Wildkats defeat Bulldogs in 5
Columbia Falls' Madysen Hoerner (21) goes for a kill against Whitefish's Marlee Bender (24) at Whitefish High School on Thursday. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Whitefish's Kaiah Moore (10) goes for a kill against Columbia Falls' Hannah Schweikert (9) at Whitefish High School on Thursday. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Whitefish huddles to celebrate a point against Columbia Falls at Whitefish High School on Thursday. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Columbia Falls celebrates a point against Whitefish at Whitefish High School on Thursday. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Whitefish's Kaiah Moore (10) goes for a kill against Columbia Falls' Hannah Schweikert (9) at Whitefish High School on Thursday. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Columbia Falls' Madysen Hoerner (21) goes up for a kill against Whitefish's Kaiah Moore (10) at Whitefish High School on Thursday. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Columbia Falls huddles to celebrate a point against Whitefish at Whitefish High School on Thursday. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Columbia Falls' Lauren Falkner (12) goes for a kill against Whitefish's Kennedy Grove (3) at Whitefish High School on Thursday. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Columbia Falls' Ryley Kehr (23) goes up for a block of Whitefish's Marlee Bender (24) at Whitefish High School on Thursday. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Columbia Falls' Hannah Schweikert (9) goes up for a block with teammate Ryley Kehr (23) of Whitefish's Kaiah Moore (10 at Whitefish High School on Thursday. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Columbia Falls' Lauren Falkner (12) goes for a kill against Whitefish's Lauren Schulz (2) at Whitefish High School on Thursday. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Whitefish's Luci Ridgeway (4) and Kennedy Grove (3) reach for a block against Columbia Falls at Whitefish High School on Thursday. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
WHITEFISH – In Northwest A Conference play on Thursday, Columbia Falls hung on to beat Whitefish 20-25, 25-20, 25-16, 23-25, 15-6.
“Our girls came out and played with a lot of heart,” Whitefish coach Addy Connelly said. “We missed some key serves, but overall a big improvement from the last time we played them.”
At the net, the Wildkats’ Mady Hoerner and Ryley Kehr had 13 kills each. Kehr also served three aces and Hoerner had 21 digs.
For the Bulldogs, Lauren Schulz recorded 16 digs, 23 assists and 11 kills. Luci Ridgeway had three blocks and three service aces.
Columbia Falls and Whitefish will compete in the Butte Blockbuster Classic on Saturday.
Assists – Columbia Falls 41 (Hannah Schweikert 39), Whitefish 39 (Lauren Schulz 23); Kills – Columbia Falls 45 (Mady Hoerner 13, Ryley Kehr 13,) Whitefish 48 (Kaiah Moore 12, Schulz 11, Kennedy Grove 10); Digs – Columbia Falls 92 (M. Hoerner 21, Savvy Ellis 20), Whitefish 65 (Schulz 16); Blocks – Columbia Falls 9 (Kehr 4), Whitefish 8 (Luci Ridgeway 3, Marlee Bender 3); Aces – Columbia Falls 13 (Kehr 3, Ellis 3, Dillon Hoerner 3), Whitefish 8 (Ridgeway 3)
Bigfork 3, Troy 0
BIGFORK – The Valkryies blew by Troy 25-7, 25-14, 25-14 in District 7B play.
Aubrey Halverson had 18 assists and Quinlan Nissen served five aces for Bigfork.
For Troy, Talise Becquart had one block and one service ace, and Ella Pierce had five kills.
Assists – Troy 11 (Annie Day 10), Bigfork 19 (Aubrey Halverson 18); Kills – Troy 12 (Ella Pierce 5); Bigfork 26 (Josephine Howlett 8); Digs – Troy 33 (Katelynn Tallmadge 8), Bigfork 32 (Jaclyn Saunders 9); Blocks – Troy 2 (Talise Becquart 1, Montana Rice 1), Bigfork NA (NA); Aces – Troy 3 (Becquart 1, Rice 1, Cami Finley 1), Bigfork 18 (Quinlan Nissen 5)