By BRANDON HANSEN

Hungry Horse News

The Columbia Falls volleyball team split last week.

The Wildkats fell to Polson on Thursday, Oct. 10 in tight sets of 25-19, 25-15, 26-24 in Northwest A Conference action. Rylee Sweeney had four blocks for Columbia Falls, while Lexi Anderson and Annika Reid each had ten digs.

Sadie Cheff led the Wildkats with five kills, while Emalee Alton, Kierra Kemppainen, and Jezanie Brooks each had aces.  Kemppainen had nine assists and Brooks had six assists. 

Columbia Falls is currently sitting in third in the conference at 6-3, with Polson and Whitefish occupying the top two spots.

“The league is shaping up close to what I assumed,” Columbia Falls Head Coach Jolandie Brooks said. “Whitefish is playing really well, and Polson plays great against us.”

Columbia Falls picked up the four-set victory over Libby on Tuesday, October 8, winning 25-18, 23-25, 25-20, 25-16 in Northwest A Conference action.

Sadie Cheff led the Wildkats with 10 kills, while Emalee Alton added nine kills, and Rylee Sweeney had seven.

“This year, we have a lot of balance on the team,” Brooks said. “I love having six hitters. When someone is off, someone else is able to step up.”

Jezanie Brooks had three aces, 10 digs, and 14 assists, while Kierra Kemppainen had 15 assists and five digs.

On defense, Lexi Anderson had 19 digs, while Alton and Annika Reid each had 11 digs. 

Brooks said that her middle hitters Sadie Cheff and Rylee Sweeney are doing a great job keeping their hitting percentages high. Sweeney has also accounted for 26 of the team’s 49 blocks.