By BRANDON HANSEN

Hungry Horse News

Columbia Falls volleyball split last week in Northwest A Conference play, defeating Ronan 25-20, 25-12, 23-25, 25-23 on Tuesday, October 22, and then falling to Bigfork 25-22, 22-25, 17-25, 27-25, 17-15.

At 9-5 in conference play and 13-12 overall, Columbia Falls has a chance at third place in the conference heading into the postseason, depending on Tuesday night’s reports. 

Against Bigfork, Rylee Sweeney had 15 kills while Emalee Alton notched 13, and Sadie Cheff had 11 in a balanced attack. Alton also had three aces and 27 digs. 

“They were such close games,” Columbia Falls Head Coach Jolandie Brooks said. “It came down to really small plays.”

Kierra Kemppanien had 28 assists and six digs, while Jazanie Brooks had 20 assists and 15 digs. Annika Reid had 19 digs, while Lexi Anderson had 14 digs. Ava Scholz had 27 digs and three aces.

Against Ronan, Sweeney led the team with 14 kills, while Alton had 13 and Cheff had 11. Alton also had two aces and 12 digs. 

“Rylee Sweeney had an amazing night with six blocks and 14 kills,” Brooks said. “The girls did a nice job of playing clean, not allowing too many errors to decide the outcome of the game, but rather putting the ball away when needed, or serving tough when needed.”

Brooks had 16 assists and four digs, while Kemppainen had 13 assists and seven digs. 

Columbia Falls Wins Copper Bracket At Blocktober Tournament

After winning two games in pool play, Columbia Falls swept through the Copper Bracket to place first at the Blocktober Tournament in Butte on October 18.

Columbia Falls defeated Browning 30-10 and Butte Central 30-8 in pool play but fell to five other teams. 

“I thought we competed decently on Friday, we just didn’t finish out the matches strong and with wins,” Columbia Falls Head Coach Jolandie Brooks said.

In the Copper Bracket, Columbia Falls opened up with a 22-25, 25-21, 15-6 win over Northwest A Conference foe Ronan. The Wildkats defeated Powell Co. 25-21, 25-20. That set the stage for the championship game of the Copper Bracket, and Columbia Falls defeated East Helena 25-15, 25-21. 

“On Saturday, I saw a lot of great things out of the team, our cohesion being the main thing, and then some of our players made ‘extra effort’ plays that helped lead us to those wins,” Brooks said.

Emalee Alton had a great weekend with eight aces, 55 digs, and 51 kills while hitting at a .347 percentage. The service stripe saw 39 aces by the Wildkats, including 11 from Annika Reed.

Sadie Cheff had 25 kills at the tournament, while Rylee Sweeney had 23, and Annika Reid notched 21. On defense, Lexi Anderson had 47 digs, Ava Scholz had 41, and Reid notched 36.

Rylee Sweeney was a power at the net with ten blocks, while setters Kierra Kemppainen and Jezanie Brooks had 59 and 50 sets apiece.