as they have,” Columbia Falls coach Josie Brown said.
“When Carla is snapping and swinging at it she always seems to find a hole. All of our hitters did fantastic. Ciera Finberg had a ton of kills. Winter Kemppainen came up with some big kills in the middle. The girls were very consistent all the way around.”
Cydney Finberg’s 41 assists led the way for Ciera Finberg, Kemppainen and Nicosia. Ciera Finberg finished with a team-high 14 kills while Kemppainen and Nicosia had 10 and seven, respectively.
The Wildkats entered the quarterfinal match after surviving the opening round against Lewistown. The Golden Eagles had Columbia Falls against the ropes, winning the first two sets to come within one win from the quarterfinals. Columbia Falls went on to take the next three sets, including the match-winning fifth set. Match scores: 19-25, 21-25, 25-22, 25-21, 15-13.
Cydney Finberg led the way for Columbia Falls. She finished with 39 assists, 12 digs and three aces, all of which were team highs. Finberg also totaled three blocks, one shy of Kemppainen’s team high of four in the contest.
The Wildkats play Belgrade in the semifinals at 6 p.m. today. Belgrade beat Billings Central in the quarterfinals, 22-25, 25-21, 25-20, 25-11.
Columbia Falls and Belgrade have yet to face each other this season.
“We’ll take a look at them tomorrow. We have a little film on them from last year,” Brown said.
“Our serve receive definitely needs to be fixed. We know Belgrade is tough with their serves. If we keep the ball on our side we’ll be able to do something with it and good things will happen.”
Quarterfinals
Columbia Falls def. Corvallis
25-19, 25-23, 22-25, 25-13
Kills - Columbia Falls 45 (Ciera Finberg 14), Corvallis 44 (Kelsey Irwin 20). Assists - Columbia Falls 44 (Cydney Finberg 41), Corvallis 38 (Holly Wilson 37). Blocks - Columbia Falls 12 (Ciera Finberg 5, Carla Nicosia 5), Corvallis 5 (Kelsey Irwin 2, Genesis Keith 2). Digs - Columbia Falls 71 (Shay Fishel 21), Corvallis 71 (Ashley Davis 22). Aces - Columbia Falls 5 (five with 1), Corvallis 7 (Holly Wilson 3).
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Belgrade def. Billings Central 22-25, 25-21, 25-20, 25-11
First Round
Columbia Falls def. Lewistown
19-25, 21-25, 25-22, 25-21, 15-13
Kills - Columbia Falls 50 (Ciera Finberg 10), Lewistown 56 (Jaree Mane 16). Assists - Columbia Falls 44 (Cydney Finberg 39), Lewistown 52 (Nora Weichel 48). Blocks - Columbia Falls 9 (Winter Kemppainen 4), Lewistown 10 (Jaree Mane 4). Digs - Columbia Falls 66 (Cydney Finberg 12), Lewistown 75 (Sydney Wier 31). Aces - Columbia Falls 7 (Cydney Finberg 3(, Lewistown 2 (Maria Henderson 2).
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Belgrade def. Frenchtown 25-13, 25-11, 25-22
Billings Central def. Anaconda 26-24, 29-31, 25-21, 26-24
Corvallis def. Miles City 25-15, 25-23, 26-24