COLUMBIA FALLS - Note to the rest of the Northwestern A Conference, try not to rile up the Ronan Maidens too much.

Otherwise, they'll end up like Columbia Falls, who came out swinging in their opening Tuesday game, getting kills from four different players while Ronan's own counters bounced harmlessly out of bounds. The Maidens hung on tough, and fought their way to a extra-point 27-25 game win en route to a 3-0 victory over the Wildkats. The won their other two games 25-12, 25-18.

"They came out and had to fight for that first one," Ronan head coach Naomi Mock said. "They kind of feed off that fight."

Senior Alice Van Gunten led the team with nine kills.

"She's kind of a quiet force but she's pretty consistent," Mock said.

The win gave the Maidens their third conference victory after winning just one Northwestern A match last season.

It's another sign of improvement that is showing Ronan is on the move up.

"It's something they can sink their teeth into," Mock said.

The Maidens did have a setback in Mission last Saturday, losing 3-0 to the Lady Bulldogs, 16-25, 18-25, 18-25.

"We were just blah," Mock said. "Nobody lit a fire."

Ronan plays Whitefish at 4:15 p.m., Thursday on the road. Then they'll travel to play Troy and Libby on Saturday.