Conference-leading Lady Pirates show resolve in dramatic victory

over Wildkats

POLSON - If you need an example of the mental toughness that Polson head coach Jan Toth's volleyball teams are known for, look no further than last Thursday night. Columbia Falls came into Linderman Gym with an eye for downing the Northwestern A favorite Lady Pirates and they came close.

"They have played up the past two years that we've met," Toth said. "It was a battle from the very beginning."

But Polson battled back for a 3-2 victory over their conference foe to improve to 5-1 in league play and 7-2 overall, thanks to the grit and resolve of a team that refused to be put away.

The Lady Pirates won the first game, 25-18, thanks to a kill by junior Heidi Rausch to end it, but the Wildkats surprised in the second game. They took an early 10-4 lead, causing Polson to take a timeout.

The Lady Pirates would tie things up at 13-13 and then the two teams battled it out by remaining no more than two points away from each other the rest of the way. They would go into extra points after tying at 25-25 and stalemated again at 28-28 before Columbia Falls pulled a shocker by scoring the final two points for the 30-28 victory to tie the match up at one game apiece.

"We weren't able to dig a lot of easy balls so Shay [Duford] was moving around a lot," Toth said.

In the third game, Polson would take an early lead and seemed in control at 13-11 after junior Heidi Rausch made a thrilling desperation dive to save the ball and Riley Kenney was able to finish it up with a kill. However, Columbia Falls would score the next four points and held the lead the rest of the way. The Lady Pirates pulled to within 22-23 but the Wildkats finished it out with the final three points.

Things didn't look good for the Lady Pirates in the fourth game as they trailed 10-15, but something changed and they turned on the jets to tie things up 21-21. Kenzie Clay delivered a rousing kill to the delight of a spirited Linderman Gym crowd.

"We chipped away at them," Toth said. "We knew where their weaknesses were and we knew how to attack them."

Columbia Falls tied things back up at 23-23 before Polson scored the final two points, the last being a Michael Jordan-esque slam dunk kill by Kenney to give the Lady Pirates the 25-23 victory.

"That took every ounce of momentum they had and gave it to us," Toth said of Kenney's hit.

That completely changed the momentum of the match and Polson took an 11-3 lead in the fifth game before winning 15-7.

"It's very hard to come back like that," Toth said. "Not only do you have to control yourself, you have to shut down the other team. You have to play flawlessly."

Rausch ended the game with 17 kills, while Kenney had 15 to key the Lady Pirates' offense. Setter Shalaina Duford did an excellent job running the offense with 46 assists, while Kenzie Clay dominated the net with five blocks. Duford also had 24 digs, and Banner had 19.

"That's what I love about this team," Toth said. "There's not one individual, each of them bring their own stengths."

Currently in the driver's seat in the conference, Toth said she'd like to see the team play their own game and not get into as many close games.

"If you play just to win it gets exhauasting," Toth said. "We're going to have to play to our potential. There is not going to be a team in our conference that rolls over."