Spikers drop Stevi and Browning, but lose to WF
Nancy Underdahl | Hungry Horse News | UPDATED 1 hour, 18 minutes AGO
Riley Sweeney goes for a kill during Stevensville. Seth B. Anderson Photo.
Columbia Falls girls’ volleyball team had a mixed week, winning two games and losing one. They easily defeated the Browning Lady Indians on Tuesday and the Stevensville Yellowjackets on Saturday. However, they lost a tough match to the Whitefish Lady Bulldogs on Thursday.
“Against Browning, I was able to give JV players lots of reps,” said head coach Jolandie Brooks.
The hard battle of the week would be coming face-to-face against Whitefish at the Dawg pound. The two teams would battle it out through five sets with Whitefish ultimately taking the contest; 25-12, 16-25, 21-25, 25-14, 15-7.
“Whitefish was a tough loss. Our senior captain, Kamryn Ladenburg was out and Whitefish did a good job exposing our weaknesses in her absence. We also missed 16 serves. Tough to win when we’re making the errors,” head coach Jolandie Brooks said. “As you can probably tell, our conference is anyone’s game on any given night, and again for us, it’s learning how to trust ourselves in key moments to do what needs to be done to win.”
Jezanie Brooks would lead the team in assists with 35. Peyton Ross would contribute 2 blocks, aces, 13 kills, and 18 digs in match. Ava Scholz once again emerged as the top digger, with 23 digs, while Brooks would add 18 of her own. Anabelle Middlesworth and Rylee Sweeney would also assist Ross at the net, with 11 and 8 kills, respectively.
The Kats also faced off against the Stevensville Yellowjackets on Saturday for homecoming. They took the match in three sets: 25-12, 25-19, 25-15.
They compiled impressive statistics, including 40 kills, 9 aces, 4 blocks, 63 digs, and 37 assists. Brooks contributed 33 assists and 11 digs throughout the match. Scholz demonstrated her dominance in the digs category with 21 digs. Ross added 15 digs to her tally, along with 8 kills, 2 blocks, and 3 aces.
“We’re trying to use these “simpler” games to work on offensive plays that will help us when we face the tougher teams again. I’m working hard to instill in my players that anything is possible as we go into the second round of conference matches. We also face the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the state this Friday in Butte, Billing Central and Custer County,” said coach Brooks.
The Kats travel to Butte for the Blocktober tourney this week.