No pain, no gain. The Thompson Falls Lady Hawks suffered some growing pains but made definite net gains in their day of volleyball in the Mission Tournament Saturday, coach Sandra Kazmierczak said.

The Hawks ended up playing Troy, Loyola and Anaconda in round-robin games to 22 points, and then Plains in a best-of-three games match to 15 points to top off their appearance in Mission.

Kazmierczak said individual statistics were not recorded for the Mission matches.

“It went about like I expected it to,” Kazmierczak said. "We have several first-time varsity players and it took us a little while to figure things out. But we got better as the day went on, it started clicking for us.

“We gained a lot in one day of play, feel good about ourselves as we are improving every time we play,” she added. “Right now it’s about figuring out our strengths and what our roles are, what each player’s comfort zone is.”

Kazmierzak did go out of her way to compliment the play and leadership of senior Addy Deal, the Hawks’ returning All-State B player and vocal team leader.

“Addy leads by example, she is a great player,” Kazmierczak said, "but she is also very positive in her interactions with her teammates. She gets more excited for the other players than she does for herself.”

The Lady Hawks have two more chances to feel the pain and the gain this week against Florence in the Hawks’ home opener Tuesday, and against Loyola again in Missoula Thursday.