Volleyball season got started this past weekend with local teams traveling to tip-off tournaments throughout Western Montana. Ronan traveled to St. Ignatius, where the Bulldogs were hosting a 10-team tournament. Arlee and Charlo both traveled to Philipsburg. Polson went a little further than the Class C teams, traveling to Dillon for a two-day tournament.

Arlee  and Charlo @ Philipsburg

Arlee and Charlo both traveled to Philipsburg on Saturday to compete in an opening tournament.  Arlee won 5 of their 8 games and won 3 of their 4 matches. That put them up against Drummond in the afternoon tournament play, where they lost in two, both by scores of 13-15. Coach Lonnie Morin said overall, the girls are starting to understand the new offense she put in, but she said they need to work on their defense. She also said she looks forward to working with the girls more on the flow of the game and learning positions and roles more clearly.

Arlee hosts Superior on Thursday.

Charlo stats were not available, but the team did split with Arlee, which shows promise for the Vikings, who have much less height than the Scarlets. They will play each other in a conference game on September 29. 

Charlo hosts St. Regis on Thursday.

Pool Play A.M.

Arlee vs. Granite:  

12-8 / 10-12

Arlee vs. Lincoln

9-12 / 12-10

Arlee vs. Alberton

12-10 / 12-9

Arlee vs. Charlo

10-12 / 12-7

Afternoon Play

Arlee vs. Drummond

13-15 / 13-15

Ronan and Mission @ Mission

 Ronan and Mission played in Mission’s home tournament on Saturday. Each team played three matches in a pool play format to determine their seeding in a single elimination tournament. The matches in the pool play were two games to 20 with a cap at 22. At the end of the pool play, points were tallied up to determine the seeding. Bigfork had 119 points and were seeded number one. Ronan was ninth with 93, and Mission was tenth with 66. 

In the first round, Mission lost out to seventh seeded Troy. Ronan played eighth seeded Plains, and also lost.

In the championship, Anaconda beat Bigfork.

Pool Play:

Mission v Bigfork = Game One- 19 - 21 / Game Two- 6 - 20

Mission v Eureka = Game One- 9 - 20 / Game Two- 5 - 20

Mission v Troy = Game One- 16 - 20 / Game Two- 11 - 20

Ronan v Eureka - Game One- 10 - 20 / Game Two- 21 - 19

Ronan v Libby - Game One- 14 - 20 / Game Two- 20 - 18

Ronan v Thompson Falls - Game One -19 - 21 / Game Two- 9 - 20

Pool Play Points

1. Bigfork - 119

2. Anaconda - 118

3. Eureka - 113

4. Libby - 110

5. Thompson Falls - 106

6. Deerlodge - 104

7. Troy - 100

8. Plains - 97

9. Ronan 93

10. Mission - 66

Polson @ Dillon 

By John Heglie

Special for the Leader

At Dillon, the Lady Pirates inaugurated the new season by capturing the fourth place match over the host Lady Beavers 25-23, 26-24 at the NWA/SWA Tip-Off Tournament. Polson would be the only team from the NWA to win their seeding competition.

The team started out like an engine coughing and sputtering after lying dormant as it tried to initiate ignition against host Dillon, which swept the Lady Pirates in the first matchup of the day.  Polson gained some traction in their second contest against Hamilton as they split that series.  The Lady Pirates felt the sting of the Lady Yellowjackets of Stevensville as they came up a little shy in their first encounter, then dropped the second to finish the first day with a 1-5 record.

The second day was a better outing as Polson faced the two top teams out of the SWA, splitting both series.  Against eventual 2015 Tip-Off champion Corvallis, which won the 2013 State A title two season ago, the Lady Pirates stretched the first game into extras as they took the opener 27-25.   Polson flipped the script against the Butte Central, dropping their first before coming back to take the second skirmish 25-20. The split on both second day games improved the Polson record to 3-7.

In the fourth place contest, Polson improved exponentially from their Friday encounter, edging the Lady Beavers in the first game 25-23, then stretching the second contest into extras, 26-24, for the match winner. 

Polson travels to Butte for their first regular season game against Butte Central Lady Maroons this Thursday, September 3.

NWA/SWA Tip-Off Tournament

Seeding competition

#5 SW/NW (5-5) Hamilton def. (0-10) Browning 25-23, 25-15

#4 NW/SW (3-7) Polson def. (5-5) Dillon 25-23, 26-24

#3 SW/NW (6-4) Stevensville def. (3-7) Frenchtown 25-15, 25-16

#2 SW/NW  (8-2) Butte Central def. (4-6) Whitefish, 25-18, 25-20

#1 SW/NW (8-2) Corvallis def. (8-2) C Falls 16-25, 25-23,15-8

Saturday pool play results

Polson split with Butte Central 10-25, 25-20

Polson split with Corvallis 27-25, 14-25

Friday pool play results

Stevensville def. Polson 25-21, 25-15

Polson split with Hamilton 20-25, 25-17

Dillon def. Polson 25-17, 25-13

Lady Pirate individual TOtrny stats:

Nicole Lake (20K, B), Lydia Dupuis (1K, 3A,  D), Erin Sampson (5K, 2A, 70S), Julia Sanderson (4K), Shawna Lenz (4A), Marlee Congdon ( D), Haley Fyant (19K, 1A), Chadelle Smith (11K), Lauren Lefthand (20K), Hannah Fryberger (2K, 6A), Kaelyn Smith (8K, B), Kyler Lundeen (1K, 1A, 19S).

KEY: K=kill, A=ace, S=set/assist, B=block, D=dig