Libby faces challenges during MCPS Tourney

Coming in over 9 AA teams and all of the A teams, the Lady Loggers made it through most of the championship round at the MCPS Tournament in Missoula before falling to Big Sky.

"We were challenged more than we've been all year," coach Cindy Ostrem-Johnston said. "It really helps us to be more consistent for tournaments coming up."

The Lady Loggers comprised 1 of the 16 teams participating who were divided into two different pools of eight teams who played a grueling two games of 20 in the first day.

The teams with the best scoring average went on to the championship round the second day.

With their first game against Flathead (AA), who beat them the night before in five games, it was deja vu for the Lady Loggers.

Although they lost 10-20 the first game, Libby took their revenge in the second, winning 20-16.

The Lady Loggers went on to beat Polson (A) both games 20-18 and 20-7and split with Helena (AA), 20-14 and 15-20.

Next, Libby proceeded to sweep Great Falls (AA) 20-17 and 20-5, splitting with Hellgate (AA) 11-20 and 20-12.

After that, the Lady Loggers beat Anaconda of the Southwestern division (A) in both games, 20-12 and 20-14, but lost to Butte (AA) in the final two close matches of the day, 19-20 and 18-20.

With 9 wins and 5 losses total for "pool play," the coach was happy.

"It's a long day," she said. "We made it to the championship bracket and that was our goal for the day. We lost some games that we shouldn't have."

On Saturday, they started against Sentinel, who finished #2 in the Sentinel pool. The first two games played to 25 and the third to 15.

The Lady Loggers beat Sentinel (AA) with 18-25, 25-23 and 15-10.

"That was sweet because they had a 6'4" girl on their roster," Ostrem-Johnston said. "Nichole Newman had the midas touch. Shelby Barton was setting the ball really well, too."

They advanced to play Butte (AA) winning in close matches, 25-22, 22-25 and 15-7.

"Our serve and receive ratio, digging and defense really contributed to our success in the tournament, Ostrem-Johnston said. "We had lots of support from the crowds. They liked our enthusiasm and saw how hard we played."

Although Libby started off strong, they ultimately fell to Big Sky (AA) in 25-17, 12-25 and 10-15.

"We were making errors we don't usually make against those bigger blocks," she said. "We're not stacked with height by any means, but we played solid."

Unfortunately, The Lady Loggers suffered their first defeat in a non-tournament game Thursday night against Flathead, losing in five games with 26-28, 25-21, 17-25, 25-22 and 9-15.

"It was our first loss of the season, but since it's to an AA team it doesn't count against our conference record," she said.

They scored 12 aces in the game, with Shelby Barton and Jackie Mee each leading with 4. Barton, Mee and Brook Hageness all served 100 percent.

"We hit our season high (in serving) of 93 percent," said Ostrem-Johnston, "so that was a positive."

Brooke Hageness led kills with 14 out of 49. Jackie Mee had 14.

Shelby Barton made 42 of the 46 assists.

Of the 48 digs, Megan Wedel had 19; Brooke Hageness had 11.

The Lady loggers are 8-0 in conference and 9-1 overall.

"It was disappointing to lose, but I'm really proud of the girls," said Ostrem-Johnston.

Of the tournament statistics, Ostrem-Johnston was upbeat: "We gained a ton of experience and confidence from hitting against the big blocks and playing with an increased defense."

In the conference, the Lady Loggers had 45 aces, led by Nichole Newman with 9 followed by Jackie Mee with 8.

The team served 89 percent as a team, with four above 90 percent: Brook Hageness, Shelby Barton, Laice Dedrick and Jackie Mee.

Of the 191 kills, Brooke Hageness led with 51.

The Lady Loggers had 570 hitting attempts and 403 serving attempts as a team.

Shelby Barton led the 171 assists with 146 and Jackie Mee performed 7 of the 15 blocks, with Crysta Quinn at 6.

Of the 255 digs, Megan Wedel had 65, Brooke Hageness had 57 and Laice Dedrick had 54.

"That was the highlight of the tournament," Ostrem-Johnston said. "Our serving ratios."