The Columbia Falls Wildkats used sharp passing to neutralize the Lady Loggers’ powerful serving game in their straight-set victory Thursday.  

The Lady Loggers mounted an aggressive attack in the first set with 15 kills and tied the game at 24-all before falling short 26-24. From that point on, the Columbia Falls defense set the tone and wouldn’t allow the Loggers to gain any kind of momentum, winning the last two sets by identical 25-14 scores. Head Coach Cindy Ostrem-Johnston commented, “We competed well in the first set, then the wheels fell off. Columbia Falls outhustled and outplayed us.”

The Loggers, who were leading the league with over four aces per set, only managed three for the match and struggled at the net against a tough Wildkat frontline. Despite a solid serve receive from Mahalah Wedel and Kelsey Klin, the Loggers were not able to generate much offense. Ostrem-Johnston pointed to a negative attack percentage for the night, “It’s tough to win when you have more errors than kills.”

Kills – Columbia Falls 23 (Haley Belgarde 8), Libby 26 (Hailley Moe 7, Devon Gallagher 7); Blocks – Columbia Falls 9 (Carla Nicosia 3, Winter Kemppainen 3 ), Libby 3 (Gallagher 2); Assists – Columbia Falls 14 (Cydney Finberg 7, Taylir Fairbank 7), Libby – 24 (Hannah England 22); Digs – Columbia Falls 42 (Shaylene Fishel 12), Libby 44 (Wedel 19); Aces – Columbia Falls 8 (Belgarde 3), Libby 3 (Wedel, Baillie Rosling, Dayln Germany 1).