The season finale for Polson and Ronan was a big one, as the Lady Pirates hosted the Maidens for Senior Night on Thursday, Oct. 31. Ronan was the winner of the matchup between both teams earlier in the season, but the Lady Pirates came away with the home victory 19-25, 25-13, 25-19, 25-16.

“In terms of our placement, winning against Ronan didn't really matter,” Polson Head Coach Lizzy Cox said. “After losing in Ronan in September, the girls really wanted to come out strong and show how they can play.”

Ronan picked up where it left off from the first game, gaining separation after teams had battled to a 14-14 tie in the first set. Polson answered back with a convincing win in the second by a 25-13 score.

The third set was truly the hinge moment of the match, with five ties in the early part of the set, then Ronan’s Seattle Adams dinked the ball over the net for a 9-9 tie. The Lady Pirates, however, reeled off five straight scores to force a Maiden timeout and then three more points to go up 17-9. Ronan used a Lauryn Buhr spike to go on a 4-1 run and closed the score to within 18-13.

After that, both teams traded points before Polson’s Rylee Taylor-Jefferson notched two back-to-back aces to win the third set and put the Lady Pirates up 2-1. In the final set, Polson’s McKenna Corley had a half dozen kills down the stretch to pull the Lady Pirates away.

The matchup was fierce, as Ronan had almost a hundred digs on defense, with Kaydance Santos and Zailee Hewankorn combining for 59 of them. Polson improved to 10-2 on the season to place second in the Northwest A Conference action and the Maidens fell to 5-7 and advanced to the play-in game for the conference tournament.

“We would have loved to get the No. 1 spot, but going in as high as possible is always ideal,” Cox said. “We played close matches throughout the season with Whitefish, Bigfork, C-Falls, and Ronan so we know we have to come ready to play each time we step on the court.”

Corley led all players with 14 kills for the Lady Pirates, while Ronan’s Sierra Blood had nine kills. The Maidens’ Kylee Kelch had eight kills, while Polson’s Sam Rensvold and Josie Hendriksen each had seven kills.

Sierra Perez had six aces for Polson, and Taylor-Jefferson finished the game with 20 assists. Ronan’s Seattle Adams led the Maidens with 22 assists.

Buhr had six kills for Ronan; Santos added 32 digs, and Hewankorn had 27. Rensvold led Polson in digs with 17.

“The team is excited,” Cox said. “Postseason is always so much fun. The Polson School District, Polson community, and our parents are very supportive of the team and the goals that we have set for ourselves.”

“We have a drill we do at practice called ‘Dig or Die.’ Postseason is like that. We either show up ‘Dig’ or we will ‘Die’ and go home without a bid to the State tournament in Bozeman,” the coach said. “My girls are ready to dig in and play our best!”

Polson defeats Bigfork

Polson fought off a dangerous challenge from Bigfork in Northwest A Conference play, defeating the Valkyries 28-26, 23-25, 14-25, 25-20, 17-15 on Tuesday, Oct. 29.

McKenna Corley led the Lady Pirates with 18 kills, while Rylee Taylor-Jefferson operated the offense with 40 assists.

Sam Rensvold notched nine kills and 30 digs. Embree Bird posted 22 digs, ten kills, and three aces. Aleysia Black had 26 digs and two aces.

    Ronan's Sierra Blood slams the ball over the net during last Thursday's Ronan-Polson match. (Bob Gunderson photo)
  

    Trio of Polson seniors proudly reclaim the paddle they lost to county rival Ronan last year after last Thursday's triumph. (Bob Gunderson photo)
  

Polson's Samantha Rensvold during a recent game against Bigfork. (Avery Howe/Bigfork Eagle)