RONAN — The sickness bug hit the Ronan Maidens (1-2) last week as eight girls were out with sickness, causing head coach Naomi Mock to make some adjustments to the team’s rotation in their Thursday night home against Whitefish.

“It wasn’t our best foot forward,” Mock said. “A lot of it was because we were missing girls.”

A combination of a flu and head cold struck the school and also affected members of the Ronan football team. The Maidens ended up falling 3-1 to Whitefish, 27-25, 17-25, 18-25, 23-25.

“It rearranges where they’re at,” Mock said of the change of rotation. “They’re just not as comfortable.”

Senior Alice VanGuten had 10 kills in the match, senior Marissa McCrea also had 15 digs. Mock said that it was nice to also see her younger players also step up during the game.

“Our bench is good for everything we need,” Mock said.  

Things now get hectic for the Maidens as they’ll play conference foes Libby and Polson while homecoming week goes on during the week.

“For coaches it’s hard,” Mock said of homecoming week. “We know they’re going to be busy.”

However, the first-year coach has no worries about the team’s work ethic since the Maidens have turned in an impressive, high-placing performances at several of the early season tournaments.

“The girls have stepped it up,” she said. “It’s their hard work that is getting us here.”

Ronan faces Libby at 4:15 p.m. tonight at home, then Polson at 3 p.m. on Saturday at home.